Archived Bye Bye MAX FSTL.... Hello MY TIME........

[ETHICS DEMANDER]

So basically be prepared for everyone in pfresh yourself probably included to just kinda give up and have your area go to crap

 

[PA 0701]

That sux.
I dispise that they are touting this new system as better for us. Better access to our hours, easier for us to request time off, better for them because it saves them time not doing the schedule. Funny thing is they still have access to change things and a computer really does not know who does a job well

 

[instocks3years]

I am instocks, I went from 40 to 34 to 29 hours per week.
I am worried

 

[Ringwraith917]

I know there are certain work centers that mytime just creates a blank shift for & management gets to plug TMs into those spots.

I also am instocks. Our ETL met with us and took down our preferences for alternate work centers.

Best practice (GOOD): Cross training & more open availability will help you keep up on hours.

Alternate (EVIL) strategy: make sure your workcenter has barely enough TMs who can fill that spot by getting your fellow TMs to quit. Train anyone who wants to cross train in it badly so you can get them written up/fired /removed from your workcenter, thus preserving your hours.

 

[PA 0701]

I know there are certain work centers that mytime just creates a blank shift for & management gets to plug TMs into those spots.

I also am instocks. Our ETL met with us and took down our preferences for alternate work centers.

Best practice (GOOD): Cross training & more open availability will help you keep up on hours.

Alternate (EVIL) strategy: make sure your workcenter has barely enough TMs who can fill that spot by getting your fellow TMs to quit. Train anyone who wants to cross train in it badly so you can get them written up/fired /removed from your workcenter, thus preserving your hours.

Is it evil that I like this idea

 

[redeye58]

I know there are certain work centers that mytime just creates a blank shift for & management gets to plug TMs into those spots.

I also am instocks. Our ETL met with us and took down our preferences for alternate work centers.

Best practice (GOOD): Cross training & more open availability will help you keep up on hours.

Alternate (EVIL) strategy: make sure your workcenter has barely enough TMs who can fill that spot by getting your fellow TMs to quit. Train anyone who wants to cross train in it badly so you can get them written up/fired /removed from your workcenter, thus preserving your hours.

Is it evil that I like this idea

Nah......I had the same thought, briefly.
Excuse me while I clear some room in my walk-in.

 

[ETHICS DEMANDER]

My store is under new system and I would like to say there is one thing I really like about it.. HR gets final say.. keeps leaders .. honest about hours ..and avoids peoples schedules being change without knowledge.. this system sends you an email asking if this was legit and if its not report it to HR

 

[GSslAve]

My time sucks to put it lightly, we are barely surviving the schedule's that it's been writing one cashier after 6 four cashiers for the entire day. Last night sucked for me, one cashier, big visit the next day, they wanted me to push all the mcclane candy super zone one spot, make sure the check lanes had no outs and zone d block (stationary and domestics). All this with my regular GSA duties and my service desk leaving at at 9. I half assed d block and manged everything (though i'm sure ill be coached about something i didn't do). I just feel pushed to the max sometimes, really sucks.

 

[PA 0701]

If "my time" is so great because it schedules people where they need to be I will do what's on my list and if asked to step out and do other areas I'll just say "my time" says it should take me this many hours that I am scheduled. If I complete my tasks I will help. Unless someone wants me to change what my priority list is.

 

[ETHICS DEMANDER]

None of the systems factor in weather trends and holidays and such.. I dunno how many people I heard talk about how a holiday week or how the weather was different last year on this week has ruined it on hours

 

[sigma7]

@PA 0701 myTime gives consumables a ton of hours. Until your STL screws around with it and gives you 100+ less hours each week. And doesn't seem to understand why the floor is empty with pulls piling up in the coolers all day because you don't have the hours to schedule anyone between 11-3. Or why you never seem to get all your salesplanners done. Or why the zone usually looks half assed. Etc.

 

[Retail Girl]

The problem is, myTime seems to give a lot of hours to the salesfloor, period. But it takes them from the front lanes. So you get an extra couple of hours for the salesfloor, and they spend the entire time on backup because myTime took the hours from the cashiers. It makes zero sense.

 

[The Dude Abides]

I love the branding of "guest driven scheduling" because it works so well to have them out there "driving profitable sales" when there is no one to ring the guests up when they get to the front. I see so many more abandoned carts in front of the lanes now because the back-up is insane. We are constantly on code and the sales floor is extremely slow to respond to us because they are tired of being stuck on the lanes for 15 minutes or more at a time only to be called up again five minutes later.

 

[redeye58]

High vol store & there were only THREE cashiers up front during evening rush tonight (going into a holiday weekend).
I was leaving FA when the GSTL asked me to jump on for back-up. I said sure.
LOD came by & asked if I could keep backing up while they took care of breaks & lunches. I said sure.
2.5 hrs later the LOD said thanks, that they were good for the time being.
I told the GSTL I was leaving & he threw his arms around me & said "Nooooooooooooo! Don't leave meeeeeeeeee!"

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

You save them again, red!

 

[FallenAngel]

Hey all, this is my first time posting here (though I've lurked and gained a lot of insight for a while)

My store will be rolling over to my time in the near future. I've asked around and been told not to worry, this and that, but I don't know. I have very limited availability. Weekdays only. I'm a single parent, with no assistance for childcare, so I can only work when my child is in school/childcare.

In order to make ends meet, I really need to pull in no less than 25 hours a week. Preferably closer to 30. So far it's worked out well. Once the slow after holiday period was over I've been averaging about 35 give or take. Currently I'm a cashier cross trained at Guest Service. I've also expressed interest in cross training elsewhere in the store.

For those with experience with my time, am I basically screwed once this rolls out? I actually like my job for the most part, as well as my co workers. I don't want to leave if I don't have to. But I don't want to be surprised when I look at the schedule one day and see that I have 4 hours or something ridiculous like that. I've heard that once my time spits the schedule out, there's no changing it, and I've also heard they can play around with it some.

As far as my performance goes, I had my review last month right around my 5 month anniversary date, and received all "E's" except for an IE in attendance because my child was sick a lot when I first started work. I've never been coached, never had any issues whatsoever. So does any of that come into play, or will I essentially just be bounced out because of the availability issue?

Also I was hired based on this availability, it was on my application, and also discussed at my interview, as well as the hours I needed to pull in. Not sure if that matters, but I just wanted to be as detailed as I could.

Should I relax, or should I start scouring the employment section and get out while I still have a paycheck?

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Learn other work centers, that can add more hours for you. I know your pain, my tm's are in the same boat.

 

[FallenAngel]

I've told anyone and everyone that I'm willing to cross train anyplace in the store that is needed. And they smile, tell me that's great, it's what they want to hear etc etc. And nothing happens. A few have told me they need more open availability for their areas. Several times I've been asked (by different people) if I know a certain area. And I answer the same "No, but I'm more than willing to learn" and they say, oh.. yeah we need someone over there today. But we'll get you trained over there. I seriously don't care if they have me in a different work center every day if it means hours. But as much as I ask, beg or what have you, I just seem to be met with the old brush off. "We'll keep you in mind" I've even expressed interest in softlines, which as a spot newbie, I really don't know much about, other than most tm's seem to despise it. But I don't care. Hours are hours and a paycheck is a good thing as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Rock Lobster]

I love the branding of "guest driven scheduling" because it works so well to have them out there "driving profitable sales" when there is no one to ring the guests up when they get to the front. I see so many more abandoned carts in front of the lanes now because the back-up is insane. We are constantly on code and the sales floor is extremely slow to respond to us because they are tired of being stuck on the lanes for 15 minutes or more at a time only to be called up again five minutes later.

This is because of the automatic hour allocation that MyTime generates. The STLs no longer can change it and they must schedule each workcenter what it is given. For some unknown reason to me, cashier generates MUCH lower than it did in MAX. It is not that the schedule is not guest driven, it is that the payroll allocation is not guest driven. If your cashier schedule had about 20% more payroll, the backups would stop.

 

[Aaron Leavitt]

Anyone know the mytime at home link?

 

[BullseyeBabe]

http://target.com/viewschedule

 

[pookiesma]

I work in a high volume apparel store. Mytime sucks. No one is getting any hours. They are operating with one person for the entire day for apparel and even during weekends, and two in hard lines, with only one after 5pm.

Cashier here. Our store is the same boat. They've cut back on the number of workers in each area. And the lack of cashiers is hurting the rest of the store. Sales floor workers have to keep coming to the check lanes for back up. When a department gets too backed up and stop sending people to the front, ETLs ask "Why haven't you sent anyone up for the last couple of calls?" Cause they have jobs to do and need to get them done before they only have 1 closer.

This gets better right? Cause our store is in a college town, and if things stay the same by August we're screwed.

 

[Rock Lobster]

I work in a high volume apparel store. Mytime sucks. No one is getting any hours. They are operating with one person for the entire day for apparel and even during weekends, and two in hard lines, with only one after 5pm.

Cashier here. Our store is the same boat. They've cut back on the number of workers in each area. And the lack of cashiers is hurting the rest of the store. Sales floor workers have to keep coming to the check lanes for back up. When a department gets too backed up and stop sending people to the front, ETLs ask "Why haven't you sent anyone up for the last couple of calls?" Cause they have jobs to do and need to get them done before they only have 1 closer.

This gets better right? Cause our store is in a college town, and if things stay the same by August we're screwed.

It is probably an issue with MyTime execution at the store level. Like I said earlier, some of the hour allocation does not make sense (the drastic reduction in cashier hours as an example), however your store did not lose hours as a whole. The overall payroll still exists in store, and is simply being used in other areas. If they changed their formula for cashier hours to increase by even 10-15% (lowering the formula in softlines, cart attendants, service desk, and hardlines by a few percent a piece) the stores would operate pretty well.

The issue with your store seems to be with the execution. If you are in a high volume store (with a high sales mix in A&A) then the payroll allocation will generate in Softlines. More likely than not, your store is simply not filling all empty shifts, and therefore not scheduling what is called for.

 

[Ringwraith917]

Seems like my time is trying hard to cut the amount of time a cashier is not actually checking someone out. Like it wants a backup because that is the most efficient use of TMs

 

[redeye58]

Thing is, whenever a cashier "is not actually checking someone out" we always had them doing tasks - like pushing candy/gum carts, helping softlines zone, running carts of go-backs to their depts, helping CA round up carts, resetting frontlane endcaps. They never stand around idle at our store.