I live in south Mississippi. I went into a Home Depot store about 9am one morning, the February after our BIG STORM, with my 3 year old to buy 40 sheets of 3/4 inch plywood. When I went inside, I was told I had to go outside to pay for it. I went outside and was told to pull my truck into line. I was about 10 trucks back, by the time it was my turn, I was told the guy who was loading was going to lunch and that I needed to come back in two hours! I had already been there 2 1/2 hours. When I mentioned that my son had started to run a fever and that i couldn't wait two more hours, he said, "Well, I guess you'll have to load it by yourself". I picked up my cell phone and called Lowes explaining my situation. When I got there they had my plywood waiting for me, four guys to load it, and I went right up to the counter to pay for it. I was gone in less than 10 minutes. Needless to say, the $50,000. I spent redoing my went Lowes. I have yet to step foot into a Home Depot. Although I called and complained. No response was given.

I had worked part time at Home Depot for about two years and recently resigned. Some of what is said here is pretty much true to form but I take exception to the general statement that the problem is education of the H-D employees. Home Depot employees are trained to do the jobs they are doing. It's just that Home Depot is NOT doing the training. The training has come from their employees who brought it with them and many employees I have worked with are highly competent and educated in doing whatever it is they were hired to do. I would like to think I am one of them as well. What I have personally witnessed is that the management of Home Depot micro-manages the things that are not important and doesn't manage the things that are important. They appear to reward the store managers on up at the sacrifice of the hard working employees below store management. Besides of all of that, we are talking a retail establishment here and as soon as you say the word "retail", tell me how many in this line of work are really and truly rewarded for the hard work they do. Can someone tell me that? As far as customers go, I have witnessed first hand the ignorant ways that customers talk with the Home Depot employees like they are stupid or subservient to their demands...customers who want everything immediately. This is what America has become...a society that has no patience for anything and want immediate gratification. Another point is that H-D does not properly staff their stores with enough people during peak periods...after all we are talking retail here. So if the customers think that all H-D employees are undertrained, inexperienced or uncaring, I didn't see that at our store. The customers might want to check the management though who pushes their employees to the absolute limit.

Jon,

Thank you for taking the time to comment and fill in some of my gaps in the story from an inside perspective. I still think special training is essential. I also think managers, on up, all need to treat everyone as part of a team, and not worthless flunkies.

I own a business and if I did not treat my staff with due respect we could not provide the high level of service that we do...and my staff turnover would be higher also.

The person who wrote this article certainly is an intelligent person and understands the investment business, but I would respectfully put her in the same category of "talking heads" with good intentions but little understanding of the retail world. I would agree with her more training needs to be done in the specialty areas such as commercial sales, kitchen cabinet specialist, flooring specialist, plumbing, electical specialist, and areas where expertise in the construction or installation of products is needed. I dis-agree that there should be some outside school however. Home Depot has the facilities to do 90 percent of their training and it is in their stores. Home Depot will turn things around and as soon as housing improves you will see Home Depot spend more on training and etc. because sales will dictate it or require it. Right now from what I read Home Depot is trying to improve. All this jumping on Home Depot I know is popular as it is to jump on Wal-Mart, but I beleive investment firms will be the last to sell their "big Box" stock especially if they can talk the price of the stock down so they can buy more. Much work is needed at Home Depot, and some people need to be replaced at store level as is true in most retail establishments, but over-all Home Depot has the potential to do great things, and probably will. P.S., I am not an employee of HD, nor am I am an investor, but I may go out and buy some HD stock soon.

I refuse to shop at my local Home Depot in Lake Worth, Florida.
Every morning anywhere from 50-100 illegals congregate around the entrances looking for work. I drive a pickup truck so they immediately follow me to where I am parking to see if I will hire them thinking that I am a contractor.
I will not shop at Home Depot any more.

JB,

She is a "he". I do not mind the training being done in-store, in-house or any other way, but more formal training must be done. I have worked with many companies in the area of corporate training and I have also designed many college projects. I agree with you that a great deal of HD's problems stem from reduced income and flexibility in some low margin retail area's.

Futhermore HD is one of my 2007 picks for the year, albeit the most stagnant. Look for my Chasing 2007 picks update on Monday 7/2/07.

I am a current employee who after almost 5 years decided it is time to leave HD. I was the department supervisor for the "pro desk". Here is the list of problems I have faced dailey.
1. bad deck. garage, pole barn designs on the computer systems.
2. Takes to long to do special orders.
3. not all the products needed to sell the whole job.
4. micro management (let me do my job)
5. at home services vs. contractor services.
6. selling compettitors products ex. owens siding coming from distributor that sells the same produt to contractors at discounted prices.
7. no incentive for contractors to buy from HD, no discount for quanities or no free deliveries.
The customer service my sales associates and I have built keeps them coming back. in my district I ran the smallest pro desk 1 computer 1 phone and after 1 year we are tops in sales, the other stores have 5 sales assoc. 4-5 computers 4-5 phones and i managed to stay on top. This is a partial list but i could go on for days with the problems at HD

I WORK FOR HOME DEPOT NOW AND I WILL TELL YOU THAT THEY ARE KILLING THEIR EMPLOYEES.I AM AN INVENTORY MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATE IN MARYLAND AND I HAVE MORE ON MY PLATE EACH DAY THAN YOU COULD EVER IMAGINE.IF THEY WOULD HIRE MORE PEOPLE AND LEAVE THE DEDICATED EMPLOYEES ALONE TO DO THEIR JOB , OUR CUSTOMERS WOULD SEE A HUGE DIFFERENCE.WE NED MORE EMPLOYEES SO WE CAN GET BACK TO QUALITY CUSTOMER SERVICE..BUT THAT IS ONLY THE TIP OF THE MOUNTAIN.........

HERE IT IS IN A NUT SHELL.
RETAIL IS RETAIL NO MATER WHERE YOU GO IT IS HARD TO FIND CUSTOMER SERVICE.BUT H/D HAS TAKEN IT TO A NEW LEVEL AND GOOD OLD BOB IS TO BLAME FOR THAT.HERE IS A LIST OF THING THAT THEY HAVE CUT OVER THE LAST SIX YEARS.
HOURS--INVENTORY--RAISES--HANDS ON TRAINING--INPROVEMENTS TO THE STORES-- AND SUPPLIES SO WE CAN DO THE JOB RIGHT.THIS IS JUST A FEW THINGS THAT WE HAVE LOST.HERE IS WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO FIX IT. MORE HOURS PER STORE BASED ON THERE SALES--GET RID OF THE PAY CAP--LET THE STORES ORDER THE INVENTORY THEY NEED NOT WHAT HOME OFFICE THINKS WE SHOULD HAVE--GET BACK TO HANDS ON TRAINING, THE COMPUTER CLASSES ARE A JOKE--GET THE MANAMENT BACK ON THE SALES FLOOR WHERE THEY NEED TO BE AND HELP US.THIS IS JUST A FEW THINGS HOME DEPOT CAN DO NOW TO REALY HELP US.

The "Pay Cap" silvaah speaks of isn't what it seems to be on the surface. There are pay ranges for each position. An associate that reaches the max no longer receives an increase to their hourly pay rate each year. They receive instead a "lump sum" payment twice a year based on their performance. The pay ranges were put in place several years ago to ensure fair pay for the position, responsibility and performance. An hourly associate in Los Angeles has the potential to make $23-25 hr. based on their background, experience and training. There are also additional monetary incentives and rewards (ie..Success Sharing, Homer Badges, Orange Juiced, discounts on stock purchases, 401K, purchase discount programs, etc). The Home Depot is no different that most companies. It is far from perfect but is a good place to work and the pay is fair. It would be a much better place if every associate turned their efforts to providing excellent customer service, instock, signing and maintenance!

I went into a Home Despot in Tennessee and paid for a truck load of lumber. I needed about 50 pressure treated 2 X 4's and I was told to get those out front but the ones out front were the picked over ones, many still had bark on the edges and they were twisted, curled and warped. I coudn't find even 5 good ones. When I asked them to bring out more 2 X 4's I was told NO! They said I had to take what was out front (Basically scraps). I had my crew dump the H.D. lumber in front of the store while I went inside to process my refund.
I went to Lowes and got my lumber. It was cheaper and definitely of a higher quality.

Some good observations here as a former business owner and many years in the sale field I have found myself working first in two HD stores selling appliances and currently doing in home sales for the Home Services group. My observations about the stores are much the same, primarily understaffing. Most of the employees I have worked around really care and want to provide a better service. Eight hours on the concrete floors and non stop questions is wearing on anyone. The pay needs to go up and for the sales specialists they need more opportunity for commissions. Without them motivations decreases rapidly as they become weary. The company uses outside sales staff on full commission basis and most new sales people cannot survive long enough to achieve financial security. No Expenses, gas allowances, cell phone assistance, and cut commissions for not selling the most expensive products make it difficult. The leads are good, products and warranties are exceptional but prices are a little high. High level management changes are needed sooner than later.

To all that have added such thoughtful comments,

I wrote this third article in what has become a saga because so many people had so many issues they wanted to discuss. With each new post I have gained new insight myself and I'm sure the thousands of readers that have not commented no doubt have as well.

Mike and Adrian have added something to the discussion and being so specific has given me some food for thought. I feel a fourth post coming on. Look for it on Monday 7/2/07.

One thing that affects every business when it gets strapped for cash is where to cut. There a lot of fixed costs that can't be touched. I think the first two things to get cut are employee costs and differred maintenance. They reduce pay by letting more experienced workers go and hiring less people at lower pay to replace them. They wait longer to paint, re-roof, or seal the parking lot.

So what happens...exactly what we have heard about, service goes down hill fast with less people with less knowledge to help customers, and everything starts to look shabby in a hurry too.

Mike who makes all the RA-RA for HD is one of two things. A manager. Or one of the I got mine group. My last two years out of 7 I had praising reveiws. But respectively .27 and .30 cent raises. My raises were decided on in march. My reveiws were written in May. What is the corrolation. None. The lump sum on performance is just that. A performance of how you can not give out money. Want to put up a carport. I can show you. Did I mention I design kitchens. I am a machinist. Want to know how to put in carpet, any kind of flooring. I can show you. The kid who they hired for 8.00 is over at the counter with a deer in the headlights look. I own a good amount of stock and it will only go up when HD eliminates all the people who, like Mike, refuse to acknowledge that something is wrong.

I must say I remember the days of Builders Emporium here in CA, then you actually got an adult who knew what he/she was talking about and most of all could help you with questions that didn't involve and Ipod or Cellphone. Customer service has gone downhill today compared too 15 years ago, now it seems all the these companies hire anymore are just young idiots out of high school. To make matters worse, its just going to get worse before it gets better. Companies need to actually give potential employees and test on how,what,and where things are instead of the crap like (when you look at this picture, what do you see?) Its time to start hiring someone with brains and not a bubble gum/video game playing kids for these kinds of jobs.

I have worked in large and small retail stores in several areas of the country, WV, MT, UT, NV, IN, ID, AZ, and CA, and I have come to the absolute knowledge that your employees will make you successful or make you fail. You can advertise, create extreme sales, have a big new pretty store, clowns, free stuff or anything else, but it is all for nothing if your sales staff, stockers, cashiers, night crew and managers are not happy. If a company truly wanted to be the best, in whatever they do, (here is the secret Home Depot)they would do MEANIFUL training for employees, listen to their employees concerns, react to what the employees are saying (especially if it makes sense). The employees are in the trenches everyday and know what it takes to run the store. I know I am on drugs while writing this stuff, but complaints don't solve anything.

Companies today are always wanting things now! And in so doing, they cut budgets, cut employees, cut training, cut hours, and cut pay, all for the next set of figures to come out, instead of letting their investment in their employees mature. When you have tenure in your employees, you will make some serious money. Having great employees brings a higher payroll for sure, but these employees are efficient, work hard and smart and know how your company functions and can help customers in a professional manner with little error. This will save you more money then you are paying out to them! But, Home Depot and the lot of them do not want to trust that theory and won't wait for the investment they have made in hiring someone. If you do not produce numbers to the micro management immediately, you will be next on the chopping block. Good managers know the value of keeping employees.
I worked as a vendor for Home depot in Tucson, AZ in the mid 90's. One of the three stores there had a turn-over rate of 69% (avg) for three months in a row! How can you run a business with losses like that? You must figure on $20,000 per employee when they walk out the door. Home Depot needs to go back to school for a common sense course.
If Home depot wanted to set the stock market on fire, all they would have to do is let their store employees make some needed changes, and their sales and profitability would soar. Like they are reading this, anyways. Good luck to all who work at The Depot.

Booyah, Barry!!! My sentiments exactly. I had raises of .27 and .30 during my two years there. As for Mike's support of "Success Sharing", the managers of our store kept driving and driving how important it was to "hit plan" constantly. We all worked hard and we got it, for the very first time in 10 years I believe. We had a big store meeting and a celebration and the store manager passed out checks to everyone. What a great celebration it was I must say! I opened my check and grossed a grand $25.00 and cleared about $16.00. I bought lunch with it the next day. We all wanted to work very hard for the next "Success Sharing" check....yeah, right! And on the "orange juiced" thing....I couldn't wait to see if my name got placed on an orange and put on the tree in the lunch room...what incentive!!!!! Oh and discounts on stock purchases?...not until Christmas time Mike....you can get a certificate from Good Old Bob once a year at that time to buy up to $2000 of merchandise to get your so called $400 "Christmas bonus" by means of a discount on the merchandise you bought. I always loved going into the lunchroom and watch HD TV and see the store managers get a brand new pickup truck from good old Bob while all of his employees applauded him...talk about staged hype!....this place got it! Nardelli was in the military and his management style matched it.

Hopefully, HD will see Sheldon's comment in #3 above when he responded personally to me and take heed of it.....and Sheldon, why don't you apply for the HD CEO job or if any of the HD BOD are reading this why don't you hire him...and by the way you might not believe this but I am a mechanical engineer with an MBA who is an executive in the engineering and construction industry and worked in the plumbing department at HD for two years. I think I was well qualified to do that. Two years of side income to help put my kids through college was all I could take in this "incentivized environment!

It is quite simple...we don't want to hear excuses, we just want good products with good service. Home Depot is lacking in both.

The issue of "Long Term Associates needing to be positive informal leaders" needs to be addressed. Many of the remaining long term associates are unwilling to demonstrate the drive and initiative they once did. New associates have no idea of the past changes that are upsetting to those with tenure. One long term associate that violates a safety policy, demonstrates negative behavior or talks down about the company can cause more damage than anything mentioned above. It's time for the long term associates to take responsibility for their actions, stop playing the blame game and "walk the talk" regarding customer service. I am a long term associate and THD owes me nothing but a pay check every two weeks for the job I do. It's okay to complain but get over it and get back on track. I would hope that the long term associates rededicate themselves to being informal leaders, training new associates and driving customer service. It's time to put the baggage away, stop bashing where you work and project a positive and professional image. THD will be a better place for it and our customers would be a lot happier.

The new CEO will be gone within two years or less, he simply is a clone of the GE "black belt" mentality that does not fit in the retail World. They need only to look as far as Costco, to see how an efficient company is run and managed. Good pay,
low turnover and clean, well merchanised stores. The rate of turnover, is simply destroying the company, its a "no brainer". My experience includes over 35 years of retail management in the big box
stores, so I know them well.
years in retail management.