Do you like being able to schedule events with family or friends? Do you like being able to know when you work at least a day in advance? Do you enjoy knowing what time you're liable to start? If any of this is the case, get work ANYWHERE ELSE. Imagine having to call in at the same time every day to figure out whether or not you need to get ready to work in about 2 to 3 hours. If you're imagining this, and you're a normal human, the thought should be absolutely miserable. That's what it's like. Don't bother asking when you think you'll get off, because it'll be nothing but vague "i'unno"s from everyone who SHOULD have some idea.
The work itself is miserable too. About eight hours, a 15 minute break and a 45 minute lunch break where you're allowed to sit in the break room and eat and use your phone. On work hours, though? 8 hours straight of walking around, standing, listening ONLY to the sound of distant machinery and nothing else. Want to check the time? Try to decipher it from any of the clocks that are all at least 15 minutes off... But watch out, because they don't even announce when it's time for break or lunch. You can't check your phone either, because that's a big no-no and employees can't have any power, and stripping you of your phone is the biggest way to take away any feelings of power over your own self that you might have.
The computers, on which you literally only press no more than 4 keys per average use, break so laughably often whether it's the system it
Somewhat productive workplace with a very limited break area
At Ralph Lauren, work consisted of providing customer service, informing all customers on current promotions and sales, while maintaining the store clean and properly sized. Most would consider working in retail to be a hassle but I genuinely enjoyed helping people and also making sure we made our daily plan as well as converting as many customers as we can. I learned a great deal about customer service, product knowledge, clothing styles, trends, and seasonal fashion. I learned how to properly process clothing and conduct inventory checks. I enhanced my knowledge of the cash register from my previous experience at Tony's NY Pizza. Management was consistent throughout my first year there but as the store went through some changes and managers were switched around and there were some outside hires, I wasn't convinced that the company was too invested in their current employees and didn't feel that management provided the best solutions to either individual or group problems. My co-workers were either in high school, or right out of high school so working with a younger, less mature crowd wasn't the right fit for me, although most were friendly and welcoming. The hardest part of the job were the overnights, which involved a small group of about 10-15 employees going in anywhere between 7-9 p.m. and staying until 5-9 a.m. depending on what tasks we had to complete. The work itself wasn't difficult, just the day or two after when you either had to work while getting your sleep sc
Prosemployee discount
Conswage, policy about full-time while being in school, inefficient management
If I am being 100% honest the all around vibe and feeling you get from the management team is horrible. They have multiple times talked out of manner to individuals that work there and the only reason that they feel entitled to do so is because they are mostly minors. Most of there staff doesn’t last long in the job because of how terrible they are treated. The management team takes things personal in a work environment. For example, if they call you to come in on your day off or they ask you to come in early and you can’t they take that situation personally. They are often on edge due to the fact that people just leave the job. All that tension that builds up has to be released at one point. And it does, situations like are what ruin a work environment. They often misinterpret a situation and instead of fixing the situation like the leadership role that they are given they much rather be petty and childish. Take in mind that they have been doing this for years and they have not learned from there mistakes. I’m not saying every single management leader from that location is terrible, but it only takes a few to ruin it for everyone. The scheduling is terrible as well. We have certain times that we are scheduled to work but we never seem to get out on time. For example, if you are scheduled to clock out at 10:30 you usually get out 11:30-12:00. They don’t allow you to leave at the time you are scheduled to leave. I understand that sometimes the need to stay is necessary, but
I loved working here until I put my 3 weeks notice in my management team who once seemed to care about me started treating me like garbage because they’re short staffed and knew I was one of their best employees. I later found out that this isn’t the first time they treat their employees like this who give notice. It got to the point where one day I left crying because of the way I was treated. I came back and they claimed I wasn’t in dress code when I was so they decided that it would be best if I turned around and drove 30 minutes home and 30 min back just to change my shirt??!? When they’ve never ever made ANYONE do that ever in the years I’ve been there. I left crying a second time because of the way I was treated and I didn’t come back. I had two shifts left to finish out. I sent them a text letting them know I’m sick of the way I’ve been treated and I won’t be coming back right away. They never give you raises and if you do get one- you have to work there for a year and even then you’re not guaranteed a raise. I was their best employee and I was given a .25 cent raise when all my marks were “excelled”. Also, this raise was given to me a day before my notice was put in so I don’t understand why they would treat me the way they did other than being short staffed. I use to consider these people family but you don’t screw over family or ignore a person for days because they found a better opportunity. No one was happy for me except for some of my coworkers. Management is go
ProsNothing
ConsBad pay, not good management, hostile environment, Horrible pay again
I worked at Ralph Lauren for a year as a cashier associate mainly. I would help customers at the register, order items for them and give clothing recommendations. If there are no customers in the store, I would make sure the store is clean and organize clothes. Over the course of the year, I learned not to take things personally from customers(which sounds obvious but if it is your first job, it can be hard to distinguish.) If the customer is upset, it usually has nothing to do with you. As for my managers, I loved them. They encouraged me to be a better worker and did hourly updates to keep the employees in the wraps for how the store is doing and what we should be doing. After a while(and since most of them are women at my store specifically), they became like moms to me and we would joke around sometimes. All of my co-workers were nice and friendly(lots of college and high school students) but it is stressed that you are not supposed to socialize while on the floor(which makes sense :). The hardest part of the job is figuring out what to do when the store is empty and everything is clean but just be creative and ask the managers what they need help with. Black Friday is really chaotic and exhausting but that is the case with all retail stores so it's not much different at Polo. The most enjoyable part of the job is the connections you make with your co-workers,managers and customers. :) My store had regular customers which were really nice and one lady even came back and g
Fun environment to work in, fast paced at times. Overall good and fun place to work for anyone.
Your typical day at this job was just like any other job, you had to be ready to work. You had to break out of your bubble and give the costumers the help they need. I learned quite a bit working here; ranging from learning how to deal with upset costumers to just dealing with costumers in general and giving them a feel good environment when they walked through the doors. I also learned how to operate the cash registers and also learned how to close them at the end of the night and make the deposits. The co-workers I had were awesome. Most of them are my age and in college as well. Encouraging team as well as a making the experience all worth while. The hardest part of the job was trying to help costumers that didn't speak english very well. Another challenging part for me was learning how to close the cash registers. I enjoyed just about every experience at Polo. My favorite thing to do was create a positive connection with a costumer. I wanted to make sure they were happy while I am ringing them out because as my manager always said, "You are the last people to interact with our costumers and you can have the chance to either make the costumer leave the store satisfied and come back often, or you can make the costumer unhappy and be the reason for them to not come back." That always stuck with me because the more I thought about, the more it made sense to me. Making people happy and satisfied with their visit to Polo Ralph Lauren is what I enjoyed. Another enjoyable part of
ProsFlexible hours for full-time college students. Good pay as well.
I worked with this company for 2 years, was a decent job for the most part. There were some great associates that I worked with. After working for 2 years, my pay didn’t really change, even with a 39 cent raise that was supposed to make me feel special im not sure. Management was horrible, you got one manager and 3 associates, 2 of those associates go on a trash run while one works on all the racks of clothes, usually don’t need 2 people for a trash run but that’s how it works for them. You figure you get some new people working there as well, but just the lack of effort in some people, makes the day worse. Sometimes you’re given certain tasks, sometimes processing or creating a wall for my managers to fill in off the picture from the ipad. My only problem was, I would try to fix my schedule, and they would never be happy with it, it’s always a fight about it, just have to get your way. Store was never really short staffed, only after COVID the store was short staffed, always having to do more since most people left. Breaks are nice, shifts from 6 hours and shorter get a 15 minute break, up to 7 hours you get a 15 and a half hour break, and any shift from 8 hours or more, get 2 15’s and an hour lunch. You get a 10% discount at the food court but doesn’t really save much. Discounts are clothes were nice, during COVID they took one of our discounts away which was a bummer. If you want to work here, it’s an alright job, my pay didn’t really change after 2 years as I mentioned, b
ProsDecent people, employee discount
ConsHorrible management, low pay, long shifts, hires anybody
As a high school student, I am often scheduled more than the adults are even when I ask them to relax on my schedule, I receive no less than 29 hours a week. Usually this is a great thing but not if you are trying to get good grades in school. They are bad at scheduling so I end up working on days that I wasn't even scheduled or have to work extra because the have too much payroll left at the end of the week. Then even though they tell me I am one of their best workers, I have to spend 8- 10 hours constantly being asked by managers if I provided customer service to every customer. The managers also don't communicate so one will ask me to do one thing and the other will get angry at me for doing it. I do enjoy the costumers and meeting people from all over the world, but here you are not even allowed to stand and have a conversation with someone before you have to break away and try to sell something to someone else. There are also secret shoppers that come once a month and our whole customer servicing is judge based on how we treat on single person that whole month. This often leads us to really annoy normal shoppers who don't particularly want to talk to the employees. We are also required to add on items in every section of the store which makes me uncomfortable because their clothes are so expensive already, why would a person want to buy an additional 60 dollar polo? I can't even run to the bathroom or get a drink without asking for permission...
ProsLots of work hours and get to meet people from around the world
ConsNagging managers and have to work way more than you think
A typical day at work included punching in and a daily meeting. The managers would let you know the sales goal for the day and what area you were in charge of. In your area, the objective was to keep it clean at all times and if customers walked in you greeted them offered them your help. You would switch areas through out the day and by the end of your shift you let your co-worker who was going to replace you know of any projects you were working on. In Polo Ralph Lauren I learned how to handle a diversity of situations. Each and every individual that walked in would have different concerns and it was your job to try and solve it in the most professional way possible. I also learned to time management as sometimes we would have a time limit to our projects but most importantly I learned the importance of excellent customer service. Management and my co-workers were definitely the easiest part of my job. Management made the work place exciting and fun and my co-workers also cooperated with that. The hardest part of the job I would say was mainly understanding some of the concerns customers had. As a well known shopping center there were a variety of people who would walk in and not know any English whatsoever, we had to try and figure out what they wanted and deliver it to them professionally. As I said before the most enjoyable part of the job was to come into your job feeling content and looking forward to an exciting day with your managers and coo-workers.
A typical day at the R&D involved experimenting with new chemicals and procedures that either chemical companies or designers wanted to try out. Towards the end we where experimenting with ways to be more economical by using special machines designed specifically for using less resources. I was fortunate enough to get into Ralph Lauren through networking and I learned many things while I was there. A few things I learned there were chemical handling and how to read the updated MSD (I believe is what they're called now) sheets along with different wet processes, including color matching on various fabrics, and a few dry processes that where conducted in the R&D. I also learned how to operate the various wash equipment and lab equipment such as spectrophotometers and roach machines. I couldn't have asked for better coworkers and management at the R&D. They where always friendly and willing to help teach me more about the industry when asked. The hardest part of the job, I'd have to say, would be trying to please the designers. A lot of the time they would ask for things that we simply couldn't do, but we would try our best and I enjoyed working with them regardless. What I enjoyed most about the job was the experimenting and how there was something different everyday.
Prosvacation, free lunch when we had visitors, good people
Working in Ralph Lauren is great. The business has a few really good initiatives which help the working culture. There's nothing really mundane about working for RL. There's a lot of good, passionate, positive energy. Most people are really nice & friendly. Upper management tend to treat you all equally. But there are some seniors (marketing, press, e-com etc) which tend to be very snobby & won't even smile at you. Some tend to have fake personalities. Otherwise, the culture is great. There's always lots of work going on at RL & everyone seems to always be very busy. Some teams have longer working hours than others. There's a flexible working allowed too (some managers still don't allow it because of "trust" issues) but you should be allowed. There are many workplace benefits, staff private sales, staff discount etc which is always very nice. Depending on the department you work, your career enhancements may be limited. RL also has way too many directors & senior directors. Salary is always a sticky subject, you won't always get a massive bump. I guess it's decent pay all round. IT equipment is so poor. For a company as big as RL, the IT equipment is so poor. Desks & office space in London office isn't nice at all. It's ugly & boring. IT equipment & office space is so important. Overall I'd say it's a wonderful company to work for but there are definitely things the company must improve on ASAP.
ProsFree Ralph's coffee, lots of workplace benefits, staff discount, friendly people, chilled working environment, good HR initiatives, winning culture mentality.
ConsOffice at New Bond St is so poor, marketing department are really messy with no sense of tidiness, can't keep kitchen clean, HR are so slow & rubbish, business IT equip are so behind the times, poor salary advancements, seniors get paid a lot with bonuses whereas the associates/assistants etc could get paid a lot more
I worked here a couple years ago as part time staff. I was contracted onl 8 hours which was fine as there was regular overtime. As I full time student in my exam period, I could only manage between 8-15 hours per week maximum, which I clarified in my interview. When I started the job it was great. Soon, I get randomly given overtime in large proportions; they wanted me to work 32 hours on week. When discussing this with management team, I was told quote ''It isn't our problem, get the shifts covered yourself'' and ''the system we use just gives random hours there's nothing we can do.'' There was little care or any friendliness past the interview stage. I don't even think the manager of the store even said hello to me despite me working there six months. Other supervisors or department managers were unbearable. I loathed going to work because one particular department supervisor regularly made fun of me, mocked me and even went out of her way to embarrass me in front of others. Its a soulless job to be honest. We were quite a large store with over 100 staff, and talking to other members of staff unless advised to was discouraged. I was moaned at for conversing with other members of staff countless times. I understand targets are to be met but when there are zero customers in store at 9pm I didn't understand why saying finally saying 'hi' to a colleague was so frowned upon. So you didn't really get to know people and the overall ethos was bad. The only benefits was the very lar
ProsGenerous staff discount and pay
Consawful management
Questions And Answers about Ralph Lauren
How often do raises occur at Ralph Lauren?
Asked Nov 28, 2016
Managers get rewarded. But the rest never, don't even get paid vacation
Answered Apr 20, 2020
.20 a year they are struggling to stay above water
Answered Mar 17, 2019
How do you feel about the future of Ralph Lauren?
Asked Sep 26, 2016
The factory stores do well and stay busy.
Answered Apr 20, 2020
Unfortunately their days are numbered
Answered Mar 17, 2019
What would you suggest Ralph Lauren management do to prevent others from leaving?
Asked Mar 25, 2017
Fix management is this toxic and hostile work environment. This behavior always trickles down from the top management. Ralph are you listening? Take a good look at the managers in Digital content
Answered Oct 9, 2020
There is allot of favortism and many managers know the ones but nothing is done. Be more select who they hire.When they come in looking like they just black topped a road, pass on that. Listen to the speak, can you understand them.
Answered Apr 20, 2020
If you were to leave Ralph Lauren, what would be the reason?
Asked Mar 25, 2017
We should close on Sun. Not work all day Sat and Sun. I would leave because of unappreciation, and everyone are not treated the same.
Answered Apr 20, 2020
No money in the job.
Answered Jul 22, 2019
What is the work environment and culture like at Ralph Lauren?
Asked Nov 15, 2016
The environment is very friendliness.
Answered Sep 9, 2019
Its all about customer service and i love that about this company especially being a retail job. its amazing how much the care about the staff and customers
