You will notice that I use the words "hyena" or "hyenas" a lot. So without further ado and if you're ready for an in-depth review of my experiences, go ahead and read below.
Training - This was an absolute joke. I went to a regional distribution center for 6 weeks of training. The only problem with this was that this wasn’t actual training, but instead a series of mind-numbingly boring lectures about what to do in the store. Basically I got paid to sit in a classroom Monday through Friday for 8 hours a day for 6 weeks and be bored to tears listening to hyenas lecture us about what was going to be expected of us. All of this went out the window once the store I was assigned to opened up. The hyenas throw you to the wolves and expect you to work at the same level of expertise as someone who has been working at Lidl for 10+ years. Again, an absolute joke.
Ridiculous expectations - You’re expected to complete the workload of 3 people within a very short amount of time and if you can’t complete within the time the hyenas give you, you get berated for it which may lead further punishment including getting performance write-ups and, worst-case scenario, termination. Stores are constantly understaffed in an effort to save prod, but in reality it actually makes things harder on everyone else even though you’re each expected to take on a ridiculous workload that no one person could handle on his or her own. Hyenas act like they could do your job better than you blindfolded and one hand tied behind their backs when in reality they couldn’t do any better.
Terrible management - I dealt with a lot of unqualified and unfit hyenas. They walked around thinking that they were better than everyone else and that it was okay to talk down to their staff because of their job titles. I remember one time when I was helping a customer and one of my coworkers contacted me on the headset that all hyenas were required to wear with a concern. I told her to wait a moment because I was helping a customer. All of a sudden, a hyena who had been listening in on the conversation yelled, “WHAT!? YOU CAN’T EVEN LISTEN!?!?” Everyone who was wearing a headset including all hyenas that day heard him berate me even though I was only doing my job. Not only did this anger me, but I also felt embarrassed and humiliated. This hyena had the audacity to talk down to me as if I was a kindergartener who just got caught misbehaving in class. This incident drove a wedge and caused tension between me and him for the remainder of my employment there. Just because you are a hyena with a fancy title next to your name doesn’t mean you can go around treating people however you want nor does it mean that you know jack about managing people.
Disorganized - Hyenas will say one thing and do another. I remember one time when I was asked to pack out dry goods and told that I needed to gather some coworkers to get the job done. The only problem with this was that coworkers assigned under my supervision were already doing other tasks which meant that they couldn’t help me out with packing out dry goods until they completed their tasks which meant that I had to gather another team of random coworkers who had come from another store to get the job done. No clear direction. No clear expectations. People running around the store like chickens with their heads off. Absolutely ridiculous.
Fear culture - The culture of Lidl is not one of unity and teamwork, but rather one of fear. People would come to work constantly come to work in a state of panic and worry instead of looking forward to the work day. I had one coworker come to me and ask me if she was going to lose her job because of a minor mistake she made. That right there speaks volumes about the kind of culture Lidl has. Instead of looking for reasons to encourage you to be at your very best, hyenas are always looking for reasons to fire you and find any mistakes you made while working to use against you.
Work-life balance - If you care about having a life outside of work, don't expect the hyenas to give you one because not only is the scheduling ridiculous, it's near impossible to plan for anything outside of work even when you do get your days off. I remember one time when I was working the evening shift, I was supposed to get off at 9:00 on the dot but I didn't end up leaving until 12:00 midnight. Then the very next day I was scheduled to come in to work at 5:00 in the morning. If kissing your life outside of work goodbye and ruining your sleep schedule is your thing, then go ahead and apply. Otherwise, avoid at all costs.
The above reasons are why I quit. I didn’t even grant the hyenas a 2-weeks notice to find a replacement for me. I just stopped showing up. I was absolutely outraged at the way I was treated while I was there. That was my way of giving them the middle finger and telling them what I thought about the job. They don’t care about you if you're not a hyena. If you’re a non-hyena at a lower-ranked position, you're expendable. If you're a hyena, then you'll be fine.
