Archived Do STLs get a bonus

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Better question for this thread: why don't team members get bonuses and other cute rewards?
 
This thread has sparked an interesting question for debate: Why don't TMs get bonuses?

Is it true that all Walmart employees get a quarterly bonus? If so, I am shocked! I don't know how y'all feel about Walmart but I think they have the worst customer service. Asking a Walmart employee for assistance is like asking which dog pooped on your floor, they just sit there looking at you all dumbfounded, lick their balls, or chase after a squirrel running behind you. I've learned to just ask the shelf if there is more product in the back because I'll get the same answer from a Walmart employee "I don't know, probably not".

At least Target prides themselves on taking care of the guest and try to deliver great service. Target is at least consistent on delivering exceptional guest service. So, Target, if you expect your employees to provide excellent service and complete all of their tasks while cutting their resources, then why don't you provide them with a bonus? This should especially hold true for stores who meet their sales goals and maintain consistent green scores. Share the wealth and give your employees something they truly want...money!

I would imagine Target's response to be: We provide our TMs with something no other store provides, FFF events. There you go TMs, that is your bonus. A free drink or snack every now and then and possibly a free item from the bulls eye shop. We hope you enjoy your shirt!
 
I don't think WalMart has necessarily bad customer service. You just have to be realistic and see it from their perspective. Their stores are like warehouses and it would be time consuming for employees to have to walk great distances to show someone where something is. The size of the store is one huge advantage that Target has over WalMart. I think team members should either get better raises at Target or rewards for certain things. If you don't call out or are late, you should get an incentive. If you stay late or go out of your way to do something for a guest, you should be rewarded after having done that maybe 10 times or more. Stuff like that. You should get it incentives if you cover someone's shift especially if it's in a different work center.
 
See, I don't believe in incentives for doing your damn job. Those who are constantly late or calling off need to be dealt with. But that's hard to do because you tend to get what you pay for.
 
Jackswastedlife99 said:
I don't think WalMart has necessarily bad customer service. You just have to be realistic and see it from their perspective. Their stores are like warehouses and it would be time consuming for employees to have to walk great distances to show someone where something is. The size of the store is one huge advantage that Target has over WalMart. I think team members should either get better raises at Target or rewards for certain things. If you don't call out or are late, you should get an incentive. If you stay late or go out of your way to do something for a guest, you should be rewarded after having done that maybe 10 times or more. Stuff like that. You should get it incentives if you cover someone's shift especially if it's in a different work center.
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I think there are several holes in this thought and perhaps it's because we have different experiences with Walmart. I've lived in two types of areas, Walmart-dominated markets and Target-dominated markets. Walmart dominates areas where income is lower while Target dominates higher income communities. The Targets in Walmart-dominated areas are small in comparison to their Super Walmart counterparts. In my home town, both Walmart and Target are small. The community won't allow a Super Walmart because they fear it will hurt local grocery stores. Target just entered the market three years ago, giving Walmart a 20 year lead, but a Target wasn't warranted before because the average household income was very low, too low for Target to attract loyal customers or pull them from the lower prices of Walmart. I agree that some Walmarts are bigger but I live in an area where Target stores dwarf Walmart stores. Also, I can pass 10 Target stores, all Super Walmart size or larger before I see a Walmart. (Average household income of my current area, $112, 000. Average household income of my hometown, and surrounding area(counties) is $32,000).

So "it would be time consuming for employees to have to walk great distances to show someone where something is" is bologna. Try directing a guest to a location that is two floors up or pulling an item for a guest that is from a location two floors down. Or how about Super Targets or "Greatland" Targets that are just as large as a Super Walmart. Should TMs not be expected to deliver great guest service because the store is too big? The size of a store should not dictate the level of customer service a guest should experience.

Incentives - Some stores do give incentives for attendance/performance/etc. I did a drawing each month for a $50 gift card for those who had perfect attendance. My top performers each week (1 flow/1 backroom) received a $20 gift card (Movies, Restaurant, etc). I gave out free meals all the time or had free food at break time. The other stuff might be too hard to track, unless a Guest filled out a survey and specifically mentioned the TM. But that can be falsified by other TMs trying to help the cause. I agree with Retail Girl, "I don't believe in incentives for doing your damn job". Your incentive for doing a good job should be knowing you have a job tomorrow. If you do a great job, go beyond expectations then you should be recognized and promoted. But every job has a salary cap. If you don't want to move up then accept your cap. I had plenty of TMs who reached their cap, didn't want to be a TL, but complained about their pay raises. Sorry, you're capped out. Take the 2% and smile.

Raises - Target gives the same raises as any other company - between 2-5%. Only top performers, maybe a few now, will see the 5%. Anything greater would be from a promotion. As a TM, expect the 2%. So if you make around $10 an hour, which is average, then your raise would be $.2o an hour. If you make $30 an hour, 2% would be $.60 an hour. So it can be tricky when comparing raises with other people who have a higher hourly wage.

Back to original thoughts - Because Walmart has low prices, Walmart often attracts lower income families, who often have lower standards of living. Don't believe it? Check out people of Walmart website. There's a reason it's not called people of Target. I also think the standard of customer service is lower. When I went through Target's "Business College" I learned that Walmart is not even considered a competitor to Target. Target sees themselves as trying to attract a different customer base (those with higher incomes) where Walmart attracts lower income. Now if Walmart is giving bonuses to all employees, who give poor service compared to TMs, then Target should definitely give its TMs bonuses too. But don't expect much. ETLs bonuses have diminished in recent years, from $4,000-6,000 in the glory days to $1000 for some stores.
 
Mhugh220 said:
Jackswastedlife99 said:
I don't think WalMart has necessarily bad customer service. You just have to be realistic and see it from their perspective. Their stores are like warehouses and it would be time consuming for employees to have to walk great distances to show someone where something is. The size of the store is one huge advantage that Target has over WalMart. I think team members should either get better raises at Target or rewards for certain things. If you don't call out or are late, you should get an incentive. If you stay late or go out of your way to do something for a guest, you should be rewarded after having done that maybe 10 times or more. Stuff like that. You should get it incentives if you cover someone's shift especially if it's in a different work center.
Click to expand...

I think there are several holes in this thought and perhaps it's because we have different experiences with Walmart. I've lived in two types of areas, Walmart-dominated markets and Target-dominated markets. Walmart dominates areas where income is lower while Target dominates higher income communities. The Targets in Walmart-dominated areas are small in comparison to their Super Walmart counterparts. In my home town, both Walmart and Target are small. The community won't allow a Super Walmart because they fear it will hurt local grocery stores. Target just entered the market three years ago, giving Walmart a 20 year lead, but a Target wasn't warranted before because the average household income was very low, too low for Target to attract loyal customers or pull them from the lower prices of Walmart. I agree that some Walmarts are bigger but I live in an area where Target stores dwarf Walmart stores. Also, I can pass 10 Target stores, all Super Walmart size or larger before I see a Walmart. (Average household income of my current area, $112, 000. Average household income of my hometown, and surrounding area(counties) is $32,000).

So "it would be time consuming for employees to have to walk great distances to show someone where something is" is bologna. Try directing a guest to a location that is two floors up or pulling an item for a guest that is from a location two floors down. Or how about Super Targets or "Greatland" Targets that are just as large as a Super Walmart. Should TMs not be expected to deliver great guest service because the store is too big? The size of a store should not dictate the level of customer service a guest should experience.

Incentives - Some stores do give incentives for attendance/performance/etc. I did a drawing each month for a $50 gift card for those who had perfect attendance. My top performers each week (1 flow/1 backroom) received a $20 gift card (Movies, Restaurant, etc). I gave out free meals all the time or had free food at break time. The other stuff might be too hard to track, unless a Guest filled out a survey and specifically mentioned the TM. But that can be falsified by other TMs trying to help the cause. I agree with Retail Girl, "I don't believe in incentives for doing your damn job". Your incentive for doing a good job should be knowing you have a job tomorrow. If you do a great job, go beyond expectations then you should be recognized and promoted. But every job has a salary cap. If you don't want to move up then accept your cap. I had plenty of TMs who reached their cap, didn't want to be a TL, but complained about their pay raises. Sorry, you're capped out. Take the 2% and smile.

Raises - Target gives the same raises as any other company - between 2-5%. Only top performers, maybe a few now, will see the 5%. Anything greater would be from a promotion. As a TM, expect the 2%. So if you make around $10 an hour, which is average, then your raise would be $.2o an hour. If you make $30 an hour, 2% would be $.60 an hour. So it can be tricky when comparing raises with other people who have a higher hourly wage.

Back to original thoughts - Because Walmart has low prices, Walmart often attracts lower income families, who often have lower standards of living. Don't believe it? Check out people of Walmart website. There's a reason it's not called people of Target. I also think the standard of customer service is lower. When I went through Target's "Business College" I learned that Walmart is not even considered a competitor to Target. Target sees themselves as trying to attract a different customer base (those with higher incomes) where Walmart attracts lower income. Now if Walmart is giving bonuses to all employees, who give poor service compared to TMs, then Target should definitely give its TMs bonuses too. But don't expect much. ETLs bonuses have diminished in recent years, from $4,000-6,000 in the glory days to $1000 for some stores.
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Are you an STL or ETL? Or previously held one of the two? Great post btw.
 
An incentive is a guaranteed reward because you achieved a goal or mark. Having your name put into a drawing for a stupid gift card is 100 percent based on chance. Besides, an employee would rather have a 50 dollar bonus instead of a 50 dollar gift card. The gift card route is easy and unoriginal. Thumbs down for me.
 
Jackswastedlife99 said:
An incentive is a guaranteed reward because you achieved a goal or mark. Having your name put into a drawing for a stupid gift card is 100 percent based on chance. Besides, an employee would rather have a 50 dollar bonus instead of a 50 dollar gift card. The gift card route is easy and unoriginal. Thumbs down for me.
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I agree that its unoriginal but I could have done nothing or printed a cute certificate like HR did for the day side team. Would that make you proud? You can take it home and hang it next to your son's achievements on the refrigerator. This is going to be offensive for TMs, but what you do everyday is called your job. You helped a guest, congratulations it's a core role. You came to work everyday on time, that's cute but expected of every employee everywhere. You stayed late because other TMs didn't do their job as well, bless your heart, your incentive is an extra hour of pay. ETLs do the same, what do they get, nothing! We work well over 40hrs a week with nothing more given to us. When a TM clocks out they can leave work behind them. ETL or higher, our boss is always texting or calling. Yes we get bonuses at the end of the year, nothing fabulous, hell we worked twice as long as any hourly TM. Oh but we get paid well. Break it down by hour and TLs get paid better. As a Log I never could take vacation because who was going to babysit?

Your expectations are too high for a job that requires little qualifications. Are you alive? Check. Can you lift a box? Check. Can you speak enough english to get through an interview? Check. Not a repeat felon or wanted murderer? Hired!

Get a job that requires a degree or 5+ years of experience then you can start expecting incentives. Find a job where the employer needs you just as much or more than you need them. Then you can start demanding bonuses. Honestly, a TM needs Target more than Target needs an individual TM.

Sorry for trying to do something for my TMs without reaching into my own pocket (which several parties were funded between myself and my Replen because Target wouldn't fund it). I have no control on raises or bonuses. I can't reach into a drawer or go into the safe and hand a TM $50 cash. I make way more than a TM and I'd be grateful for any amount of money for free. Reviews, they're a joke. TLs don't get the time to write an individual review for 40 people and when their time is up an ETL would just take over, copy and paste the body, change the name, and give them a score based on how much they liked that person.

Jackswastedlife99, you remind me of some of the "privileged" TMs that I had. "Oh you come to work every time and put your all into it", yet I see you standing around a pallet talking more than pushing boxes or you complain about everything, wanting more free stuff. "Call the news station, we have a hard worker here. Let it be known to the world that Joe Whatshisname pushed the entire second floor faster than the downstairs team." Well Joe, the upstairs consisted of 5% of the truck, so should I put more TMs on 5% of the truck than on 95% of the truck?

Want an incentive? Go to Walmart!
 
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My brother owns a bicycle shop where everyone who works there owns a piece of the company.
They aren't a small place either, clear a couple million a year.
Every day they are happy to come to work and work their asses off.
Everybody there has been with the company ten years or longer.
They all have full insurance and retirement but they are are a retail store.
Could Spot run that business model?
Probably not, but surely they could use successfully use parts of it.
 
commiecorvus said:
My brother owns a bicycle shop where everyone who works there owns a piece of the company.
They aren't a small place either, clear a couple million a year.
Every day they are happy to come to work and work their asses off.
Everybody there has been with the company ten years or longer.
They all have full insurance and retirement but they are are a retail store.
Could Spot run that business model?
Probably not, but surely they could use successfully use parts of it.
Click to expand...
Commie, did you apply? You are qualified.
 
G
Hardlinesmaster said:
commiecorvus said:
My brother owns a bicycle shop where everyone who works there owns a piece of the company.
They aren't a small place either, clear a couple million a year.
Every day they are happy to come to work and work their asses off.
Everybody there has been with the company ten years or longer.
They all have full insurance and retirement but they are are a retail store.
Could Spot run that business model?
Probably not, but surely they could use successfully use parts of it.
Click to expand...
Commie, did you apply? You are qualified.
Click to expand...

Sadly, it's in California or I'd be there with an application tomorrow.
 
I don't drink Target kool aid. Thank you.

I used to expect a lot from Target. I can admit that and it really came back to bite me in the butt. Nowadays, I do the basic required workload to keep peace and to stay employed. Do I complain a lot? Yes, I do. I complain a lot because a job in retail should be a very low stress easy job with not much drama. At Target, it's the complete opposite.
ETLs, TLs, and bossy TMs make simple and easy jobs a million more times difficult than they are by making the setting of a Target store like a battlefield or hospital in which people will die if a guest doesn't get a Frozen dvd or doll the second they ask for it or if a cashier doesn't get a red card with the second they start their shift.

I just want to be treated like a human being. Just because it's retail does not mean ETLs, TLs, and bossy TMs can treat me like a piece of crap.

I actually do have a college degree which has basically been useless since I got it. I was the victim of bad timing. Graduated from high school in 2002(the year after 9/11 and before the start of the war in Iraq) and graduated from college in 2007(America's fantasy economy imploded that year). And yeah I was raised and brought up in a generation in which getting a college degree would make your life better and how hard work and doing your best will pay off. That crap is a joke and scam.

College is a scam. Working hard and doing your best don't cut it in America. You either have to lie, cheat, steal, and even kill to get to the top or have to have rich parents or connections in order to succeed in America.
I just wish the people that destroyed America would lose everything and finally be punished for their crimes.
 
commiecorvus said:
My brother owns a bicycle shop where everyone who works there owns a piece of the company.
They aren't a small place either, clear a couple million a year.
Every day they are happy to come to work and work their asses off.
Everybody there has been with the company ten years or longer.
They all have full insurance and retirement but they are are a retail store.
Could Spot run that business model?
Probably not, but surely they could use successfully use parts of it.
Click to expand...

There's a lot more challenges once a small company becomes a national symbol. I work for a similar company as your brother's: small company, 65 employees, bring in $29 million annually, free health care, retirement, profit sharing, bonuses, great salary, except my company is an IT consulting firm. Target could do this but there's higher risk for them since 1 Target store probably employs more and has a higher revenue than the bicycle shop. Times this by 1,000+ and the roadblocks to this business model multiply. Also cutting the pie into 300,000 slices would be worthless for TMs after paying the salaries for all the big wigs, opening new stores, remodeling old stores, Canada adventures, and all the other overhead for 1,000+ stores.

Also think about the product your brother sells. Bikes from a specialty store are investments. Hell my first car was cheaper than some bikes. At the end of the day Target sells toilet paper. If the same model was used, where TMs got paid more for selling that toilet paper, we'd be wiping our butts with dead presidents or inventors. Why? Because the 1% still want to make the same profit margin. Increase benefits, salaries, and then prices. Because we all know when minimum wage is increased so is everything else. When minimum wage was $5.15 gas was $1.05. Now at $7.25 gas is $3.79. At $11 gas will be $6.00?
 
Jackswastedlife99 said:
I actually do have a college degree which has basically been useless since I got it. I was the victim of bad timing. Graduated from high school in 2002(the year after 9/11 and before the start of the war in Iraq) and graduated from college in 2007(America's fantasy economy imploded that year). And yeah I was raised and brought up in a generation in which getting a college degree would make your life better and how hard work and doing your best will pay off. That crap is a joke and scam.

College is a scam. Working hard and doing your best don't cut it in America. You either have to lie, cheat, steal, and even kill to get to the top or have to have rich parents or connections in order to succeed in America.
I just wish the people that destroyed America would lose everything and finally be punished for their crimes.
Click to expand...

I was raised by parents who had no college education and made less than $40,000 combined. I graduated high school in 2003, college in 2007. My degree got me to where I am today - great salary, benefits, work from home 1-2 days a week, weekends/holidays off etc. So what's your excuse for having a degree and not using it? It's not in basket weaving is it?

Something is wrong if you have a degree, work at Target as anything less than ETL, and can't find a job. There are opportunities out there, you just have to go for them.

College is a scam for some who pick limiting majors. A degree is just a way to filter applicants. Most jobs don't care what it's in as long as you have one. And now a Masters is becoming a minimum requirement.
 
I have an abnormal and unhealthy fear of failure. It controls everything I do. It makes me scared and paranoid to death to take risks and try new things. I think that's the only reason why I'm stuck at Target.
 
You can't be afraid to fail.
It's the only way to learn.
After all only an average man is at his best at all times.
If you want to be something special you have to be willing to fall on your face.
For every successful project Apple or Google has done there have been a dozen failures.
Get some help if you need it.
If your family sucks, make your own.
You can't achieve greatness by asking permission.
 
My ETL told me last night we are one of the few stores in our group on track for golden contribution so far this year. It's been okay work-wise, but we are killing sales and adding hours like crazy. But honestly, it's enough to make me want to slit my wrists to know that the upper echelon will make great money off of this if we keep this pace up and the rest of us will just be tired and burned out.
 
Retail Girl said:
My ETL told me last night we are one of the few stores in our group on track for golden contribution so far this year. It's been okay work-wise, but we are killing sales and adding hours like crazy. But honestly, it's enough to make me want to slit my wrists to know that the upper echelon will make great money off of this if we keep this pace up and the rest of us will just be tired and burned out.
Click to expand...

I miss my store's Golden Contribution days. We actually got hours back then.
 
The good thing is that we are getting hours because we are making sales left and right (our comp for the month has been at like 7%). But of course it never feels like *enough* hours to get everything done.
 
If they cut payroll, it is because someone else is over spending. Leaders performance is evaluated by not overspending in payroll and other categories.

The Bonus is decided by the DTL/GDTL.

It can be between 5k and 125k depending on the volume of the stores and the STLs impact. Big range, but this is what I've seen.
 
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