Archived Being told to "Work faster"

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Not My Name said:
Your leaders should never be saying something like this to you. It’s disrespectful and ultimately counter productive. I’m sorry.
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If you have been reading the posts, management has been saying this and it is part of Target culture.

$15 an hour is too much money for an unskilled job. And while Target pretends to be socially justice driven, at the end of the day, it is a publicly traded company with major shareholders that ONLY care about profitability.

$15 an hour is not a lot of money if you live in or near a large city. I used to work for a large department store that would pay commision to its salespeople. They eventually removed the commision and averaged out an hourly wage based on what they were making. Some of my co-workers were making $9 to $13 an hour over 10 years ago. I used to work as a receptionist 10 years ago and I was making $12 an hour back then. I wouldn't consider what I was doing in that job highly skilled.
 
Frontlanegirl said:
If you have been reading the posts, management has been saying this and it is part of Target culture.

$15 an hour is too much money for an unskilled job. And while Target pretends to be socially justice driven, at the end of the day, it is a publicly traded company with major shareholders that ONLY care about profitability.

$15 an hour is not a lot of money if you live in or near a large city. I used to work for a large department store that would pay commision to its salespeople. They eventually removed the commision and averaged out an hourly wage based on what they were making. Some of my co-workers were making $9 to $13 an hour over 10 years ago. I used to work as a receptionist 10 years ago and I was making $12 an hour back then. I wouldn't consider what I was doing in that job highly skilled.
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$15 an hour is a ton of money to put toilet paper on a shelf.

If the pay sucks in comparison to expectations, value yourself enough to step away.

Working at Target is not meant to be a career unless you are in leadership.
 
Yep, $15/hr IS a lot for 'unskilled' work but when you can't find workers willing to do the job for less & undocumented workers are out of the question, you have to up the ante.
This is the flipside of the 'free market'.
 
Not My Name said:
You wouldn't say that it's a non skilled job, but you'd be wrong. It doesn't require any training or education beyond a high school level. Honestly, it's lower than that. Maybe elementary? I don't know. JR High education could 100% do any job in there. That was my point. You are a laborer. I'm not knocking you and I'm not trying to demean you in any way. I did it for over a decade and I busted my ass in doing it, I know how demanding it is and I know how much more demanding it continues to become. My point is that almost anyone off the street could do the tasks of that job with experience within said job. Time frames are a different matter entirely when discussing what it takes to competently work at Target. Working as hard as you can isn't a skill.

I started Target in early 2006 making roughly $7 an hour. As a team leader a year later I was making $10.33 an hour and I was producing $20/hr results with every single team leader around me making significantly more than me. You are always going to be "underpaid", in your eyes, by Target... because if you work hard, that is the nature of almost all giant corporations that can replace you at the drop of a hat, in the grand scheme of things. In any given store you go to, 10% of the people are going to do roughly 40% of the work. It's extremely out of wack but it is what it is.

As far as leadership goes, chances are most of them are incompetent at your store. It's most stores. I must have seen or known of 50-100 team leaders over my years and probably 30 to 50 execs and I worked under 7 STLs. 90% of them were either lazy or incompetent. I had maybe 3... maybe 3... competent execs that worked hard during my tenure. That doesn't make it ok, but I'm trying to explain to you it's not going to change even if they get rid of them and bring someone else in that's good, eventually they will move on and the statistics say they'll be replaced by someone undesirable.

Honestly, what it sounds like is that even if you were making more money, you would not be happy at your job. You need to leave. Yes, there is life after Target and yes you can do better financially and for your mental well being. You just need to believe it and do something about it instead of staying in your comfort zone.
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I know you weren't trying to demean me. I get that retail is classified as "unskilled labor" and doesn't require education or certifications beyond high school. I get that. And I get that you know how hard of a job it is, especially when you're a great employee. I just always get mad at the holier-than-thou people that have a less than stellar experience with someone in the service sector (usually someone who definitely should not be working in the service sector) go "These morons/lazy asses/insert-dehumanizing-term-of-choice-here want $15/hour?? Ridiculous!" God forbid we want to not have to live paycheck to paycheck. Or, you know, sit at a desk all day to make a living. I know you weren't doing that at all, but I'm a little defensive about that today, so I apologize.

And something that I've noticed is that it seems harder and harder to find new people who actually know what the hell they're doing. I know we agreed that anyone should be able to work at Target, but you have not met some of my TMs. When you ask them to do something, or help you with something, they literallylook at you like you've demanded their first born child from them. And I'm not even talking about the "kids." One of them was a 60 year old woman. I just don't understand why people are so surprised (or somehow confused) by hard work, but they are.

And for what it's worth, I used to be completely happy (thrilled actually) to work at Target. I'm still pretty happy, I'm just really frustrated with the circumstances right now. I'm not staying in my comfort zone as much as I'm biding my time for a while. If it doesn't get better, I don't plan on staying.
 
Not My Name said:
$15 an hour is a ton of money to put toilet paper on a shelf.

If the pay sucks in comparison to expectations, value yourself enough to step away.

Working at Target is not meant to be a career unless you are in leadership.
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It doesn't mean it can't be. Some kids do actually want to grow up to work in a store. Lots of people work in retail as a career. I don't see what's wrong with that. What's wrong is how many people are told that they need to go to college when there's all these "unskilled labor" jobs needing to be filled.
 
SnowWhiteOfAnA said:
It doesn't mean it can't be. Some kids do actually want to grow up to work in a store. Lots of people work in retail as a career. I don't see what's wrong with that. What's wrong is how many people are told that they need to go to college when there's all these "unskilled labor" jobs needing to be filled.
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There’s nothing wrong with a career in retail. The problem is it’s hard to find a retail company that gives you enough pay, hours and benefits to be financially secure. Years ago you could get an actual full time retail job with benefits in many companies, but the retail environment has become so dog eat dog that it’s difficult to find that type of job or company today. 😕
 
dannyy315 said:
Sometimes they just don’t understand that they’re not going to get a speedy zone every night. Sometimes it’s quiet and you can just buzz through it in no time. Sometimes you get a rush of guests that occupy a lot of your time. Other times you have parts of your zone destroyed that you worked so hard on. Team leaders can be inconsiderate sometimes.
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Yeah I’ve closed with ETLs that are always expecting a magnificent looking zone when they walk through, sometimes there will be clothes and shoes on the floor, and they should realize that.
 
SnowWhiteOfAnA said:
I know you weren't trying to demean me. I get that retail is classified as "unskilled labor" and doesn't require education or certifications beyond high school. I get that. And I get that you know how hard of a job it is, especially when you're a great employee. I just always get mad at the holier-than-thou people that have a less than stellar experience with someone in the service sector (usually someone who definitely should not be working in the service sector) go "These morons/lazy asses/insert-dehumanizing-term-of-choice-here want $15/hour?? Ridiculous!" God forbid we want to not have to live paycheck to paycheck. Or, you know, sit at a desk all day to make a living. I know you weren't doing that at all, but I'm a little defensive about that today, so I apologize.

And something that I've noticed is that it seems harder and harder to find new people who actually know what the hell they're doing. I know we agreed that anyone should be able to work at Target, but you have not met some of my TMs. When you ask them to do something, or help you with something, they literallylook at you like you've demanded their first born child from them. And I'm not even talking about the "kids." One of them was a 60 year old woman. I just don't understand why people are so surprised (or somehow confused) by hard work, but they are.

And for what it's worth, I used to be completely happy (thrilled actually) to work at Target. I'm still pretty happy, I'm just really frustrated with the circumstances right now. I'm not staying in my comfort zone as much as I'm biding my time for a while. If it doesn't get better, I don't plan on staying.
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I’m amazed at how much the culture has changed in my store since I’ve been there, in apparel we all used to hold each other accountable and everyone was trained well. Now training is so half done and newbies are treated with such leniency and care that I’m shocked.
 
Years ago when I started at Target, there were actually team members who worked overnight. They pushed merchandise from the back room to the floor. The opening TM's might need to rezone, because overnight TM's were so pressured to push-push-push stuff out to the floor, that they didn't zone as they put stuff out.

Ok so that wasn't such an awful lot to deal with in addition to keeping your department go-backs done and keep the 'zone' because as the TL's are famous for saying "we don't want to leave go-backs for the closing team". HA HA, I remember plenty of days when the opening TM's came into baskets full of go backs that the closing team didn't get done... but I digress......

These days, at least at our store, dayside TM's push freight - which seems to be never-ending. And today was especially busy pushing freight from z-racks and Waco's, along with the normal zoning and doing go backs. Near the end of my shift, I was asked by another TM when I was getting off. I them in 9 minutes. She said there was more freight for my department in the back room to push out. At first I told the other TM, well it's not going to get done... But I went to the back room anyway and grabbed all of the hanging freight that was there, and put it out since I know that would not take long. The rest of the shift was spent refolding tables. Gosh, I was tired when I left...
 
FredPanda3 said:
Yeah I’ve closed with ETLs that are always expecting a magnificent looking zone when they walk through, sometimes there will be clothes and shoes on the floor, and they should realize that.
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Sometimes things happen and that good zone just isn’t there. But at minimum, you better have the clothes off the ground.
 
PassinTime said:
What's wrong with that is that you'll always be the bottom of the food chain as far as pay goes. Not many people have the goal in life to earn just enough money to barely cover their living expenses.
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Sorry, but I know a literal shit ton of people who went to college, racked up thousands of dollars in student loan debt, and still ended up in unskilled labor/service sector jobs, despite their advanced degrees. I'm one of them. I agree that this isn't necessarily a career path, but when a large amount of people are being set up to be stuck in this type of situation, where their options seem limited, working in retail for a living becomes a reality. And when we think about it, we're one of the only cultures that see the customer service/retail sector as "not a career path."
 
workinghard said:
Years ago when I started at Target, there were actually team members who worked overnight. They pushed merchandise from the back room to the floor. The opening TM's might need to rezone, because overnight TM's were so pressured to push-push-push stuff out to the floor, that they didn't zone as they put stuff out.

Ok so that wasn't such an awful lot to deal with in addition to keeping your department go-backs done and keep the 'zone' because as the TL's are famous for saying "we don't want to leave go-backs for the closing team". HA HA, I remember plenty of days when the opening TM's came into baskets full of go backs that the closing team didn't get done... but I digress......

These days, at least at our store, dayside TM's push freight - which seems to be never-ending. And today was especially busy pushing freight from z-racks and Waco's, along with the normal zoning and doing go backs. Near the end of my shift, I was asked by another TM when I was getting off. I them in 9 minutes. She said there was more freight for my department in the back room to push out. At first I told the other TM, well it's not going to get done... But I went to the back room anyway and grabbed all of the hanging freight that was there, and put it out since I know that would not take long. The rest of the shift was spent refolding tables. Gosh, I was tired when I left...
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I've only been here 4 years and that's how it was when I started. Oh how I miss the old days...
 
SnowWhiteOfAnA said:
Sorry, but I know a literal shit ton of people who went to college, racked up thousands of dollars in student loan debt, and still ended up in unskilled labor/service sector jobs, despite their advanced degrees. I'm one of them. I agree that this isn't necessarily a career path, but when a large amount of people are being set up to be stuck in this type of situation, where their options seem limited, working in retail for a living becomes a reality. And when we think about it, we're one of the only cultures that see the customer service/retail sector as "not a career path."
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You’re not stuck. You only believe you are. I promise you that if you keep telling yourself that you’re stuck, that’s EXACTLY where you’re going to stay because you have set a SELF IMPOSED limit.

Anyhow... yeah there’s a major problem with American society pushing degrees down peoples throats and being taught that’s the only way you’ll be successful... which isn’t true at all. Not only that, is the debt worth the emotional anguish to get to the promised land? And guess what else? If everyone in the country has a degree, who is going to clean the floors? There will never ever be enough jobs to justify the amount of degrees currently being handed out on an annual basis and that will literally never change, ever. No government policy in any way shape or form or world innovation could create that number of jobs. It’s nobody’s fault that an astronomical amount of those jobs don’t exist. They just can’t exist. The problem is not the fact that people go to college, it’s how many people go to college... this can only be solved by getting the government 100% back out of student loans. Ah, I could go on about the problem with government getting involved in guaranteeing student loans... but I’ll stop.

It’s not Target’s fault that you overpaid for that degree and it’s not Target’s fault you’re working that job. Those are your choices. And you aren’t stuck so stop telling yourself that because it will lead to a miserable life.

Just because the majority of public youth has been completely brainwashed into thinking they need a degree no matter the cost does not mean stocking the shelves at Target is worth $15 an hour. Raising the minimum wage doesn’t do anything in the long term except raise the prices on the shelf. Why don’t you spend even just one whole day really looking into economics before coming to such strong opinions on what should or shouldn't be a career path.

Raising the minimum wage, ESPECIALLY so incredibly drastically all at once, serves to hurt the people making minimum wage in the long term if not also the immediate in certain ways. I promise you that’s a fact. Basic economics.
 
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I'm wondering if Target Corp is going to backtrack on the $15/hr thing. They now have put themselves in the position to bump minimum wage $3 in essentially 2 years (2020 could mean 12/2020). That's an enormous jump.
 
Anelmi said:
I'm wondering if Target Corp is going to backtrack on the $15/hr thing. They now have put themselves in the position to bump minimum wage $3 in essentially 2 years (2020 could mean 12/2020). That's an enormous jump.
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It’s very doubtful they will backtrack. They are going to eliminate a ton of positions and slash weekly hours further to compensate for the difference so SOME of the people in stores will be making more money on their take home pay but EVERYONE that remains will be feeling more stress.
 
Not My Name said:
$15 an hour is a ton of money to put toilet paper on a shelf.

If the pay sucks in comparison to expectations, value yourself enough to step away.

Working at Target is not meant to be a career unless you are in leadership.
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Maybe it's just me, but your last statement is your opinion. It isn't written in life's playbook anywhere. It's a remark I often hear and dismiss. If you can make ends meet doing a job, you can make it a career. Maybe this attitude is why some people do a shitty job at Target.

But I agree with you, if you don't like the pay, leave.

Target is choosing to raise the starting wage, and we are still having trouble attracting quality applicants.

If Target makes people feel undervalued because they push "it's just a retail job stocking shelves," then they are fulfilling their own prophecy.
 
unknown said:
Maybe it's just me, but your last statement is your opinion. It isn't written in life's playbook anywhere. It's a remark I often hear and dismiss. If you can make ends meet doing a job, you can make it a career. Maybe this attitude is why some people do a shitty job at Target.

But I agree with you, if you don't like the pay, leave.

Target is choosing to raise the starting wage, and we are still having trouble attracting quality applicants.

If Target makes people feel undervalued because they push "it's just a retail job stocking shelves," then they are fulfilling their own prophecy.
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You’re naive if you believe that a cashier or stocker or any entry level job at any major retailer deserves enough pay to support themselves while living alone and no other means of income just off of said retailer alone even if they’re working 40 hours.

Literally all they are doing is running barcodes over a scanner and being a bit friendly. They are going to be replaced by robots anyways and my point will prove itself.

If you don’t like that I’m sorry, it’s not my fault, life isn’t fair. So take it up with God or Mother Nature or shake your fist at the clouds... I don’t know. You sound like someone that doesn’t have a true appreciation for the fact that life isn’t fair.

We aren’t all as smart as Elon Musk or as physically blessed as LeBron James... life isn’t fair.

Working at a retail store is damn near the lowest common denominator because it’s sure as hell easier than working construction and beating your brains out in the sun, even if it is more emotionally taxing.

Almost all people that work hard do so because of pride and a drive to achieve... not because of their pay or lack thereof. The ones with the shitty attitudes about how unfair life is are the ones that sit on their asses complaining about the people doing the work... and said lazies are either being underpaid because they DONT want to work hard and earn it OR they don’t value themselves enough to do something else with their time.
 
Not My Name said:
You’re naive if you believe that a cashier or stocker or any entry level job at any major retailer deserves enough pay to support themselves while living alone and no other means of income just off of said retailer alone even if they’re working 40 hours.
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So if I work 40 hours a week as an entry level anything, fuck me, better pick up another 20 hours elsewhere or find someone to mooch off of, because living alone is not an option? Huh. Nice.
 
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