Pros
Progression from Store Assistant to Duty Manager is fairly easy if you are work hard. 10% discount card (when I was there). Hourly pay went up to living wage after I left for store assistants. Duty Managers get an extra £1.00 an hour when they hold the safe keys. Deputy Managers earn £22000 ish upwards. Store Managers earn £35000 ish upwards (outside of London). Overtime available for those that want it. Dont see much of senior managers. Culture improved whilst I was there and they did a staff review and did act on a lot of the things that came up. I had little common sense before I was promoted to Duty Manager at Lidl. It taught me to manage/ prioritise a busy workload in a pressurised environment. My only regret is that I did not leave sooner e.g. after a year of this experience. All of the bi**hing teaches you politics of a workplace!
Cons
Progression from Duty Manager upwards is unlikely unless you work yourself into the ground. Deputy managers are generally employed externally or are people that have worked themselves into the ground. It is in the interest of managers to keep staff at Duty Manager level whilst constantly promising them a promotion as they get a Deputy Manager essentially for free. My advice would be to either apply at Deputy Manager Level anyway or if you need experience apply at Store Assistant level then push to be promoted to Duty Manager level and get out after a year or so experience (you get an extra £1 an hour for holding the safe keys but this often amounts to just £50-£80 a month for a lot of extra work). Customers are often rude to the point that you shouldnt have to be spoken to in that way but the company wont accept this. I always think a balance should be found between customer service and staff welfare. No overtime pay - just standard pay no matter what time / day. Often do not leave until close to midnight or beyond when starting at 12-14.00 Company for some reason is reluctant to initiate disciplinary proceedings for staff that are absolutely useless. Sometimes they will sack someone for stealing and use this as a cover for the fact they are useless rather than go through the correct disciplinary actions (I guess gross misconduct is easier). If someone is consistently off sick they will still include them in the store's 'productivity' targets (hours v profit) so that other staff literally have to do the other persons job for no extra money. Productivity targets are constantly increased and when they are met they are increased again to near impossible levels so your job is literally never done. This affects morale and health so people take days off sick and the negative circle continues. All of the above compounds into a fairly negative environment whereby staff that do not want to work overtime or do not exceed targets are ostracised because of the pressure. The time given to work a pallet is literally timed by your manager who will speak to you (but mostly moan about you to others!) if you cant keep to speed - we are talking unrealistic targets (at least on a sustainable basis!) such as '30 mins for a whole pallet of chiller stock' and the same for a whole pallet of normal ambient stock. You have to work at your fastest level to sustain this speed for 3 hours before the store opens and almost everyone gets back / knee problems. I still have them now from this job - hence get the experience for a year (which is valuable) and GET OUT!!!