Extremely long hours for the sector (70+ not uncommon) and stress created by steep performance expectations with few resources available to run operations. Aldi is a discounter wih increadible prices for the quality but achieves this in a number of ways, not least by keeping staffing levels very low and driving productivity rates to levels not seen elsewhere.
This all sounds fine, but in reality it makes for a tough working environment where your hours make up for the lack of colleagues - a convenient cost saving for the company, which employes well motivated individuals to achieve this. At store level breaks are often not taken, or simply cannot be taken if the store is too busy because there is simply no back up. Some stores may be staffed by only two people and both may be required on the cash tills if the store is busy, to the detriment of all other tasks that need to be undertaken in the store. This is fun and a buzz to begin with but the fun palls as the reality of your working life sinks in! The turnover of staff is prodigious - both self selecting and by the axe for those who can't keep the pace.
At Area or District Manager level, keen, ambitious, motivated people are selected to join the training programme with a healthy carrot of promotion opportunities and sector beating pay. If you are attracted by this do a bit of due diligence before accepting! The sector beating pay comes in annual increments - it doesn't start off fantastically. This gives Aldi a chance to vet you in role first. Fair enough? Area Managers in training are used to run stores in preparation for their promotion to fully trained area manager - this gives Aldi a fantastic resource of ambitious thrusters to be used to run difficult and often failing stores for less than the price of a fully trained store manager. An additional company benefit is that AM's in training voluntarily work any hours required (store managers often do not - mindful of employment laws!) to run their stores and will travel to wherever the company requires them to work without complaint unlike store managers. The loyalty is one way however - a large number of area managers in training are needed at any stage to fill roles in stores and because few will make the grade. A few from any intake will make full Area Manager and a few from this group will be promoted to Director in time. However the rest will usually 'leave' after a few years providing advancement opportunities for the next group of ambitious hard working talent.
In my 3 years I saw in excess of 30 people come and go to service 10 area manager positions. The clue is in how frequently Aldi advertises in the recruitment pages for these roles!
