American Greetings Reviews

Current Employee – been working at American Greetings full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – -Diverse work environment--first place I worked where it's not unusual to pass dogs when walking down the hallways.
-Given the opportunity to move to new/different jobs

Cons – -Shrinking business - constant downsizing, limits ability to advance
-Can't hold employees accountable because priorities/projects change so quickly it's difficult/impossible to complete a task before you have to change direction again
-too many "officers" for a company it's size--which inflates costs

Advice to Senior Management – You like to say the right things but you don't do the right things. Understanding a business is not the same as leading/running a company. Consider hiring Sr Management that know how to lead and run a company.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at American Greetings full-time for more than 10 years

Pros – Ability to move between disciplines and learn/experience new skills. American Greetings does not limit you to your current discipline but will allow operations to move into finance, finance into sales etc.

Cons – Constant work force reduction eliminating career opportunities. Greeting Cards is a mature industry requiring the company to closely monitor costs and reduce. Most of those reductions come though head count reduction which has reached a level it has almost the best part of the company, the ability to move between jobs and gain experience.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at American Greetings

Pros – Fun Environment, well known company

Cons – Bad LEadership
Lots of layoffs
Confusing company

Former Employee – worked at American Greetings

Pros – Pay is ok.
Excellent way to network in order to find a more stable position.

Cons – They do not give enough time for the work expected. You are supposed to charge every phone call, e-mail or discussion you have about work but if you do you will have less time to actually work the store. Supervisors know it's too little time yet pressure you to "somehow" get it done.

They tell you it's a flexible schedule but then start putting other scheduling expectations on you. You must schedule your calls on the day your order delivers. You find out that specific stores only want you there on certain days or certain times.

Your schedule does not load until the day before the week begins. It's difficult to make any personal plans.

There is an expectation that you carry a cell phone yet they won't reimburse you. I finally told them I wasn't going to carry my cell phone at work anymore. In fact you must use your own cell phone, internet service, land line AND buy your own packing tape and office supplies etc. if needed.

You aren't given a mileage reimbursement, they give you travel time between stores but not to your first store or your trip home. There are times I had only one service call for an hour. That meant that I received no travel time. My pay for the day basically paid for the gas to get there.

There is no consistency in your schedule. One week you might have 20 hours, the next 5.

Advice to Senior Management – All managers should have to work at a store for a few weeks to understand how important the merchandisers are to the company. Give us realistic expectations to avoid high turnover.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at American Greetings

Pros – - The creative studio. You have access to some of the most talented and diverse creatives in the country.
- Ability to have experience and opportunities with different lines of business.
- Offers access to training and development on numerous areas of focus, such as leadership development, financial, etc.

Cons – - Environment of paranoia. Layoffs can happen at any time without warning. You're told, "be glad you have a job."
- Lots of senior management promoting growth and innovation, but the business itself does neither.
- Instead of supporting the areas of the business that have been identified as long term growth opportunities, the corporation continues to just acquire smaller players that have any significant presence at retail.
- Continues to send more creative overseas, which sends the message "quantity and cheap vs. experience and quality."
- Majority of senior management manages with fear. They like to squirrel away information from their colleagues and are too focused on themselves to allow others to shine in the workplace. Their middle managers, who focus on growth, change and staff development become a threat to their own bosses.
- Leadership is GREATLY preached; however, the senior management are not leaders. The real leaders in the organization are the middle management and their teams, which are always the first to be laid off.

Advice to Senior Management – This is a business that has run a certain way, with a specific mindset for one hundred years. Either accept that you will always be number two with a focus on acquiring and dissolving the smaller players or TRULY focus on growth, innovation and becoming the leader in the category versus the follower. Value your creative. It's the ONE thing that makes you unique and special. If you acquire competition such as Papyrus and Recycled Paper Greetings, acknowledge the reason you acquired them in the first place is that they were doing something right in the first place. Take the time to analyze their successes vs. automatically thinking you know it all, and reduce it to nothing. Take a very hard look at your senior management. They are not the future of your organization. They have been part of the organization 20 years+ and have never worked anywhere else. If they have, it’s usually another greeting card company. How are you going to attract the best, most eager young talent? You’re not.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at American Greetings

Pros – The only game in town in the immediate area. Plantation atmosphere.

Cons – Not one minority supervisor in a company of 1,200 employees. Good ole boys.

Advice to Senior Management – Hire a warehouse professional, not a bs artist.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at American Greetings

Pros – -Very creative environment
-Discounts on AG cards and products

Cons – -Limited opportunities for advancement
-Salaries are below market

Current Employee – been working at American Greetings

Pros – Our schedules are fairly flexible. I enjoy the actual work involved in merchandising and working with other merchandisers at revisions.

Cons – I've never worked for a company that criticized their people about the silliest things. No matter how hard you work, it is never good enough. They expect you to complete tasks in very small amounts of time and when it doesn't get done, they don't understand why. Many people work off the clock so they don't get in trouble for going over hours. When raise time comes around and you are rated as "Exceeding Expectations", they tell you that you can't get the raise that goes with it because you make too much money. If I were supporting a family alone, my wages would be considered poverty level.

Advice to Senior Management – When you want to criticize your employees, at least make it something that makes a difference in sales. You shouldn't make criticizing a required part of workwiths. If someone does a good job, give them the raise they deserve - you really don't pay that well. Stop telling us that the budget for merchandising is your biggest expense. Without us, you would have no sales.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at American Greetings

Pros – Family atmosphere, mostly stable employer, Starbucks on site, card/gift shop on site. Overall the people are good to work with and you don't see too much in the way of personality conflicts. Mostly a low-stress work environment.

Cons – Health benefits don't pay for anything and the costs are outrageously high. Get on a spouse's plan if possible. The 401(k) is meh, and there's no company match. In Interactive, the marketing people are brain-dead -- they basically give away product at a steep loss and expect this tactic to build a loyal customer base. It didn't work the last time they tried it with Photoworks and it won't work this time. Management obviously does not learn from past failures. Projects are seldom completed on time and no-one is held accountable for delays. Projects always seem to be a response to something else (e.g., Apple's tablet app) and there's no real innovation.

Advice to Senior Management – Start holding managers in Interactive accountable for losses, missed deadlines, projects that get scoped down to meet a deadline, and high turnover. A lot of highly talented tech people have quit because they were overworked to meet unrealistic deadlines, under-compensated for their efforts, and lurched from one project to the next with no real sense of vision or purpose from the organization. And when it comes to Just Wink, you just don't get it. Want to see innovative, youth-oriented card sites? Study Someecards or Jib Jab. Stalker jokes, F-bombs and vulgarities in your cards? Trust me, nobody wants that and nobody thinks it's funny.

Former Employee – worked at American Greetings

Pros – The hours are flexible. The job can be entertaining.

Cons – Poor communication and expectations with those who do not know what is actually going on in the stores.

Advice to Senior Management – Visit those who are in the trenches and and get a feel for the reality of how it works.