Archived Almost a year into role as ETL-HR and....

[Hestia123]

I equally love my job and want to pull my hair out at the end of each day.

But before I get into that, thank you again to everyone for your sound advice earlier on coming into target. It certainly helped ease my landing into the store and I appreciate it greatly.

However, I currently feel like my head is about to explode. I love this job, love most of the team, and really enjoy a lot of things I get to do day to day. I like the fact that this isn't a traditional HR role in that you're much more active than just sitting behind a desk all day.

The head exploding part comes from the shear workload vs resources. Each week, we get less and less payroll. Even as our sales go up, our hours go down. Someone at HQ recently made a decision that will result in even less LOD coverage across the team. I have less and less time actually supporting the store through HR, and the only way things are done are by abusing the fact I don't have to clock in as an exempt employee and staying until an embarrassing time each day and night.

I don't want to get burnt out and I also don't want to come off as a victim, but this is truly outrageous. As I said, I really love what I get to do overall but it's taking a huge toll on my personal life.

What do you guys think? Have you found any creative ways around the ridiculous payroll issue? I don't want to leave the company but if this keeps up, I'll have no choice.

 

[Kartman]

Spot wants stores that operate on autopilot.

 

[dave white]

Abandon ship

 

[babysitrmk]

The cuts in payroll is getting out of control. It's so bad at our store that we are losing tm faster then we can hire them. It also doesn't help that if we are going to get a visit, we have to go around and beg tm to stay late. Everyone is beyond frustrated at out store. I'm not liking the way target is headed...

 

[Circle9]

All you can do on your end is take care of your mental well-being the best you can. If work's affecting your life this badly and you can't step back and stop staying late, take serious steps towards finding a job where you aren't expected to do these things.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Brush off the resume for starters. @Sickofspot was in a similar job like yours for 20 plus years. She can give some great insight.

From another thread:
http://www.thebreakroom.org/index.php?threads/coming-into-target-as-etl-hr-tips.10916/

 

[Sickofspot]

@Hestia123 , with the way things are going with the company's reputation and sales/profits, I honestly believe it is only going to get worse for a while. More and more, every year, Target is running on less and less payroll. Trust me, it's hard.

I was a HRTL, before they nixed my position. Now the same location has barely a 20-30 hour HRTM and an HR-ETL that is only in their workcenter maybe half of the time. But, they are still expected to make the same goals/metrics. I think it is the same for all workcenters. When I moved to SBTL, they took from my workcenter to give to salesfloor, even though I was doing way better in % to goal. But, we were still expected to get the same amount of work done there, as well.

Believe me, HR can be a very fulfilling role, but I feel like Target doesn't see its importance. For instance, who cares about morale, when we can fudge the numbers to look good on: scheduling, payroll, and reviews? If you don't believe me, you should find out how survey results are in your group. I know a lot of people in my former group-survey results were pitiful, at best. And, can any of your tm's afford to pledge to United Way this year, with what little hours they get? HR really is a thankless job. But, I will say that if I made just one tm's life a little easier them I could feel a little better about the job I did.

The thing that sucks about being an ETL is that you can work long hours and not hit OT. And, if you think you are having work/life balance issues now, just wait until fourth quarter. More payroll, but also a shit ton more workload. Seasonal hiring is a huge burden. And Holiday FFF events, on top of planning scheduling for Black Friday and Christmas-it doesn't get easier.

I would love to tell you to stick with it, but honestly, my last few years (especially last 6 months) with Target almost cost me my sanity. I hated going home feeling unaccomplished. After almost 20 years, enough was enough. Although it broke my heart, I left. Lack of payroll/resources was a definite, but not the only factor for me. But, the culture at my new job is AMAZING!!!

UPDATE: On a side note, the whole CVS transition thing is going to be rough at first. Leased employees can be a burden, but having to term and then rehire people as leased is not going to be a cakewalk.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Thanks, @Sickofspot ! The pharmacy changes make me sad. because I know great folks. Thanks for your input.

 

[oath2order]

The head exploding part comes from the shear workload vs resources. Each week, we get less and less payroll. Even as our sales go up, our hours go down. Someone at HQ recently made a decision that will result in even less LOD coverage across the team.

Explain this. Are they cutting ETLs and SrTLs at your store, or just eliminating mid-day LOD shifts to save payroll?

 

[RedMan]

I have less and less time actually supporting the store through HR

Something interesting is going on in my state. The Fair Labor Standards Act states that as a salaried employee, you must be paid overtime if your duties include over 50% of hours worked doing non-exempt work. For example, asst manager of appliance store does managerial work 40% of the time, but also works the floor which is an hourly position 60% of the time. Therefore that employee is entitled to overtime pay based on his non exempt tasks. They're actually starting to enforce this.

Target would poop if someone called the EEOC.

 

[Mhugh220]

Well you can look at it like this: continue working your ass off or get an HR job somewhere else making the same pay and working less hours. That's what our HR and STL did.

 

[RetailWorld]

Resources vs Results. Trim to Win. That's Target's game. Reduce to Renew. Makes the stockholders happy...you moved a few numbers around and you have sparkling new profits. But....how far do we reduce?

Team Member satisfaction and Talent Retention are on the low end right now. Driving the stock up and quickly gaining fluidity is what is winning. I mean...you can't really argue against a program that reduces payroll and results with increased profits. But it's all short term...and we all know it. STL's know it. DTL's know it. We *ALL* know it. But that's just kinda the culture now.....get in, get out, get paid. And the rest of us think we're "established", so that no matter what happens, we'll have some kind of paygrade-equivalent position. Salesfloor is eliminated...but I have SF/GE to hold me up. Replenishment is eliminated...but there's a LOG position in the next district. But...it's the wrong mindset. Why is it okay to think "Well, I know we're reducing the amount of ETL's in the district...but I have connections...I'm not going anywhere...so I'm okay"?

GROWTH isn't a factor here. Nobody really thinks about moving up anymore. BP positions have been all but eliminated and those that were BP's are now STL's who are now worried if their stores are going to be the first round of closures. Oh...I'm sorry....not "closures"...it's "trimming the fat".

Talent meetings have been a joke lately. Discussing why we had lost key talent is the same rhetoric. Better benefits. Better hours. Better work life balance. Better pay.

Target doesn't OFFER anything anymore. What have we done to RETAIN?

And it's been years since I've seen Target create. So...let's be real here...if you're not creating, and you're not innovating...where else do you have to go?

And to go back to the TC....being in a HR position...your core role is to make sure that team members are getting what they need and rolling out programs to make sure the team succeeds...be it training, time off requests, development, flexible scheduling...etc. So...let's be real...how much of your time now is dedicated towards salesfloor maintenance...or backing up the front end...or making sure trash is thrown away on your LOD shift because you had to trim flow team to make payroll?

How much time do you waste just making sure the store barely functions? Because there aren't enough bodies on the floor?

How successful/stress-free could you be with a few extra resources?

And on the same note...how quickly will you jump ship to a company that will GIVE you the resources to be a great ETL-HR...rather than getting behind the service desk because Target doesn't have enough cashiers?

We're all struggling to get just the barebones complete...and the sad part is, a lot of stores could accomplish a lot with the right management and the right resources. Give me an extra 50 hours of payroll per week per salesfloor workcenter and I guarantee I can deliver an extra 5000 in sales per workcenter.