MEGATHREAD 2018-2019 Store Modernization Megathread

[SpilledTea]

When EVERYTHING is a coaching, though, when does that lose it's power?
If someone is going to get coached because they were helping a guest, phone or otherwise, and didn't finish their task work and then gets coached for finishing their task work but ignoring that guest... how long before that person just says 'fuck it'?

I've made it clear to my team that, while the focus is on extreme guest service, selling, etc., I won't be too concerned with making sure the truck push, VMGs, and sometimes even reshop are finished, especially when hours are low. They're humans; what we're asking of TMs without the payroll & support that are necessary to pull off this workload is unrealistic. And I push back on ETLs who expect performance conversations with my TMs when tasks aren't completed.

It's a shame that your leaders don't have your back.

 

[jenna]

Ok. I feel like I am taking crazy pills when people at my store try to tell me otherwise re: EXF and Audit

 

[jenna]

Yeah, I am getting pretty fed up by the crazy direction each year. Its not that the idea is inherently bad, but that I'm tired of going through the cycle. We get told that we are to focus on zone/presentation/service before freight or operations... great, and then we hit BTS, all the stores fall behind and we have a huge emergency with stores asking for support help across districts and groups. Then, we get told to do everything we can to stay afloat and end up going back to working on freight mostly. Once we recover we are told to not talk about how bad that was and that the upper leaders learned their lesson. We then go back to the beginning of the cycle.

How many times does the company level leadership for stores have to make the same mistakes before someone gets fired huh? The last thing people at the stores have time to focus on is zone or service, and with the resources we have if we do start to focus on those things then something has got to give.... and it will be the trucks/replenishment yet again as we ignore our mistakes.

Ding ding! We have a winner, folks.

The most guest facing thing I can do is be in stock. And maintain a decent zone and full endcaps and sidecaps.

But I need the payroll to do it all.

 

[graffiti]

When EVERYTHING is a coaching, though, when does that lose it's power?
If someone is going to get coached because they were helping a guest, phone or otherwise, and didn't finish their task work and then gets coached for finishing their task work but ignoring that guest... how long before that person just says 'fuck it'?

Yup. Really we have to prioritize what our leaders prioritize, and just because they parrot the company's focus for that week that still isn't always what they actually want from us. So if freight > stopping each guest > pulls > gobacks > backstock > zone > filling outs > plano > pricing > always answering phones > always answering backup calls is what I'm most likely to least likely going to get yelled at by a certain leader for not doing, that's what I'm prioritizing. And each leader will be different.

 

[Times Up]

One time it was 2 TMs' second day on the job. The STL told me to show them how to set pogs (just endcaps that day), pull the batches, backstock, and research, in addition to showing them how to read floor locations on the myDevice. In a 4 hour shift

😱

 

[REDcardJJ]

When EVERYTHING is a coaching, though, when does that lose it's power?
If someone is going to get coached because they were helping a guest, phone or otherwise, and didn't finish their task work and then gets coached for finishing their task work but ignoring that guest... how long before that person just says 'fuck it'?
If Target TRULY cared about "great guest experience" and that wasn't just a stupid phrase they tack onto front of store TMs and sell to the shareholders... wouldn't they have a process in place that SUPPORTS guest service instead of finding every possible way to promote ignoring guests to be the best way forward?
What I know is, what *doesn't* deliver "great guest experience" is TMs who are in constant fear of being coached for unrealistic expectations, usually by a leader somewhere that doesn't understand what they're going through because Spot decided to segregate the departments and ownerships of the store to a degree unseen in likely the history of the company.

then we’ll keep coaching until we have enough to terminate

 

[Overadecade]

then we’ll keep coaching until we have enough to terminate

Not that this is a line of discussion worth continuing...
But, if you're not being careful to distinguish between an employee who deserves to be fired, and one that simply is crushed under the weight of impossible expectations and painfully bad store morale, the question will be "what happens when there's no one left?"
Because, trust me, a LOT of stores are feeling close to that edge.

 

[Overadecade]

I've made it clear to my team that, while the focus is on extreme guest service, selling, etc., I won't be too concerned with making sure the truck push, VMGs, and sometimes even reshop are finished, especially when hours are low. They're humans; what we're asking of TMs without the payroll & support that are necessary to pull off this workload is unrealistic. And I push back on ETLs who expect performance conversations with my TMs when tasks aren't completed.

It's a shame that your leaders don't have your back.

It comes from the top, which is whatever level of district management that's currently pestering your SD, unfortunately.
My store became such a constant mantra of "just make it work, get it all done" without any direction or leadership on HOW that was supposed to get done (because, let's be honest, no one KNOWS how to make it work, even the people who rolled it out) that the entire store, top down, just feels crushed and defeated.

The biggest issue for us was at the ETL level, where they very much embraced the "supervision only" message, and now had all sorts of free time to find the tiniest flaws in "brand," service, etc, and would coach the shit out of their leaders without really understanding how the new system worked and just how damn much workload and pressure was being put on the TMs.
So, some of those TLs started passing off that attitude towards their TMs, coaching them sometimes overly aggressively and randomly for things that were often unreasonable, and worse, a good share of those TMs are getting coached for whatever they prioritize because each leader in their area, and then often the closing leader, have different priorities themselves. So, one GM TL could tell you that your revisions HAVE to get done, and your price change HAS to get done (probably because they were the plano lead before this) while your other GM leader tells you that RTS and guest service is your priority, and the closing lead is going to coach you if the zone isn't done.
And these expectations never get clarified, because at the ETL level the message is "there are no priorities, it all needs to be done."

 

[Go2TL]

Exactly this. And what happens if you're talking to a guest while the phone goes off? Especially in electronics, which gets the most phone calls and spends the most time talking to guests? One time I had to cover electronics while they were on the phone for over 20 minutes. Target's expectations are beyond unreasonable recently, although some of it is just certain TLs in my store. Backroom is expected to clear the gun for the 1s and 3s by 2 and 4 o'clock, respectively. That means all fillgroups, OOS'es, and pogs. Pogs are particularly unfair because lazy TMs will drop a batch knowing they don't have to pull it, but then the BR person gets blamed. Market is pretty good at picking theirs, but whoever is in domestics never pulls theirs.
And while I'm on the topic of unreasonable expectations, in ~14 months SFS has gone through 6 people (not counting seasonals), and it looks like one of the current ones is about to either leave or get moved to another area soon as well. I have a couple of previous posts about SFS in my store and don't want to repeat myself. Who would want a position with such a high turnover? There's a reason that every flex TM since before last Thanksgiving has been an outside hire despite the position being posted by the time clock.

This whole "modernization" thing feels like we have to do twice the amount of work in half the amount of time. The veterans can handle it, but I feel horrible for the new ones. One time it was 2 TMs' second day on the job. The STL told me to show them how to set pogs (just endcaps that day), pull the batches, backstock, and research, in addition to showing them how to read floor locations on the myDevice. In a 4 hour shift. That is simply too much to pack into such a short time frame. And best of all, they were going to spend a couple of weeks at another Target after that and would likely get no training there. (The store in question has a very hard time retaining workers, and relies on other stores sending help. It is about 150 miles away, which shows how desperate they are, but that's not the point.

We are being made to constantly be on edge, where everything we do is on such a strict timer that even helping a guest for a couple of minutes will likely make us miss our goal times. If this keeps up, we'll soon have stores where most if not all of the regular employees have been there less than a year, and soon after that Target will be going the way of K-Mart and Sears unless something changes.

You still have backroom people? Interesting!!

 

[REDcardJJ]

Not that this is a line of discussion worth continuing...
But, if you're not being careful to distinguish between an employee who deserves to be fired, and one that simply is crushed under the weight of impossible expectations and painfully bad store morale, the question will be "what happens when there's no one left?"
Because, trust me, a LOT of stores are feeling close to that edge.

you’re pushing your workload onto my team by not answering the phone. how’s that fair to the front end, specifically Guest Services, which already ALSO has a lot to do?

 

[seasonaldude]

You aren't saving yourself any time by not answering calls for your department. If the calls go through to GS, they're either going to repeatedly transfer the call to you or call you out on the walkie to answer whatever question it is the caller has so it can be relayed to them. Yes, GS could just look things up on their device, but woe be to any service desk TM who trusts what the device says about inventory counts. Everyone who works anywhere near the front end learns very quickly why that is the case.

Almost all calls, except for electronics, take very little time to deal with. They're just do you sell X or do you have X in stock or can you put X on hold for me?

 

[Overadecade]

The point is, we weren't *having* this argument several months ago, when a TM with a four hour shift didn't own every single process in an area of the store, and weren't being timed on how long it takes them to stock a UBoat.
This is yet another problem Spot created, and another example of how their splitting up the areas and removing team work from the equation pits TMs and teams against one another, instead of a system that's not working.

 

[Black Sheep 214]

When EVERYTHING is a coaching, though, when does that lose it's power?
If someone is going to get coached because they were helping a guest, phone or otherwise, and didn't finish their task work and then gets coached for finishing their task work but ignoring that guest... how long before that person just says 'fuck it'?

Judging by my store, or our neighboring store, not long...

And while I'm on the topic of unreasonable expectations, in ~14 months SFS has gone through 6 people (not counting seasonals), and it looks like one of the current ones is about to either leave or get moved to another area soon as well. I have a couple of previous posts about SFS in my store and don't want to repeat myself. Who would want a position with such a high turnover? There's a reason that every flex TM since before last Thanksgiving has been an outside hire despite the position being posted by the time clock.

SFS/OPU is the job from Hell, and if the ETL hails from there too, the unrealistic expectations, lack of clear direction and priorities that change with the wind are enough to drive anyone out. No one can meet expectations that change daily without being communicated to the team, or prioritize workload when the ETL is unwilling or unable to set priorities because they would rather set the team up to fail than take responsibility for their lack of leadership and direction.

It's a shame that your leaders don't have your back.

Lack of support from leadership, or micromanagement to the point of impeding progress, can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. If the team is able to accomplish more on the ETL’s day off than when the ETL is there “leading”, its not the team that needs coaching.

 

[happygoth]

You aren't saving yourself any time by not answering calls for your department. If the calls go through to GS, they're either going to repeatedly transfer the call to you or call you out on the walkie to answer whatever question it is the caller has so it can be relayed to them. Yes, GS could just look things up on their device, but woe be to any service desk TM who trusts what the device says about inventory counts. Everyone who works anywhere near the front end learns very quickly why that is the case.

Almost all calls, except for electronics, take very little time to deal with. They're just do you sell X or do you have X in stock or can you put X on hold for me?

This is the truth in a nutshell, 100%.

I do see all sides of this debacle. @Overadecade really hit the nail on the head with the mixed messages and different priorities depending on who's LOD for the shift (we still have LODs, lol). This is something that I really struggled with when I was first hired - what's more important? Zoning, pushing truck, sorting reshop, pushing reshop? Obviously helping guests is top priority, but I've certainly had the feeling throughout my retail career that I could really get some work done if it wasn't for those pesky customers! 😜

I had a nice conversation with a fellow TM who had been there about a year, where I expressed my frustration with the lack of clear direction. I felt better afterward and realized that my best course of action was to touch base with the LOD and do whatever they said (something no one had ever really told me to do). If my TL then questioned something, I just told them "The LOD told me to do this", and I was covered. This has served me to this day, although now I don't have to seek out the LOD as I pretty much know what the priority is for my position. But if the LOD tells me to do something else, that's what I do and it's all good.

 

[Overadecade]

This is the truth in a nutshell, 100%.

I do see all sides of this debacle. @Overadecade really hit the nail on the head with the mixed messages and different priorities depending on who's LOD for the shift (we still have LODs, lol). This is something that I really struggled with when I was first hired - what's more important? Zoning, pushing truck, sorting reshop, pushing reshop? Obviously helping guests is top priority, but I've certainly had the feeling throughout my retail career that I could really get some work done if it wasn't for those pesky customers! 😜

I had a nice conversation with a fellow TM who had been there about a year, where I expressed my frustration with the lack of clear direction. I felt better afterward and realized that my best course of action was to touch base with the LOD and do whatever they said (something no one had ever really told me to do). If my TL then questioned something, I just told them "The LOD told me to do this", and I was covered. This has served me to this day, although now I don't have to seek out the LOD as I pretty much know what the preiority is for my position. But if the LOD tells me to do something else, that's what I do and it's all good.

I am glad that this works for you, but there's so much disconnect between our leadership that that's not a recipe for success for the team.
Doing what the closing leader tells you to do gets you yelled at by the next TL you encounter from your area, and vice versa. If you're having a *really* good day, saying "leader X told me to do this" leads to leader Y arguing with leader X about expectations, and leader X coming back to yell at you for getting them yelled at.

It's nice to know that not every store is dealing with this new roll out this poorly, but I also would worry that many stores are just one leadership change away from chaos like we experience.

 

[happygoth]

I am glad that this works for you, but there's so much disconnect between our leadership that that's not a recipe for success for the team.
Doing what the closing leader tells you to do gets you yelled at by the next TL you encounter from your area, and vice versa. If you're having a *really* good day, saying "leader X told me to do this" leads to leader Y arguing with leader X about expectations, and leader X coming back to yell at you for getting them yelled at.

It's nice to know that not every store is dealing with this new roll out this poorly, but I also would worry that many stores are just one leadership change away from chaos like we experience.

Well it appears that we are pretty far behind in rolling out the new program, so I fear that things may take a turn when the bulk of the changes are implemented. Until the day of reckoning comes, I'm just trying to keep my head down and do what I've been doing.

 

[seasonaldude]

I am glad that this works for you, but there's so much disconnect between our leadership that that's not a recipe for success for the team.
Doing what the closing leader tells you to do gets you yelled at by the next TL you encounter from your area, and vice versa. If you're having a *really* good day, saying "leader X told me to do this" leads to leader Y arguing with leader X about expectations, and leader X coming back to yell at you for getting them yelled at.

It's nice to know that not every store is dealing with this new roll out this poorly, but I also would worry that many stores are just one leadership change away from chaos like we experience.

It sounds like your store is a little too stuck in the old ways. Every leader in the building shouldn't be telling you what to do. If you are on GM TL 1's team that's whose priorities you follow. Other TLs should not be contradicting those priorities with limited exceptions. TLs within a section also shouldn't have vastly different priorities because their direct report should be telling them what to prioritize.

Of the many awful things about modernization this isn't one of them. It took awhile but once the leaders in my store got on board with this it made everyone's lives easier. TMs don't have to worry about contradictory instructions from leads and TLs mostly just need to worry about their TMs. It's nice and I hope for your sake that the leaders in your store figure that out.

 

[Overadecade]

It sounds like your store is a little too stuck in the old ways. Every leader in the building shouldn't be telling you what to do. If you are on GM TL 1's team that's whose priorities you follow. Other TLs should not be contradicting those priorities with limited exceptions. TLs within a section also shouldn't have vastly different priorities because their direct report should be telling them what to prioritize.

Of the many awful things about modernization this isn't one of them. It took awhile but once the leaders in my store got on board with this it made everyone's lives easier. TMs don't have to worry about contradictory instructions from leads and TLs mostly just need to worry about their TMs. It's nice and I hope for your sake that the leaders in your store figure that out.

Look at an area like Style; 2 TLs, and ETL, and a closing leader that alternates between telling the closing TMs the wrong things to do, or ignoring them entirely. And a VM who's job it is to find things wrong with the Style and Home areas, and then pull TMs off their tasks (or have TLs do it) to do something stupid and nitpicky so they feel like they did their job.
Similarly with Front of Store; 2 TLs, and ETL, and no longer any GSAs.
On top of that, an SD that barely understands any of the areas anymore, gives negative feedback to the ETL of the area, who passes that on to the TLs without understanding it either, and it's just one giant cycle of everyone doing something different every day.

Before this, minus maybe ONE TL that wouldn't play ball, our store ran like one big unit. Everyone knew that at some point they were going to have to be LOD, especially during closing shifts being just one TL/ETL that was different each night of the week, and everyone knew that if they only focused on their own areas to the detriment of others, they were only screwing themselves in the long run.
We were all on the same page at that point, and our TMs actually had resources they could go to at all times if they had questions or needed help or support.

Breaking that up and having us only care about ourselves has created a cutthroat environment where no one will do anything to help another area, and resource stealing has become a real problem.
You want to know why no one cares that the Service Desk is pissed off about calls ringing back? This is why.
Hell, if a call button goes off 10 feet from a TM, they won't answer it if it's not technically their "ownership" and a leader has to run and grab it.

Similar things started happening as soon as we assigned specific people Zebras and left everyone else to fight for the scraps while 10 of them sit unused in the lock up.
TMs started hiding the "free" Zebras, hoarding the batteries, trying to switch the labels on the Zebras to screw other teams, etc.

This whole thing has created problems that at least my store never had. The worst of which is turned a store where everyone at least tolerated other teams because they knew they had to work with them, to a workplace that more often than not feels vindictive, defeated, and blame casting.

 

[jenna]

Judging by my store, or our neighboring store, not long...

SFS/OPU is the job from Hell, and if the ETL hails from there too, the unrealistic expectations, lack of clear direction and priorities that change with the wind are enough to drive anyone out. No one can meet expectations that change daily without being communicated to the team, or prioritize workload when the ETL is unwilling or unable to set priorities because they would rather set the team up to fail than take responsibility for their lack of leadership and direction.

Lack of support from leadership, or micromanagement to the point of impeding progress, can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. If the team is able to accomplish more on the ETL’s day off than when the ETL is there “leading”, its not the team that needs coaching.

I get the most accomplished when I am "left alone" to do my own prioritizing.

 

[seasonaldude]

Look at an area like Style; 2 TLs, and ETL, and a closing leader that alternates between telling the closing TMs the wrong things to do, or ignoring them entirely. And a VM who's job it is to find things wrong with the Style and Home areas, and then pull TMs off their tasks (or have TLs do it) to do something stupid and nitpicky so they feel like they did their job.
Similarly with Front of Store; 2 TLs, and ETL, and no longer any GSAs.
On top of that, an SD that barely understands any of the areas anymore, gives negative feedback to the ETL of the area, who passes that on to the TLs without understanding it either, and it's just one giant cycle of everyone doing something different every day.

Before this, minus maybe ONE TL that wouldn't play ball, our store ran like one big unit. Everyone knew that at some point they were going to have to be LOD, especially during closing shifts being just one TL/ETL that was different each night of the week, and everyone knew that if they only focused on their own areas to the detriment of others, they were only screwing themselves in the long run.
We were all on the same page at that point, and our TMs actually had resources they could go to at all times if they had questions or needed help or support.

Breaking that up and having us only care about ourselves has created a cutthroat environment where no one will do anything to help another area, and resource stealing has become a real problem.
You want to know why no one cares that the Service Desk is pissed off about calls ringing back? This is why.
Hell, if a call button goes off 10 feet from a TM, they won't answer it if it's not technically their "ownership" and a leader has to run and grab it.

Similar things started happening as soon as we assigned specific people Zebras and left everyone else to fight for the scraps while 10 of them sit unused in the lock up.
TMs started hiding the "free" Zebras, hoarding the batteries, trying to switch the labels on the Zebras to screw other teams, etc.

This whole thing has created problems that at least my store never had. The worst of which is turned a store where everyone at least tolerated other teams because they knew they had to work with them, to a workplace that more often than not feels vindictive, defeated, and blame casting.

While I do get the competition between teams thing as we have some of that too, I do think your store is just exceptionally dysfunctional. With only a couple of exceptions I get along with other TMs in my store. I can just avoid the exceptions, so any fighting between teams doesn't bother me.

The just have to follow the commands of your direct reports up the line is very nice to me. (Obviously, those direct reports need to be on the same page.) I just have to worry about what the SETLs want. Don't have to worry about what ETL-LOG thinks I should do between picks. Not his choice. That's nice.

 

[Tessa120]

So is Guest Services going to do my work when I answer the phone calls? My ass is grass if I don't get at least most of my work done and we get a LOT of calls

Cry me a river. My time in the trenches, which ended only last month, I could juggle phone and people in front of me no problem. Slows down zone some, but unless you have only one arm you have a free hand to zone. Not a problem to have people going in and out of fitting rooms plus someone needing help in NIT and two calls on the line...and that's not unusual compared to my previous receptionist and administrative support jobs. Phones are not an issue for sales floor staff.

 

[vngoghlvr]

My issues with answering calls is they are constantly saying hardlines or softlines has a call on hold. Then none of us respond because we don't know which department. Then when one of us does finally pick up the call it's not for our department. Rather than put the poor guest on hold again I go find what they need. But then it pulls me out of my department. They were supposed to tell everyone to look at the grid and call a specific person to pick up but that still isn't happening.

 

[seasonaldude]

My issues with answering calls is they are constantly saying hardlines or softlines has a call on hold. Then none of us respond because we don't know which department. Then when one of us does finally pick up the call it's not for our department. Rather than put the poor guest on hold again I go find what they need. But then it pulls me out of my department. They were supposed to tell everyone to look at the grid and call a specific person to pick up but that still isn't happening.

The reason it isn't happening is primarily because all salesfloor TMs are not good at picking up calls when called. There are some people who always manage to be with a guest/in the back/gee the phone app isn't working for them today/or just no response at all when called. Why bother calling out people you know will not respond?

It's on your TLs to make sure that everyone in their department is responding appropriately. If they are letting some people slack on that, then calls will go to the department. Yes, it sucks that this is the way it is. But, salesfloor's job is to answer the phones. We all need to do our jobs or we all suffer (even more).

 

[Tessa120]

If I don't answer 5 calls, oh well. Life goes on.

If I don't push 5 U-boats, how are we going to take tomorrow's truck? Honestly, Target split the team up with all this nonsense. I'm not going to care about your area of the store when mine is on fire, and I know my leaders will back me up on that.

Other TLs: "Sloth is refusing to answer the phone, and other people are having to cover calls in that area."
Sloth's TL: "That's fine, Sloth is exempt, because Sloth has so much to do."

Um...no. Not buying it.

 

[Spotter]

Is the company leaning towards replacing most of the ETL’s with TL key carriers? The GM1 (my position) basically I’m the opening LOD 5 days a week. Run inbound, and run a department on the floor. You have the closing TL that works M-F. All the ETL’s and SD now work mids ,close weekends,and basically just there now just to stare at the computer and look at metrics all day long. If there is any issues you call the TL over that area. Rarely get a call for an ETL to handle anything anymore.