Greener Pastures Post Spot?

Tessa120 said:
Wow, how things can change in a month. Right now I leave my job wanting to cry and feeling completely exhausted every day..... It's not the job or the people. It's that we are understaffed. It's supposed to be a department of 6 plus a manager, but it's 2 plus a manager and there's a hiring freeze. So we each have to do the job of three people. ... I hope they hire someone, anyone and train them before February. My department coworker is due in early March, and babies can decide they are done baking a couple weeks early.
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This is a sobering reminder that things in our store - or any workplace - can change quickly from being pretty good to not-so-good. Companies can and do make abrupt changes with little or no advance notice to employees.

A long time back, I worked for a small-but-innovative utility-services company which had a bad financial report, followed by a one-day 50% stock-price drop. Within a couple of days, a new CEO who was known as a cut-the-fat hatchet guy came in, replaced many of the other execs, and openly announced they'd be trimming out "poor-performing employees". The workplace was much more stressful as job losses mounted. A few months after I left, they were bought out (on the cheap) by a bigger utility-services company and more jobs chopped out.
 
If I look at the long term, this is temporary. Everyone knows that there just needs to be more people. We did hire two, and the GM wanted the department to stabilize, since we were a newly created department, and for sales staff to increase and stabilize before more were hired. The newest one quit without notice, but there was a hiring freeze. The next newest rage quit, a situation of "Seriously? Don't let the door hit you on the way out.", and still a hiring freeze. The loss of sales is measurable, there's very little follow up, which is what's losing sales, everyone knows it can't be done, my boss lives in fear of callouts, and she is quick to say she's glad we haven't bailed.

My hope is that December, being the first full month without person #3, will be reviewed and a hiring plan created. My fear is my coworker is due March 6th and babies tend to refuse to adhere to time schedules.
 
Tessa120 said:
First off, tell your doctor to stick the ECT electrodes up his ass and fire them up. ECT is barbaric and not much better than a lobotomy, and the amount of electricity ran through your brain is like sticking your computer power cord in a 50,000 volt outlet. Think of it this way, they do their best to keep people with seizure disorders from having seizures because seizures are harmful to the brain. So why do they want to cause seizures in people that were viewed as lacking willpower back when the process was invented? There are other, safer options now...... Ironically just a few days ago my boss told me she had a bad concussion once so she wrote everything down that she had to do as soon as she learned she had to do it, and crossed each item off when it was done. She was promoted to manager during that period, which showed how well that system worked.....
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No personal experience, but an acquaintance from church underwent a series of ECT treatments about 4 years ago with some limited improvement, though she has not resumed ECT since then. My interactions with my friend, and discussions with their husband, indicate they have not suffered lasting negative impact from ECT treatments but it just wasn't quite enough. ECT procedures today are much safer than those depicted 45 years ago in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest though your thoughts about unintended long-term health impacts still need to be considered by any patient.
 
ECT voltage - up to 450 volts though usually between that number and 225 volts.
Number of volts your brain runs on - 0.07 volts.

How can overloading your brain that much, with intent to cause a grand mal seizure which is not a good thing for the rest of humanity, be a safe and gentle procedure?
 
I left Target because I was tired of the I’m not ready to be a TL BS and the low pay. I now work at a nonprofit organization where I am off every weekend, work 35-38 hours a week and make substantially more than TLs lmao. I was hired on as a specialist but within a few weeks when my supervisor had job abandoned, I was offered her position because my boss really believed I could do it so now I work as the head program coordinator and we just hired my new subordinate to take my spot. I’m now a manager a month after I started and got a $12k raise with the same schedule.

My life turned around completely 2 months after I left target. Wish I started sooner but the important this is I did it and I have more energy at the gym.

Take that, Target.
 
Excellent move Marcellow. Congratulations. Target is a very strange place to work. The work is easy, the management and corporate mandates are simply unbelievable. The minute they fuck with your money get the hell out.
 
I left Target about a year and a half ago as an ETL without a plan. Couldn’t deal with the the lunacy of incompetent leaders, constantly changing expectations and communication, and the state of stores due to all of it. Wanted to get out of retail and sort of did...ended up doing HR at an Amazon fulfillment center. Took a bit of a pay cut, but only worked a set 4 days a week and was OT eligible again. Made decent money, but it still wasn’t great.

Left Amazon for a great HR job with a commercial real estate company, salaried again, but with a much better work life balance and a much more manageable workload. My boss and I get along great and I’m treated like a capable employee who can be trusted. Landed this job about a year after leaving Target. I’m now a generalist making more money than I did ever at Target, less stress, more time off, and getting actual continuing education. Benefits are much better too. There is life beyond Target. I thought for so long it’s all I was cut out for. And I was made to believe I wasn’t good enough for any other job.

And it’s kind of a big middle finger to some of my past senior leaders at Target who told me that I wasn’t good enough for an HRBP role and that I wasn’t cutting it as an ETL HR. Like look at me now. Supporting HR operations across the US with my new company!
 
happygoth said:
HR seems like it would be a great field to get into and the skills can transfer to so many different businesses. I mean, not many companies don't have an HR department.
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It was definitely a strategic move when I asked for HR as an ETL role. A lot is the same across all industries, but it’s such a different feel being corporate versus operational HR. There’s a lot I miss about stores, but getting to work on bigger things has been really rewarding.

Even my 10 months with Amazon, while I wasn’t super happy there...it was nice to see a business other than Target.
 
redeye58 said:
So good to hear from you, Sigma7.
I had wondered when/if you'd left & was about to call a code yellow.
Glad to hear that you're in a good place :)
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I still pop in here and lurk from time to time just to see how things are going. It’s tough to see so many vets have left and it’s hard to hear some of the stories of how things work (or don’t) now. Target has always had issues with systems and process inefficiencies, but I honestly feel like things have just gotten so out of whack in recent years. I do still think “modernization” is good at its core idea - I like hospitality, sales culture, having DBO’s; however, these initiatives MUST be funded with payroll and training resources to be truly successful. I just didn’t feel like that was the case in either of my groups.

All that said, TBR (and even ol’ Spot) will always hold a special place with me. This community helped me become the person/worker I am today.
 
Captain Orca said:
Excellent move Marcellow. Congratulations. Target is a very strange place to work. The work is easy, the management and corporate mandates are simply unbelievable. The minute they fuck with your money get the hell out.
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Absolutely! I’m glad they thought I wasn’t ready for a TL position, it got me looking for better opportunities. Funny how my new boss thought I was very capable but Target didn’t because I’m not extroverted.
 
Tessa120 said:
ECT voltage - up to 450 volts though usually between that number and 225 volts.
Number of volts your brain runs on - 0.07 volts.

How can overloading your brain that much, with intent to cause a grand mal seizure which is not a good thing for the rest of humanity, be a safe and gentle procedure?
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Are you a doctor?
 
No I'm not. But math doesn't lie. And I've lost count of the people I've networked with who we didn't hear from for a long time and it's because they forgot basic living skills for weeks. And a good friend whose son had a seizure disorder from a young age told me that seizures cause brain damage and that's why they were treating him so aggressively.

And remember, doctors thought lobotomy was a good treatment for depression.
 
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Sorry, been too much to reply. Wanted to thank y'all SO MUCH for the love!!

@Black Sheep, Thanks SO MUCH, I haven't tried. I know I would still lose house and furkids.

@FlowTeamChick , thanks SO MUCH. I stopped going to my therapists because I realized just how much they had screwed me. My family stands by me. One former peer checks up on me by message at least weekly. My best friend from high school texts me on holidays. Everyone else has given up on me and faded away. When I was working, everyone told me how much they loved me, adored me and couldn't imagine things without me. My first STL once tried to get me to stop working so many hours by telling me, "If you drop dead of a heart attack, I'll cry, I'll go to funeral. But the next day I'll ask (DTL) for your replacement." One was such a lie and the latter so true.

And yes, @Tessa120 is ABSOLUTELY right. One of the behavioral hospital "assigned" ECT as a release. When I went for the advising session he never mentioned memory loss. When I brought it up during my ten sessions, he ASSURED me that it was temporary and would return. It's been more than a year and a half and nope. When I was still seeing my psych nurse practitioner, she asked if he was following up. I told her I had not had any contact with him since my last session. She said that he was supposed to contact me regularly for follow up.

Just praying for better times ahead. I invested a lot of money I don't have in a career coach and I also have an interview with an oil company next week.

Thanks again, guys!! Your support means the world!!
 
Thanks SO MUCH for always making my day, @Hardlinesmaster!!

I had actually been auto enrolled in a "transition program" when I left Spot. I attended all the webinar and did most of the activities. However, it seemed more about preparing me for the job search than actually trying to help me find a job.

My sisters and others have had luck with a headhunter, but I can't find any (at least, if I'm supposed to find a local one).

Pretty sure it's too late for a refund with the coach, but I'll definitely search for local and state services!!

Thanks again for ALL you do!!😍🤩
 
16yearswasted said:
Sorry, been too much to reply. Wanted to thank y'all SO MUCH for the love!!

@Black Sheep, Thanks SO MUCH, I haven't tried. I know I would still lose house and furkids.

@FlowTeamChick , thanks SO MUCH. I stopped going to my therapists because I realized just how much they had screwed me. My family stands by me. One former peer checks up on me by message at least weekly. My best friend from high school texts me on holidays. Everyone else has given up on me and faded away. When I was working, everyone told me how much they loved me, adored me and couldn't imagine things without me. My first STL once tried to get me to stop working so many hours by telling me, "If you drop dead of a heart attack, I'll cry, I'll go to funeral. But the next day I'll ask (DTL) for your replacement." One was such a lie and the latter so true.

And yes, @Tessa120 is ABSOLUTELY right. One of the behavioral hospital "assigned" ECT as a release. When I went for the advising session he never mentioned memory loss. When I brought it up during my ten sessions, he ASSURED me that it was temporary and would return. It's been more than a year and a half and nope. When I was still seeing my psych nurse practitioner, she asked if he was following up. I told her I had not had any contact with him since my last session. She said that he was supposed to contact me regularly for follow up.

Just praying for better times ahead. I invested a lot of money I don't have in a career coach and I also have an interview with an oil company next week.

Thanks again, guys!! Your support means the world!!
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Good luck I really hope you get it so you don't lose everything.
 
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I'm all but done. I'm writing my resume. With what they've done to my pay this month, I'll be lucky if I can meet my share of the bills and I won't have anything to donate to other shared bills much less a little me money.

The only thing making me hesitate is that my husband is guaranteed losing his job late March, and he has diabetes and I have mental illness. Right now the wise idea is for me to stay put until he gets a job and insurance kicks in, and then he puts me on until I get a job with benefits. But if I'm going to be struggling with the new pay now, adding him to my insurance when his job ends will be ruinous.

I honestly don't know what to do.
 
@Tessa120, I wish I had good advice for you. You are in my thoughts and prayers and I can't wait to see an updated post that everything turned out great!
 
A bit of reflection, probably first step is see if they change things again in the next two weeks. Second step is to renegotiate pay, since my coworker feels the same. Third step would be to look for a different position within the same company. The company's not bad, but their tenth or twelve procedure change means my commissions will drop down to almost nothing, and right now it's between one-third to one-half my take home.
 

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