MEGATHREAD 2018-2019 Store Modernization Megathread

[OPINION] How do you feel about these changes?

  • I like them.

  • I dislike them.

Results are only viewable after voting.
REDcardJJ said:
we haven't rolled anything from truck in months. MONTHS, even after taking multiple doubles. GM still answers backup calls. these things aren't mutually exclusive.

what is probably happening is only one team member responds for backup because no one else wants to, so THEY end up spending a lot of their shift on a lane so THEIR tasks aren't getting done, whereas if everyone took turns they'd all still be able to get their stuff done.

i know none of you would probably know about this, but when guests have to wait in backed up lines, we hear about it in myGuest. pissed off guests take surveys. then it tanks the store's NPS.
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So the truck is being done in its entirety and sales floor is able to do all their tasks and they even have time to do backup without affecting their completion of tasks because you are the only area of the store lacking hours for full staffing and they have plenty to borrow from. Not buying it. Hard to believe your store has all the hours it needs when no one else does.
 
Hardlinesmaster said:
Sales floor tries to do their best with limited hours. Spot is lost is right now.
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You should see our backroom. We rolled over yesterday and got a double today, lots of callouts (we're getting SO MANY of those lately!)...lost doesn't even begin to describe how we are.

We rolled over something like 40-50 softlines repacks. It's awful back there.
 
Back in the early 80s, I read a book about the communist Soviet Union. It went into great detail about living conditions there. Basic staples were scarce and rationed, and people queued up to get them, usually standing in line for hours daily to get bread, meat, toilet paper, shoes, and other mostly poor quality goods.

Karen can wait a few more minutes
 
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qmosqueen said:
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Musta been responding to back-ups.
 
And it's so cute that Target thinks minimal guest disruption and full salesfloors is gonna be a thing. We went for years bugging guests if they need help and now we are gonna try our best to just FILL THE FLOOR and hope the guest doesn't bug us. I have to avert my eyes from guests now because I don't want to be slowed down by helping people. Don't get me wrong most people I help are complete morons who would look for hours in our store to find a simple and easy to find thing and it's frustrating but the hypocrisy of this damn process is so damn obvious that it insults my very intention of working here and giving a f. Basically, I will work how I see fit because I own my business in my area and as long as sales are good and endcaps are full and I keep my backroom aisle on a low error rate...my bosses can go drink a damn starbucks and suck my...ego up.
 
gsa4lyfe said:
For starters when I was GSTL I was told I was not allowed to just hop on a lane as I have to be available for the guest and my team at any given moment. What if I’m on and a cashier has a question or someone at the service desk needs my help? I get that we look like we’re just standing about and it drove me insane too but it was apart of the job. I was often coached for just hopping on and helping out without calling for backup. We’re supposed to be first responder but only when there’s a backup on the way to take over. Also again refer to my first comment where a store literally can’t function without cashiers. If you have a call out in GM the store will function.
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I wish our SETL actually followed that. They absolutely have to be available and up front while they're calling for backup. But when they want to spend literally hours a day at TSC, it's apparently fine that they aren't watching the floor. So many of our front end team are getting upset about it. It's ridiculous how many times a day you hear on the walkie "Hey (SETL), what's your location?" "I'm at TSC".

I do flexes and our drive-up area is right beside TSC, and I swear almost every time I go up there that TL is just hanging out talking to the HRTM, some ETL, eating lunch while not actually being on lunch break, etc.

Another great example of Target's definition of "Leadership" meaning "asking people to do your job for you" and having absolutely nothing to do with setting an example for others to follow.
 
This thread is pretty hilarious both because it shows how terrible the attitudes of some people that Target considers "leaders" are and how this modernization has inherently caused the teams to fracture and be at each others throats instead of being one cohesive team with one goal.

If somehow your store is doing what 95% of stores aren't - coming clean even a majority of the time (nevermind every single day for months at a time) that's great. Our SETLs wouldn't even know that because they haven't set foot in the back in ages.

But that aside, which do you think is more likely to lose a guest? The last 3 times they came in, we didn't have any of the product we needed? Or waiting an extra 5 minutes in line?

One is an annoyance that they forget about the moment they leave the store, the other they remember both while they're shopping at a second store to get the item they wanted (a store which now has the opportunity to win this guest over because the items they wanted were sitting on a uboat in the back), and the next time they're thinking about coming in.

Luckily (or perhaps not if we are talking long term health), inflation is a thing and the population in most areas is growing, so sales numbers will still go up even if people are being driven away. It's a lot harder to notice. But there's a reason 5% comp is considered standard in retail. Average inflation is around 3% a year, so anything less than that and you're losing ground. Expanded population makes up for the rest. So many people don't understand that. They say "hey our sales are up, we must be doing good", when in reality they are just barely treading water, if anything.
 
Modernization JUST has been rolled out at front end. Obviously many stores haven't implemented it yet.

The elimination of gas title put those positions back to work with guests. It adds to frontend. We now have SETLs who can also get on lanes, etc.
We literally haven't called for backup in 2 weeks.
 
gsa4lyfe said:
Is your store still open? Are guests buying things? Then yes your store is functioning. I’m not saying it’s great but your store will survive for 20-60 minutes of no one on the floor but won’t survive without a cashier for that time.
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Do you have any idea what can be done in 60mins? That’s anywhere between 50-70 cases that replenishes the floor. And I’ve seen TMs been on register for back up more than 60 mins in their shift. Even with this “rotation” schedule that they implement I still had my guys called up 7-10x on their shift...while the front end guy twiddles his thumbs just watching the lane with SCO wide open and he himself could hop on a lane.

60 mins is also a lot when some TMs are scheduled 5.5hours or 4hours. You’re literally taking a huge chunk of workload out of their shift that they are now being coached on....and it does stop from a LOT of product to hit the floor. A lot of what comes off the truck is what’s out on the floor...and the hole will never be filled if we don’t complete the truck otherwise it will just sit on the line in limbo.
I’ve worked both front end and GM and I know the frustrations from both sides, Both sides are equally important. Get that holier than thou mentality that front end is the end all. You can lose business on both sides, from the guests at the front and the guests on the floor.

I’ve heard talks from other guests that say they would just go to Walmart because target shelves are always empty....🙄 I’ve seen them complain and leave the store empty handed and those guests do not make it to your front end, they go right out the exit doors. Plus it can literally affect OPU and SFS metrics if the items they need are still on our vehicle push and hasn’t hit the floor which also affects even more sales....

And an unfinished truck with no one pushed a single vehicle all day? You say it like it’s not a big deal. This alone proves to me you’ve never had the reality check of truly working GM currently because if you did you’d realize that was the most laughable thing to comment on as if it wasn’t a big deal.

That’s a downhill road to the apocalypse.

Yes getting a low NPS score would also be detrimental but I’ve seen surveys about the sales floor as well. “Shelves are always empty, freight on the floor with no one around”. I’ve literally read bad surveys about a mom trying to buy what she needed for her daughter (infant) because it said we had it and she rushed to the store just to find out it’s completely empty and when she asked for help the TM told her it may still be sitting on the truck”

And I honestly never forgot that survey because our ETL sat down with me about the complaint. That survey tanked our overall score.... and that particular day our GM for that area was consistently on a lane. Granted that doesn’t happen daily but it is an example of how it all can affect each other.

But I do agree with some other posters, modernization killed the one team scope. I’ll admit I was all for helping others all the time (still am). But right now I do so very sparingly since the help would never reciprocate when I need it the most and with modernization we have a ton more responsibilities than before that we are coached on daily/weekly.

Literally they just fired a GM because he could not complete his truck, consistently coached every day but I hear his name always called on walkie for back up to the lanes. While I know some people don’t work as fast as others but I know this guy personally and he always was happy to help others but he can’t refuse to back up because it’s part of his job but that unfortunate part of his job became detriment to his role.
 
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Clearly the truck process is more important to hq. Far more payroll invested in that than cashier. My store is lucky to have 3 cashiers scheduled at the same time. (45 Mil)
 
GreasyGary said:
I wish our SETL actually followed that. They absolutely have to be available and up front while they're calling for backup. But when they want to spend literally hours a day at TSC, it's apparently fine that they aren't watching the floor. So many of our front end team are getting upset about it. It's ridiculous how many times a day you hear on the walkie "Hey (SETL), what's your location?" "I'm at TSC".

I do flexes and our drive-up area is right beside TSC, and I swear almost every time I go up there that TL is just hanging out talking to the HRTM, some ETL, eating lunch while not actually being on lunch break, etc.

Another great example of Target's definition of "Leadership" meaning "asking people to do your job for you" and having absolutely nothing to do with setting an example for others to follow.
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Our setl hop on. They must. With 2 of them here and the etl, they both must cashier and the etl must watch BEFORE calling from the salesfloor.
 
Recently I was on a trip and got to play guest. I had impulsively decided on serious walking and needed a pair of athletic shoes. I hadn't brought them because carry on baggage dimensions are really small.

I went to the local Target. I know the basket filling game and I was ready to play it. I had no socks, the footwear I brought were sandals and flats, so of course I would need to buy those too. Getting from shoes to hosiery likely meant passing by RTW clearance and I could fit an additional shirt in my bag if something was on interest. If there was more than that of interest, it only costs $30 to check a bag and my bag was expandable. I also needed some crackers for the plane in case of motion sickness and getting to lunchbox snacks meant passing electronics and luggage. Luggage, well I'm on a trip, electronics, I had actually bought a new computer while on the trip, completely unplanned, so accessories. And of course getting from lunchbox snacks back to the front and whatever I passed on the way.

And I got to shoes and there were only a handful of athletic shoes, non my size. I actually found the person working there, she said nothing in the back. Guess how many things I purchased on that Target run. Guess how much help the cashiers were to me.
 

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