Archived Can corporate just stop pretending that guest service is a priority anymore?

[redeye58]

IDK, my ETL mentioned banking hrs for Q4 just the other day when I asked why we didn't have enough TMs on hand for the Missoni launch.

 

[b72pkdPhv]

I'm pretty sure if they're claiming they are "banking hours" they are just outright lying. My Target is "more brand" than the others in my area (I've been to them), and we're doing the usual hiring sprees like we are SUPPOSED TO this time of year, while some of the other targets are not. Maybe it depends entirely on the STL, and maybe it's an STL related bonus. I really do not know, but I would like a good in-depth answer on this. Pity no STL's dare visit this forum.

 

[redeye58]

And that's the other quirk: we're not hiring despite the fact that we don't have a large enough pool. Last yr at this time, we were trying to double our front end after a rash of terms. Not so this yr.
Scary.

 

[tellmeaboutatime]

10 years ago you could bank hours. That practice ended. Now if you don't use them you lose them. Sure you still have to make payroll and if you don't for the month you have to pay it back the next month. You can also earn flex hours depending on sales. The better your sales the more hours you are able to use/add. If however sales are not where they are projected to be you will lose your flex and you better be ready because you will have to repay them.

 

[GlobalTargetTM]

10 years ago you could bank hours. That practice ended. Now if you don't use them you lose them. Sure you still have to make payroll and if you don't for the month you have to pay it back the next month. You can also earn flex hours depending on sales. The better your sales the more hours you are able to use/add. If however sales are not where they are projected to be you will lose your flex and you better be ready because you will have to repay them.

To me, that's a better system than being able to bank hours. Probably the only smart thing corporate came up with. I just wish they allocated more to payroll in general.

 

[b72pkdPhv]

Banks don't even do bank hours anymore. Most of them are open seven days a week and stay open till seven or eight at least for the drive through.

Great job skimming the entire topic and coming in with your pants down.

 

[Formina Sage]

lol oops XD

 

[Rarejem]

Pardon me for not being a "veteran of Target", as if that were a badge of honor. Explain to me how you can "bank" on something that is RESET every month?

Oooh - snarky! Funny how so many threads refer to experience meaning nothing. I guess that's true.

 

[RedDog]

IDK, my ETL mentioned banking hrs for Q4 just the other day when I asked why we didn't have enough TMs on hand for the Missoni launch.

Perhaps it was just a way to make you feel like their was a good reason for the lack of payroll instead of just telling you HQ is padding the profits for bonus time and the people in the stores just have to suffer for it?

 

[commiecorvus]

Great job skimming the entire topic and coming in with your pants down.

I like to think of it as a combination of the 'What's New' button and wearing my heart on my sleeve.
I read every thread but sometimes forget the gist and go on the past couple of posts, dumb me.
Deleted it when I realized it was irrelevant but the wonders of

quote

can't be beat.
so ...
/me does a no-pants dance

 

[redeye58]

Perhaps it was just a way to make you feel like their was a good reason for the lack of payroll instead of just telling you HQ is padding the profits for bonus time and the people in the stores just have to suffer for it?

Nah, they don't give a rat's ### whether it's justified or not, much less how I feel about it. I also hear them talking among themselves about hrs banked.

 

[3LetterDevil]

In the pharmacy, our hours fluctuate weekly and monthly. I don't think it's just based on script count...I believe there's some calculation based on productivity as well because our pharmacist who does the scheduling (or at least approves it) commented one time about "if we don't use all of our hours, we won't earn as many in the future". For example, I think if we do 2000 scripts one month using an average of 160 hours/week, we "earn" an average of 160/wk for the following month...if we do 2000 in an average of 150/wk, we earn 150 for the following month. The month might be broken down as: wk1/145 hrs, wk2/150, wk3/155, wk4/150. What I don't understand, though, is that it will sometimes change during the month, and they'll have to add/cut hours???

 

[talan123]

The concept of hours and banking is one of the great mysteries of retail to me.

Why would you only give a certain amount of hours to people to get jobs done that have an influx of infinite variables due to customer service? I just don't see the justification of cutting hours to increase pain right now to spare pain later.

 

[Juan_Valdez]

The only "banking" of hours I can think of would be intra-month (i.e. saving some hours as a buffer for the unknowns during any given month). Not from month-to-month. For instance, logistics might consistently use more hours than forecasted, so you "underspend" each weekly forecast a little instead of drastically cutting at the end of the month. I think it's basically a way of smoothing out store staffing (i.e. scheduled hours) over the month. Also, there are other factors like outstanding punch corrections that tend to hit towards the end of a pay period. On a longer term basis, however, it's obvious that corporate prefers when stores spend less payroll AND maintain green scores ... So there has to be some incentive to that effect. I once heard that stores can trade hours for AE points, which would be one mechanism of reward for actually underspending forecast on a consistent basis from month-to-month.