Archived Certain workcenters thinking they are better than others

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Oh and pull one of those logistic people onto the front lanes on a weekend or a day before a snowstorm. See how fast they go running to the backroom.

Did it today. I won't say that cashiers have an easy job, but it's definitely not as overwhelming as the back room is the day before a snowstorm. The reason is, you have as many cashiers as you have registers. Almost everyone in the store can hop on a register for backup to help out. However, there are very few (at least in my store) who can jump in and help pull the CAFs/FFs/anything at all.
 
So if we don't have guests because we pissed em off for not getting their orders to them, it won't matter if there's anything on the floor, will it? Ten minutes won't demolish replenishment. Ten minutes will make a guest walk out the door without the product.

It's pretty clear you don't know how the workcenters work.

There are a lot of excuses free-flowing on these boards and at my store. I work flow and I do some backroom. The largest reason why I don't want to be a GSA or GSTL, is because everyone has an excuse to not respond to backup. Everyone is always "with a guest". I am a level-three leader at another job (equivalent to an ETL). I have a heavy dislike for excuses, especially when it involves customer/guest service. I do not tolerate excuses from my team. I will tolerate excuses at Target, because I have to; I am not a team lead. Furthermore, I have guest service as a top priority when the store is open; this means greeting customers, helping them, and even going into the backroom to pull something if I need to. Yeah, I have work to get done, but I figure out a way to win. I still manage to get my work done in a timely, efficient manner (except on Black Friday; that was a zoo). If we have no guests because we pissed them off, then what is there to be pulled, pushed, backstocked, or sold? The guests are the reason that we have this site. Helping guests, or supposedly "helping guests" should not be an excuse to not getting work done. As a flow team member, I will help 2-5 guest every day, and sometimes, that number is higher. I will greet 50+. Not everyone on my team provides excellent service.

All workcenters are expect to provide excellence in customer service, both internally and externally. Every team member and leader have a customer; it's Target; we are selling our time and talents to them. Target has guests, and we are to provide excellence in customer service. Are "my FA's" annoying? They can be frustrating when they have 30 items on it, while you're trying to get priority pulls and CAF's, but we still find ways to win, and get it done. This is a team effort; that means all priority pulls need to be treated as a priority. Sometimes, I have to help with price change; no excuses.
 
Actually working as a Backroom TM, I know how all other workcenters work because I deal with them everyday though it's pretty clear you have no idea how the Backroom works. I've worked all shifts in the backroom. Like I said before, some of you don't know what other workcenters do.

Every single minute counts in the Backroom. CAF pulls drop every hour and their time goals differ. Sometimes it will take 20 minutes, sometimes it take an hour. Most of the time there's only one TM in the back doing the CAFs and we only have one hour to do them. Yes, even if those 10mins don't demolish replenishment, it will affect our time goals.

I suggest you spend some time in your backroom so you can understand how it works. We have to do the CAFs, deal with flow backstock, presentation backstock, deal with salesfloor backstock especially when they do a planogram, trash people just leave by the baler because you guys are too afraid and lazy to ask us to use our keys to use the baler, clean out the trailer if we're taking a truck the next day, EXF batches, oh don't let me forget the guest orders.

Unlike you, we understand how other workcenters run in my store. Rather than telling the guest how they have to wait because us BRTMs are to busy to help you, our GSAs and GSTLs actually have the time to actually use their feet to walk to the back and do the pull by themselves. They also know how to ask us and how to ask us nicely if they need our help. If you can't do that, clearly there's something you're not doing right in the front end to run effectively without you gone for a few minutes. Actually I have no idea how the LOD will happily back you up because you didnt fully assist the guest.
Admittedly, I have no clue how back room works, for the most part, but can you honestly say you know how pharmacy works? We basically do most of what you do as well, just on a smaller scale, PLUS we have to answer phones, fill prescriptions, deal with doctors offices and insurance companies, place orders, wait on guests, and (in some stores) zone HBA. Oh, and we are also the only workcenter where we are required, BY LAW (in most, if not all states) to be licensed and or certified. Every minute also counts in pharmacy since we have multiple performance metrics to meet, not only on "time to fill," but also the amount of time we spend processing, working on call queues, filling, etc. And did I also mention, if WE screw something up, we can actually KILL someone?
 
Admittedly, I have no clue how back room works, for the most part, but can you honestly say you know how pharmacy works? We basically do most of what you do as well, just on a smaller scale, PLUS we have to answer phones, fill prescriptions, deal with doctors offices and insurance companies, place orders, wait on guests, and (in some stores) zone HBA. Oh, and we are also the only workcenter where we are required, BY LAW (in most, if not all states) to be licensed and or certified. Every minute also counts in pharmacy since we have multiple performance metrics to meet, not only on "time to fill," but also the amount of time we spend processing, working on call queues, filling, etc. And did I also mention, if WE screw something up, we can actually KILL someone?
I think pharmacy wins...
 
Admittedly, I have no clue how back room works, for the most part, but can you honestly say you know how pharmacy works? We basically do most of what you do as well, just on a smaller scale, PLUS we have to answer phones, fill prescriptions, deal with doctors offices and insurance companies, place orders, wait on guests, and (in some stores) zone HBA. Oh, and we are also the only workcenter where we are required, BY LAW (in most, if not all states) to be licensed and or certified. Every minute also counts in pharmacy since we have multiple performance metrics to meet, not only on "time to fill," but also the amount of time we spend processing, working on call queues, filling, etc. And did I also mention, if WE screw something up, we can actually KILL someone?


Haha....this is so true...my pharmacy is always slammed.....when I looked at a MTD sales report by $ Healthcare/Pharmacy was the highest in the entire store. We have a couple people trained who can backup and the other day one of them spent at least an hour backing up
 
To the OP I suggest asking your logistics ETL for a flow shift. Maybe they'll even let you throw the truck.....

From doing both logistics is a tougher job physically. Mentally I would say cashiering can be bad. But I worked overnight flow for 4 years and that would make most people go crazy.

Most of our logistics team can cashier. They might hate it, but they'll get the job done, maybe even get a red card. Most of our cashiers aren't the healthiest bunch. I would be concerned putting them on our flow team for a shift.

That said, everyone has their part in the store. Some are better in certain positions.
 
so, my unfiltered opinion as a former team member...

If any single TM thinks their workcenter is better than another, for any reason, they're probably too egocentric and conceited to see the bigger picture of what a retail store does. You're all team members. Your N07 paygrades are only N07 instead of N03 because your job is more physically demanding. So yes, your entry logistics TM probably makes more than your entry cashier TM.... But, guess what! You're all f**king team members. You're not "above" each other because you sweat instead of deal with guests, or vice versa.
I don't know about anyone else here, but during my initial orientation they had a chart depicting the store's leadership structure... I actually drew one out for you guys, in case any of you wonderful smug people don't understand it (see attached image, ignore my horrid crooked drawing.)

bd32de533bfa70d8f0a9c92580498fa4.png

On the Logistics side, yes, you probably get all sweaty and nasty throwing and pushing a truck, you still have your logistics superstars who do wonderful things in flow and the back room, and logistics slackers who would spend an entire shift doing 1-hour's worth of work and complaining about it. On the GE side, you have guest service superstars that keep themselves busy when they're not interacting with the 100's of guests they help every shift, and you have the slackers who lean against their register and don't do any of the necessary tasking.
If you have time to sit around and argue about which team is the hardest-working and bathe in smugness, you're probably the lazy arrogant worker who doesn't contribute as much as your peers. The real department winners (who are not only incredibly productive, but also keep a positive team-oriented attitude) wouldn't invest their time in this ridiculous argument because it's a waste of time.
 
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I never understood this. Why is flow putting stuff into the trailer?! The only thing going into a trailer should be the sweep.
It should never be filled with anything by the end of the day but we regularly use the trailer as temp storage space during a shift just because there is no room.

I don't really have any issues with work centers I just have an issue with my store's closing shift people who move around like zombies and often leave stuff lying around it's worse when that stuff is unmarked and we don't know what it is.
 
I will add this about 10 years ago fractured my foot...so after a couple weeks I had a walking cast ( the kind with Velcro that could be removed etc) I worked as backroom team member so I knew I couldn't climb ladders etc for at least 6 weeks...so they put me on the front lanes. I will say that handling money and dealing with guests ( this is before the red card era) pushed me out of my comfort zone. So, I give to cashiers for what they do. However, when comparing the amount of physical labor a cashier does to a flow/backroom team member...its like comparing apples and oranges. Doesn't mean cashiers don't work hard and deal with difficult guests and the dreaded red cards. This doesn't mean that a flow/backroom team member is any better than a cashier. We are all suppose to be part of a team.
 
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Ever job at target is demanding. Some positions are much more overwhelming then others.
I would say gstl/GSA and pharmacy tech are the most stressful. Because you get the constant abuse from guests who you are supposed to be pleasing and who we are all there for - without the guest, none of us would have a job.

Gstl/GSA get bombarded from every direction. Guests -cashiers - tl's and etl's, at the same time, while trying to keep the front end presentable. Sometimes all you do is spin all day long. Well, spin and run from guest services to cashiers.

@Quattro, I would love it if I had all registers with a cashier on a day before a snowstorm, sadly our store gets many call outs - more so than ever before- when they predict a snowflake might fall, I know I will have a few people calling out.

Today (day after snow) my first three cashiers were call outs. I was by myself until 10:30. Team leader asked me what I was going to do because he had a few callouts on the floor. I said "what can I do but ring by myself - I'll call you if I need you" and I did.
Thank goodness guest service opener came in.

As far as which work center is better, it's all of us. Each one is a spoke that makes that wheel turn.
 
The first team that came to mind for this thread was Pricing. I want them to switch to 11-7 so bad, but I don't see it happening.

If your PC team is that Bad why don't you speak up and have something done about it? If it's just because you think pricing is easy, it's not. I go home with my back hurting and my feet aching and my knees tore up from marking all the clearance (that is ALWAYS on the bottom shelf)
Our price change team supports the whole store. I'm constantly re-merchandising in softlines. If I'm working in front of a section flow is pushing I take the box from them and push it.
Do I put my work first? You better believe it. Cause they're coming after my ass if I didn't finish, regardless on if I was on a lane, helping softlines or whatever. I believe every team is that way though.

And why would you wish an 11-7 shift on someone? I worked those shifts, and believe me i was way less likely to do anything else besides ticket clearance because of that....That's like saying you should have to do All-Scan during the afternoon Saturday/Sunday.
 
Reminds me of the guy who was bragging to one of his fellow ranchers about how big his place was.
"Why, it's so big that I could drive all day in my truck & not get from one side to the other."
The other rancher nodded, "Yeah, I got a truck like that too...."
 
Sometimes our GSAs get snappy and rude with me when I am working backroom day. They don't under seem that we have timed goals that we have to reach and want to know why we can't bring items up to the front 3 times in an hour when I am the only person in the backroom and have to pull the CAFs by myself. They get real pissed when I say I can't bring something up so I usually just direct them to speak with the LOD if they have a problem at that point.

Front end is timed too, but in a much harsher manner. We have angry guests screaming at us qsking where that FF item they ordered is and why it's not waiting for them. You just get scored by a computer, not impatient assholes.
 
Levels of smugness:

STL
ETLs
Sr TLs
TLs
PMD
AP
HR
Pricing
POG
SD/GSA
Phar
Rev Log
BR
Instocks
Elec
SF
Cashiers
Flow
CA

GSA/SD seems weird on same level. I answer LOD calls, often have an AP walkie, and am referred to as a GSTL despite being GSA, our GSTM's that work GS are totally not in a position of similar authority.
 
7a - 11p is 16 hours
16 x 7 is 112
112 / 40 is 2.8

Am I missing something?

You think GSA's are guaranteed 40 hours? Yeah right. Theu also come in before open and are the last to walk out alongside the LOD.
 
GSA/SD seems weird on same level. I answer LOD calls, often have an AP walkie, and am referred to as a GSTL despite being GSA, our GSTM's that work GS are totally not in a position of similar authority.

An AP walkie? I would take that from you so fast your head would spin.

Damn, there goes my AP smugness again :D
 
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