Archived Being questioned by STL

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Question: Can a TM actually be coached for not getting a certain amount of redcards? Or a high enough attachment rate? Or whatever?

I am not sure, which is why I am asking the question. This conversation and my experience leads me to think no, but that a loophole will be found to get rid of people who do not attain some arbitrary set goal.

And, yes, the goals are completely arbitrary.

For instance, at huddle, when talking about redcards, the LOD always mentions what our current percentage is and what the company goal is. But, in the next sentence says that our district goal is higher. (I won't mention the gap.)

So which arbitrary goal can TM, if possible, be written up for not achieving?

You know, I get we are in the business of selling stuff, and I do see the value of setting goals. But firing someone who, when they were hired, had no idea about such arbitrary goals seems shady. As far as I am aware, during interviews and orientation, TM's are not told that ... "if we hire you for electronics and you don't hit this company/district AAR goal, we will find a way to fire you."
 
Hardlinesmaster, I read through that link, but I didn't see an answer to my questions. Can you be more specific? Thanks!
 
Like so many things at Target this is going to be a bit of of yes and no answer buckwill.
Yes, they can coach you for not making a goal they set and probably would if Spot was breathing down their neck because their numbers sucked big time.
That coaching would consist of telling you to sell the card to everyone ---
You'll want hear that like the scene in Leon: The Professional.
Norman Stansfield(ETL): Bring me everyone.
3rd Stansfield man(buckwill): What do you mean "everyone"?
Norman Stansfield(ETL): EVERYONE!!!!!
Click to expand...

From there they will watch you, not to see how many red cards you get but to see if you follow the instructions they gave you.
Because at that point your results are moot, only that you follow their instructions (if they work or not) to the letter.
 
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yes you can be coached for not getting redcards. I have never actually coached someone for it but do roleplaying and make sure that they are following the prompts and doing what they are to be doing. I usually sit down on on the first tuesday of the month and figure out who is my top worst performers for redcards for the last month percentage wise and work with those 5 for the month. I sit down with them and we set goals together and see if they can meet them come the end of the month. I've only once had to repeat the process with a team member the next month. Usually their scores jump up that month and i move on to the next five. But to make a long story short, yes i will probably at some point coach someone for their conversion score.
 
Thanks Commiecorvus. What's ironic is that I hardly ever cashier nor work in electronics. (Although I did help a guest with an HP printer and help her select an extra ink cartridge and paper for it. Do those count towards the AAR??)

And I know I sound naive. I often get that.

It is the arbitrariness of it that bothers me. I can work with: here are twenty revisions and they will take 9.7 hours to set. Or, here is the Christmas FOS signing and it will take 4 hours. But, upsell redcards and here is some random number corporate says to achieve. But wait, our DTL wants our district to get a full percentage point more. Why not 2 percentage points?
 
our district score is also quite a bit more than the company wide goal. At first i thought that was annoying BUT we meet it almost every week and when we don't we're right below it. The good thing is that when they actually scores us on our conversion we're always green because we shoot for a much higher number. So even if we're not meeting that regional goal it doesn't matter. =)
 
buckwill said:
It is the arbitrariness of it that bothers me. I can work with: here are twenty revisions and they will take 9.7 hours to set. Or, here is the Christmas FOS signing and it will take 4 hours. But, upsell redcards and here is some random number corporate says to achieve. But wait, our DTL wants our district to get a full percentage point more. Why not 2 percentage points?
Click to expand...

Yes, but plano and signing also run into their own snags. How about when the company drops in 56 hours of revisions to be done the same week, and you can't get hours on the schedule to do it. Oh so sad, can't get it done with the hours we have, no you can't have extra hours, boo-hoo. Make it work.

As for signing-wise, don't even get me started on the back to school bins. that was a thorn in my side, among some of the other signing specs within my district, and on this board. Some of us got between 5 to 15 hours of signing for that week, when that was about 28 hours of work. The hours were not forecasted for the monthly workload, in the signing workload, or the plano workload (As far as I could tell from digging around to see where the hours to build these bins were). As a result, I was working like crazy trying to get this done, and having to put other things on the back burner. Still didn't get everything done with the time allocated to me, as well as my regular, everyday workload, and as a result, got coached. It happens.
 
buckwill said:
Question: Can a TM actually be coached for not getting a certain amount of redcards? Or a high enough attachment rate? Or whatever?

I am not sure, which is why I am asking the question. This conversation and my experience leads me to think no, but that a loophole will be found to get rid of people who do not attain some arbitrary set goal.

And, yes, the goals are completely arbitrary.

For instance, at huddle, when talking about redcards, the LOD always mentions what our current percentage is and what the company goal is. But, in the next sentence says that our district goal is higher. (I won't mention the gap.)

So which arbitrary goal can TM, if possible, be written up for not achieving?

You know, I get we are in the business of selling stuff, and I do see the value of setting goals. But firing someone who, when they were hired, had no idea about such arbitrary goals seems shady. As far as I am aware, during interviews and orientation, TM's are not told that ... "if we hire you for electronics and you don't hit this company/district AAR goal, we will find a way to fire you."
Click to expand...

Team members should be coached on behaviors, not meeting certain metrics. Good leaders will observe their team's behaviors and coach. As long as someone is offering redcards and selling attachments then they are doing the right thing. I firmly believe that if we coach the behavior then the results will follow automatically.

Before this can happen though, leadership must explain what the behavior expectations are. This is where most team leads at my store drop the ball, they can talk about conversion rate and aar until they are blue in the face. Unless they teach their team how to achieve the results then they haven't done their part.
 
SrTL said:
Before this can happen though, leadership must explain what the behavior expectations are. This is where most team leads at my store drop the ball, they can talk about conversion rate and aar until they are blue in the face. Unless they teach their team how to achieve the results then they haven't done their part.
Click to expand...

This! Leadership should not coach TMs for not getting RedCards, ESPs, attachments, etc. unless they're not making an attempt (i.e. not asking guests). If they are doing everything they can and making an honest effort to sell, then the metrics are entirely beyond the TMs' control.
 
I used to be in Electronics before I was a CTL. This is something that constantly goes back and forth from something you get recognized for to something your job is threatened for. Most TM's honestly dont ask the guests so the ones that actually do have to suffer alongside them. Unfortunately at the end of the day, there really is no motivation for most TM's to offer attachments, replacement plans, etc. There should be some sort of contest/recognition to improve this not berating TM's and TL's like they can Jedi-mind-trick guests into spending money. "Core roles" aside...most places offer commission for sales, target offers punishment for lack of.
 
cjllonewolf said:
I used to be in Electronics before I was a CTL. This is something that constantly goes back and forth from something you get recognized for to something your job is threatened for. Most TM's honestly dont ask the guests so the ones that actually do have to suffer alongside them. Unfortunately at the end of the day, there really is no motivation for most TM's to offer attachments, replacement plans, etc. There should be some sort of contest/recognition to improve this not berating TM's and TL's like they can Jedi-mind-trick guests into spending money. "Core roles" aside...most places offer commission for sales, target offers punishment for lack of.
Click to expand...

FYI - The last retailer that offered commissions was circuit city.

No major retailer offers commission for sales now.

Wal-mart and Target employees have it the easiest, just so you know.

I am a Playstation Rep and I have several Best Buy stores I visit every month. I can't tell you how many times I have come in and asked someone "Hey, where is Javier?" only to be told "Oh he got fired. Didn't sell enough [insert here warranties, subscriptions, etc]"

Target and Wal-mart don't do that to their employees. Yea, they might threaten it.... but it almost never happens. Best Buy? They will term your a** in an instant if they feel like it if you haven't sold enough of whatever it is they are trying to push at the moment.

Same for Gamestop, actually. I have come in looking for someone I talked to last month to be told they were termed because they didn't sell enough pre-orders.

Be glad Target doesn't play that game....
 
StateofTarget said:
FYI - The last retailer that offered commissions was circuit city.

No major retailer offers commission for sales now.

Wal-mart and Target employees have it the easiest, just so you know.

I am a Playstation Rep and I have several Best Buy stores I visit every month. I can't tell you how many times I have come in and asked someone "Hey, where is Javier?" only to be told "Oh he got fired. Didn't sell enough [insert here warranties, subscriptions, etc]"

Target and Wal-mart don't do that to their employees. Yea, they might threaten it.... but it almost never happens. Best Buy? They will term your a** in an instant if they feel like it if you haven't sold enough of whatever it is they are trying to push at the moment.

Same for Gamestop, actually. I have come in looking for someone I talked to last month to be told they were termed because they didn't sell enough pre-orders.

Be glad Target doesn't play that game....
Click to expand...

So a Playstation Rep is trying to correct me regarding a job that I worked for over a year. Did I read that correctly people? Let me enlighten the expert here. Though Best Buy or Gamestop may term someone on the spot for this (assuming your facts are correct...im not confident they are) Targets version is just slightly more drawn out. They can only term on the spot for conduct but anything else they make their ETL make the TL give coachings and corrective actions until the problem works itself out either through the TM quitting or a few months pass and they get fired. Oh wait...arent you the guy that just said this:

"If I was you, I would get my numbers up or be looking for another job. When an STL pulls a move like that, the next step is you out the door. I wouldn't make an issue out of him calling you out unless you want to expedite your departure....

Keep in mind this is an STL, not an ETL. If he wants you gone, he pretty much can do it single handedly.

Most STLs would simply call you in the office and next thing you know you are being walked out the door."

Second thought, Ill just keep quiet and let you argue with yourself...
 
Well my STL is probably eating his own words now, after my team and I increased our AAR to 56% in three weeks I put my notice in. Yesterday was my last day after accepting a job with the state. He wasn't too happy about that, but at the end of the day business is business and I am best looking out for myself first. I only wish MY team and ETL the best as they are some of the most hard working individuals I have ever worked with. I hope my old STL takes something away from all this and learns that you CANNOT improve numbers AND retain good employees by dangling jobs in front of their noses.
 
Terminator1986 said:
Thats actually NOT true. We just attended a seminar for our district where we where told that ANY item that has a plug, or has batteries qualifies for a replacement plan (vTech Toys, R/C Cars, small appliances, calculators ext...) and they are 100% counted for the electronics AAR score. The item in question may not show up on the AAR report (since they are not in the department) however the SRP's are, and those show up in the report.
Click to expand...

Really now? See my TL always told us that SRP's sold elsewhere in the store (Vacuum's, Toasters, etc...) did NOT count for AAR. So that's good to know. Wish workbench had a clearer outline of this stuff.


Overall though, I have to say we have a good team at my store. We don't play sales games, we just knuckle down and focus on "Core Roles". My store is the best in our district, week to week, AND YTD for the last 3 months now. We average in the 60's % wise, and even bumped up into the 70's one week. We were actually a trouble store oursleves, right after the AAR scoring was changed, we immediately took a dive into the yellow, and actually went into red a little bit, but then we sat down and went back to basics, focusing on core roles, what AAR was and what counted, what didn't, and we have been green since Februrary!


cjllonewolf said:
So a Playstation Rep is trying to correct me regarding a job that I worked for over a year.
Click to expand...

Ahem:

StateofTarget said:
When I was a TL, whenever I talked to my team about *any* numbers, they already knew it meant the ETLs were on my ass.
Click to expand...
 
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