Archived Backup culture

[SrGSTL86]

So, I have a problem I need some advice on. Well 2 actually. One, when we call for back up in the front lanes (which is always as we never have enough cashier scheduled for the amount of guests due to low hours given) there is walking silence most of the time. That or TM consistently moan and complain about coming up. How do you establish a new culture because I've been in stores where a gstl calls for backup and like 6 people respond.

Second, Im a senior GSTL actually and as Gstl am the only team lead who ever has to have coverage for a break yet the other Team Leads give me shit about having to cover it. I mean they get their lunches and breaks no problem but don't understand I need mine too? Half the LOD's just push back on me and say you solve it. It's really starting to piss me off,..what do y'all do if a TL says no to covering for you?

 

[Anelmi]

Why does another TL have to cover your breaks? Can't a GS trained TM do it? That's how it works at my store. If there's an issue, then the LOD can be paged to GS but 9/10 there's no problems.

 

[SrGSTL86]

No, we are a "by the book" store and only a TL or LOD (last resort) can cover. If a gsa is working with me at GS then ya it's easy but I don't always have that luxury.

 

[pinkp2ie]

Your a SRTL and the TL's say no to you????

That kind of sucks though. Back in the holidays/seasonal employees, TMs were not properly trained to know to respond to call boxes and backup. What my store did was "first responder" things and especially as SR TL you should be respected (unless your scary.. doesn't sound like that though~!). Just work with sales floor to let them know they should be coming up and they need you quick. All TLs at my store, when they hear they need backup (I rarely get hardline shifts anymore) they respond so quick i can't get a chance to respond. However, if i am on the other side of the store/far corner of the store, ill give it a few seconds to respond, and then go.

Ridiculous how your fellow TLs won't go up though. Not sure how i'd feel about that.
Whose idea was to do "by the book"?

My store gladly puts many people in front covering front lanes, i've seen maybe 6-7 non GSA members cover lunches and or breaks, including 2 cart attendants who are great cashiers.

 

[NPC]

We have a print out of everyone on the schedule for the day. If I know I'm going to have to call for back up frequently, I call people out by name, that way I can rotate around everyone so the same person doesn't have to come up so much. It seems to work, as long as you try and get them off the lane quickly as well. If I ever don't have a schedule, I just call for a certain department. "Can I have someone from softlines." Then the next time I need back up, I'll call for someone from hardlines. Also, in case you don't already, be sure to speed weave.

I would double check about having a TL covering your breaks and lunches. That really doesn't sound right to me at all. If they're really "by the book" then it would be pretty easy to shut down any complaining with "Well you're the only one who can do it." Also, some people just like to complain, it might not be directed towards you. If there's no other GSA/GSTL working, we usually just have a cashier watch. If no one is trained or familiar with it, THEN we go for whomever is LOD.

 

[SrGSTL86]

Well basically I've been told senior only means I'm a TL with LOD shifts but for all other issues I am on the same level as a regular TL so I can't actually do anything and demand something from a peer from that standpoint except on LOD shifts. I try not to demand and work and explain first but the culture at my store is poor and the new STL is doing what he can but a lot of the TL are awful.

And yeah so the STL and ETL GE agreed on doing it by the book. No one other than a TL, gsa, or LOD can cover the front and you can bet no ETL is coming to help when they are LOD but I help out all the time when I am because I know it sucks when guests are constantly berating you about more lanes being open etc...

 

[DoWork]

I think it goes without saying, but... back up cashiering is often a thankless task. It takes away from your duties to help out a department that never returns the favour.

With that, I say thank all those who do respond. Creating a healthy, bi-directional relationship is the only way to keep it going. If you're appreciative of the help, it never hurts to go out of your way to express it and make sure the responding team members know it.

Simply demanding backup isn't the solution, as the last two gstls found out. They'd be squawking on the radio for backup while soft lines was giggling up a storm. Why? Because they were disliked and treated team members badly.

 

[sito]

I think it goes without saying, but... back up cashiering is often a thankless task. It takes away from your duties to help out a department that never returns the favour.

With that, I say thank all those who do respond. Creating a healthy, bi-directional relationship is the only way to keep it going. If you're appreciative of the help, it never hurts to go out of your way to express it and make sure the responding team members know it.

Simply demanding backup isn't the solution, as the last two gstls found out. They'd be squawking on the radio for backup while soft lines was giggling up a storm. Why? Because they were disliked and treated team members badly.

i agree with this. just say thank you to whoever backs up. it's not much but it helps acknowledge them and lets the LOD know who is backing up. yeah smetimes it sucks when they're no one answering back up calls, but we're also busy on the sales floor with either helping guests, zoning, pushing cafs, on calls with guests etc, it can't always be done unfortunately and i think that's where target lacks. especially store by store, sometimes at my store we'll only have one person on the sales floor (three if you count electronics and market, but they're off doing their own thing) so it's hard to answer for back ups.

one thing i hate is being called by name to back up. that makes your team hate you even more, at least in my experience. if you must just say "hey i had so and so from hardlines can someone from softlines come up this time?"

 

[NPC]

Sometimes if I don't get a response, or I do get a response and it's just not enough because we're so busy, I'll tell the LOD, and ask them to watch the lanes so I can hop on a lane myself. They'll either come up and watch, or offer some other solution. I'm assuming this might not work for you if your leaders suck.

 

[NKG]

Make sure your thanking those that do respond. Also helps if you create a bond with the TM in other work centers. They wont help you out if they don't know you. Write vibe cards, attend huddle if you can to recognize those that help out or offer to buy a drink as a thank you. You have to look at it from a sales person perspective. If im working a pull; going to back up is completely interrupting my work and providing less coverage on the floor. People also tend to get stuck on a register when they back up so make sure your making sure they are getting off the lanes as soon as possible.

 

[Logo]

In my store the GETL covers his team's breaks. If I call for a back up and get crickets I start calling people out. I rotate hardlines and softlines.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

You might want to talk to your etl, stl or hr about your breaks. You are hourly & deserve them. Our TL's & front end tm cover gstl & GSA breaks, with no problem.

 

[SrTLall]

It's really starting to piss me off,..what do y'all do if a TL says no to covering for you?

Find their TMs who aren't responding and S2U->coach->counseling->final->fire. Then go find the TLs who wouldn't cover your break and say 'bet you wish you would have just covered my breaks!'

Seriously, though, if your store does things by the book, your push-back should be that your break coverage needs to be on the break schedule. Don't take no for an answer. Either that or the ETLs need to hold their TLs accountable for not covering you when you ask. Again, you cannot take no for an answer.

 

[Yetive]

Also, right when you get there, find your coverage and tell them to plan your breaks into their day.

 

[PaRaD0x]

I don't mind going for backup, as long as the LoD/TL's know that not as much is going to get done on the floor due to nobody being there. I always remind them when I see them later that I got stuck on backup, so I didn't finish as much of whatever they asked me to work on as they may have expected.

 

[Doglover89]

We assign backup hours in the mornings to salesfloor/process teams except for electronics, and FRO. TLs included. SRTLs if not LOD are included as well. Evenings of course its just HL and SL. If we have enough people, its two per hour so they try to alternate. It's nice cause if I know my hour is say 10am, I can try to work on something either close by the front or where it'll be OK if I get interrupted at that time. Our GSTL/GSAs simply make sure an experienced cashier has a walkie while they go on break. SCO has one as well. They are told to contact the LOD if any issues at the front end.

 

[HRZone]

I would hope you would find out why the team isn't responding to backing up. Some are just lazy sure but some do it for good reasons

My old gstl would always get folks for backup because he actually got them off a lane. He would block their line or send returning cashier's to get sales floor off the lane if they were on for a while. If they feel you are just using them to make yourself look good they will ignore you

Our other gstl sucks. She brings cashier's back from lunch then chats with them. Or she wants to coach sales floor for not asking guest for red cards. Nothing more frustrating then backing up and seeing cashier's zoning or chatting with the gstl.

 

[SFSFun]

Do your other GSAs and GSTLs have the same problems? How do they usually handle it?

 

[SrGSTL86]

I see a lot of you saying a normal TM can cover your break. Well we used to do that till the DTL flipped shit over it and we had to change that whole nice setup...

With back up I do thank them very much and try my best to get them off as soon as possible but a lot of times we get cut hours in the front end and we have to much guest traffic to not have them on for elongated periods...I buy them a drink out of my pocket after they are done.

 

[TTGOz]

In my store GSA or Guest Service or another TL that's caught up on his or her work covers GSTL breaks for my store.

At my store, people sometimes have issues responding to a backup call. It just sucks when there isn't enough cashiers lol. Usually the case during the week, weekends are usually okay if all goes as normal. One of my GSTLs is actually really snippy if no one responds, she'll ask for a backup or two and you hear "..." on the walkie and she changes her tone a bit to "Team we really need a back up who's gonna respond" and the LOD and ETL get on over the walkie seeing who can back up lol. What happens sometime is an LOD or ETL will come cover for the GSTL and GSA while they hop on a lane and LOD/ETL plays GSTL for 5-10 minutes.

 

[Flabbergasted]

At my old store we gave the keys to the GSTM and they would run things until we got back. Sometimes when my STL was on a power trip he would require a TL/ETL to cover our lunches but it was always short-lived when they realized TLs/ETLs didn't want to deal with it.

 

[Sanzano]

Either GSA or GSTMs take care of my breaks. Usually GSTMs. We're B volume, so TLs are too busy and not enough hours/headcount for constant GSA coverage.

I only ever call by name bc anything else gets you dead silence in my store. If I catch anyone giving me the run around, they're coached. I take that stuff pretty seriously, bc I only call if absolutely necessary. I'll use all my front end resources before resorting to it. If I don't get any responses, it's usually only if there's legit nobody on the floor. At that point I call LOD to let me pick who they want sent up, and we get creative with our options. HRTMs, process teams, TLs, ETLs, the STL, whatever.

The norm for my store is for all ETLs and the STL to get on a register if it's absolutely insane, and I run the lanes. Bc I'll be damned if any of them can do my job better and they know it.

 

[Pale]

As a Hardlines TM I'm often alone during mid-days or closing shifts, while there is 3-4 people in softlines. And can you guess who get's called up first? Yup, the guy that helps push the majority of the store while helping guests enjoy their time at target.
I work at a store where the GSA's and GSTL's recognize those that come up with thanks and vibe cards but the TL's don't notice jack shit.
There are times where I'd gone up four or five times in a row and I refuse to go up the next time because the softlines gals at my store are just sitting, talking up a storm until the LOD catches them or calls them over the walkie.
I've seen the statistic sheets from one our GSA's, from me to the next sales floor TM that doesn't get cashier shifts all that often there's an easy 600 transaction difference on a YTD basis, but of course the TL's (Besides the GSTL) dont thank me or recognize for being the #1 responder.

Sorry for the rant but fuck sake, it's one of my biggest pet peeves when I'm the only one responding.

 

[SitSpotSit]

I know for us on plano when the call goes out for backup we hang back a little. Same with pricing. When we have smart huddles lasting 30+ minutes going up to cashier just adds stress to an already often frustrating day. It's tough on the tm's with timelines to lose any minutes outside of our work center. I feel like we are always helping others and then getting talked to about not finishing. I know I'm not offering much in the way of a solution, but I hope it gives a glimpse of why some tm's might not be jumping in to help sometimes.

 

[softlinessgal]

I don't mind going for backup, as long as the LoD/TL's know that not as much is going to get done on the floor due to nobody being there. I always remind them when I see them later that I got stuck on backup, so I didn't finish as much of whatever they asked me to work on as they may have expected.

ahhh this reminds me of what happened in the huddle yesterday, a team member on my team questioned our new etl-hr saying if we wont get reprimanded for our zone not being done if we go up constantly for backup, which happens alot because the hardlines team at my store only goes up when the gstl asks after at least five times for a backup, and she gave attitude saying that the front lanes is the main priority because thats where we get the money. i understood her answer but the attitude was unnecessary. god, i dislike her so much. sorry for rambling but i wish more etls were understanding of the concept that constant calls of backup being responded by one team member = semi crapy zone.