MEGATHREAD Hang Me (The Softlines Thread)

[Jersey856]

I don't even know what to do anymore ..like I'm so fed up with one of my softlines team lead..doesn't do a god damn thing but those activities on the zebra at the wrong times with our team members
.doesn't do reshop..she's above that.. won't push but maybe one rack from off the truck.. wont push end to end carts..I don't get how she's a team lead
Its supposed to be all hands on deck I feel like I'm killing myself every single day...I honestly feel like Cinderella ..I do all the pogs/Adjacenies /mannequins..home innovation tables..push racks push carts..ill do whatever it takes so we are not behind but going into 4th quarter..we are fucked...doing double trucks now.. Like I set the hearth an hand brand the past few days my STL told me no softlines for 3 days ok no problem but told him stuff has to get done like mannequins have to get changed an new Adjacenies for who what wear an a new day nothing major even just a few moves....He Sent an email to her.. "Changed mannequins but that's all" you're telling me it took 8 hours to change 6 mannequins .. Best part is she didn't even change them someone else did ...sooooooo what.the.fuck. sorry for rant just GRRRRRR lmaoo

 

[rainy2009]

I don't even know what to do anymore ..like I'm so fed up with one of my softlines team lead..doesn't do a god damn thing but those activities on the zebra at the wrong times with our team members
.doesn't do reshop..she's above that.. won't push but maybe one rack from off the truck.. wont push end to end carts..I don't get how she's a team lead
Its supposed to be all hands on deck I feel like I'm killing myself every single day...I honestly feel like Cinderella ..I do all the pogs/Adjacenies /mannequins..home innovation tables..push racks push carts..ill do whatever it takes so we are not behind but going into 4th quarter..we are fucked...doing double trucks now.. Like I set the hearth an hand brand the past few days my STL told me no softlines for 3 days ok no problem but told him stuff has to get done like mannequins have to get changed an new Adjacenies for who what wear an a new day nothing major even just a few moves....He Sent an email to her.. "Changed mannequins but that's all" you're telling me it took 8 hours to change 6 mannequins .. Best part is she didn't even change them someone else did ...sooooooo what.the.fuck. sorry for rant just GRRRRRR lmaoo

I think my situation is opposite to yours. My TL is much better than the actual softline manager lol. I'm barely in the team for a long but the manager herself cannot finish the damn zone ...... And I can't stand her keep stabbing behind my back and turned around accusing me for picking on her ( She started all the fight and then turned around pretending to be the victim because I was push to the edge and fight back to defend myself??? Gosh...and I don't even know why she has all these freaking time to do shit like this while the entire team are working so hard to get the task done...) I like softline but it's just so annoying to deal with shits like this, so I probably gonna ask for transfer to different department after the holiday season's over......

 

[RightArm]

I don't even know what to do anymore ..like I'm so fed up with one of my softlines team lead..doesn't do a god damn thing but those activities on the zebra at the wrong times with our team members
.doesn't do reshop..she's above that.. won't push but maybe one rack from off the truck.. wont push end to end carts..I don't get how she's a team lead
Its supposed to be all hands on deck I feel like I'm killing myself every single day...I honestly feel like Cinderella ..I do all the pogs/Adjacenies /mannequins..home innovation tables..push racks push carts..ill do whatever it takes so we are not behind but going into 4th quarter..we are fucked...doing double trucks now.. Like I set the hearth an hand brand the past few days my STL told me no softlines for 3 days ok no problem but told him stuff has to get done like mannequins have to get changed an new Adjacenies for who what wear an a new day nothing major even just a few moves....He Sent an email to her.. "Changed mannequins but that's all" you're telling me it took 8 hours to change 6 mannequins .. Best part is she didn't even change them someone else did ...sooooooo what.the.fuck. sorry for rant just GRRRRRR lmaoo

Are you the VML in your store? It sounds like you're doing VML tasks... hardlines sets and mannequins and what not. And the only way it takes 8 hours to change 6 mannequins is if you are also changing six hurdles to match and are new to the task. Our VML can change half of the RTW mannequins in one shift by herself and that's quite a few mannequins... think it's about 15 (pretty sure we have close to 30 RTW mannequins if you don't count busts and legs.) Trust me there are quite a few of us on here who feel that "Cinderella Syndrome" for varying reasons.

 

[RightArm]

I think my situation is opposite to yours. My TL is much better than the actual softline manager lol. I'm barely in the team for a long but the manager herself cannot finish the damn zone ...... And I can't stand her keep stabbing behind my back and turned around accusing me for picking on her ( She started all the fight and then turned around pretending to be the victim because I was push to the edge and fight back to defend myself??? Gosh...and I don't even know why she has all these freaking time to do shit like this while the entire team are working so hard to get the task done...) I like softline but it's just so annoying to deal with shits like this, so I probably gonna ask for transfer to different department after the holiday season's over......

Your post confuses me. When you say softlines manager are you talking about your ETL (your TL's boss)? If so, it's rare that a softlines ETL can zone faster than most TMs because they rarely zone and it's not their job to zone anyway. They're contract hires and not hourly employees like the rest of us. Can't say I've ever seen an ETL zone with the exception of my very first softlines ETL who used to zone with TMs while he chatted with them and checked on how they were doing. He was a rare ETL and everyone loved him.

Or are you talking about a brand TM/ specialist who would actually not be a manager at all and would work for your TL (and under your TL) and would likely have a few shifts in which they have to zone and might be in charge of a single area of softlines? If so, of course your TL is better...he or she is supposed to be because they are in charge of ALL of softlines and not a single area.

Backstabbing at work sucks for sure. My experience has been that most good TLs know who their hardworking TMs are and who their lazy TMs are and don't generally fall for that crap. Of course, not every TL is a good one unfortunately.

 

[RightArm]

Thanks for the support @RightArm . One good thing that is coming out of all of this is finally getting some notice and respect from leadership. I'm not looking for "employee of the year" or anything like that, but just to have someone actually say something about how hard I've been working means a lot to me. We've finally hired a couple adult tms so hopefully they work out, but we'll have to see.

Now if they JUST follow that up with a decent raise next year. I get what you mean, though. Recognition is such a powerful way of saying 'thank you.'

 

[rainy2009]

[/QUOTE]
I still got very confused about how the SL, TL, ETL things work at Target but aren't we have a manager for each department??? I know ETL is really busy in our store with all hiring, orientation and more so I don't expect he gets time to zone at all lol I know my softline TL work a lot and so do the two TL in hardine. I'm talking about Sr TL

 

[RightArm]

I still got very confused about how the SL, TL, ETL things work at Target but aren't we have a manager for each department??? I know ETL is really busy in our store with all hiring, orientation and more so I don't expect he gets time to zone at all lol I know my softline TL work a lot and so do the two TL in hardine. I'm talking about Sr TL[/QUOTE]

Titles from the top down:
------------------------------

STL (Store Team Leader) - the overall manager, the store belongs to them and everyone in the store answers to them.
ETL (Executive Team Leader) - the "assistant managers" who oversee areas like logistics, guest experience, salesfloor, etc. They answer to the STL.

STL & ETL are corporate hires. They are under contract, are guaranteed 40 hrs worth of pay per week along with medical benefits and paid vacation and so forth. Most of them work more than 40 hrs a week though in order to keep things running. They do not clock in and clock out like everyone else and don't have compliance issues to worry about. STL & ETL can and do run LOD (leader on duty) shifts.
-------------------------------

SRTL (Senior Team Lead) - They are hourly wage earners and are guaranteed I believe 32 hours a week. They are often seen standing LOD shifts along side their ETL counterparts and are key carriers and know all the alarm codes. Pay grade 45 now, I believe. This is a promotion from TL and so your SRTL can be running any department in the store and often along side another TL or even another SRTL if they also got promoted to this point along with their regular TL duties.

TL (Team Lead) - Also supposed to be guaranteed 32 hours a week though I've seen some of them take hour cuts JUST to give their team hours. They oversee smaller areas of the store - generally 2 in backroom, 2 in softlines, and 3 or 4 in hardlines, and 1 over grocery, and one over starbucks, and 1 or 2 over the front lanes. Pay grade 40, I believe.

VML - (Visual Merchandising Leader) - Considered pay grade 40 like a team lead. They are responsible for all visual areas of the store in hardlines and softlines. (ie: mannequins, tables, trend runs...

TM - (Team Member) - considered pay grade 30 or 35 depending on whether they are a specialist or not.

---------------------------------

Hope that helps. Your SRTL would be considered higher up than your TL. I don't know if your issues are with one of them or simply with another TM in a specialist position who acts like they're the boss of everyone.

 

[rainy2009]

[/QUOTE]
Thank you sooo much for this! You definitively answered a lot of my questions for long time lol
I really have so much more to learn! Some tm are not willing to teach new hires in my store, but some tm are very nice to teach me stuff. I think teaching new hires is quite important to help them be more comfortable in store and work more efficiently.

 

[RightArm]

Thank you sooo much for this! You definitively answered a lot of my questions for long time lol
I really have so much more to learn! Some tm are not willing to teach new hires in my store, but some tm are very nice to teach me stuff. I think teaching new hires is quite important to help them be more comfortable in store and work more efficiently. [/QUOTE]

Teaching is something we have no problem doing here on the forums. You ever have any questions, don't be afraid to ask. We all do our best to help each other out.

 

[Doglover89]

So they have begun scheduling literally two tms for almost an entire day. How is anything supposed to get done? High volume store, doing very well in sales from what my STL is saying. Its ridiculous.

 

[rainy2009]

Is there a way to better process those set pajama, 4 piece items kid sleepwear and so if there's missing one or two? Or the opposite like having the piece but missing the rest of it? I know we can defect or repackage item, but sometimes if we put them aside and wait for finding the rest of them and then they start piling up..... and things like gloves or shoes that come in pair... I don't think the fitting room can do all repackaging, ticket, sorting, phone calls and room check all by one person in a busy, high volume day. In a slow day it might be okay, but weekend and holiday???

 

[sprinklesontop]

Is there a way to better process those set pajama, 4 piece items kid sleepwear and so if there's missing one or two? Or the opposite like having the piece but missing the rest of it? I know we can defect or repackage item, but sometimes if we put them aside and wait for finding the rest of them and then they start piling up..... and things like gloves or shoes that come in pair... I don't think the fitting room can do all repackaging, ticket, sorting, phone calls and room check all by one person in a busy, high volume day. In a slow day it might be okay, but weekend and holiday???

We only keep our mis-mates ( pjs missing tops or bottoms, a lone slipper, etc) for 1 week..... assuming every department should have a great zone 1 week; we are usually very successful finding the mates. And now w/ the 2 hour FR rotation, all TMs are hyper-aware of the different department's mis-mates. If we can't pair items up, we repackage. I'm not a fan of defecting..... it's an easy way to eat at the bottom line profit.

 

[RightArm]

We only keep our mis-mates ( pjs missing tops or bottoms, a lone slipper, etc) for 1 week..... assuming every department should have a great zone 1 week; we are usually very successful finding the mates. And now w/ the 2 hour FR rotation, all TMs are hyper-aware of the different department's mis-mates. If we can't pair items up, we repackage. I'm not a fan of defecting..... it's an easy way to eat at the bottom line profit.

No matter what your system is, be careful. If you don't deal with it it piles up toward inventory. Two years ago we had a terrible nightmare because of it. My SRTL said NEVER NEVER again. So, whatever you do, develop a process, give it a time limit like sprinklesontop mentioned and then either defect it or charge it out. Just don't let it sit in a cart indefinitely or it will become the monster that *kills* you later.

 

[DialMforMonkey]

Well it finally happened. I pushed hard against it, but I walked with the dtl today and now we have to have 1 per size of everything. I'm going to order more containers to sit outside and more zbars. Backroom is full and outside the store is the only place to go.

Stay strong softlines.

 

[SFSFun]

Well it finally happened. I pushed hard against it, but I walked with the dtl today and now we have to have 1 per size of everything. I'm going to order more containers to sit outside and more zbars. Backroom is full and outside the store is the only place to go.

Stay strong softlines.

Because there's zero possible chance that two guests could want the same item in the same size in the time it takes a TM to notice one has sold and replenish it... Definitely not going to lose any sales with that policy!

 

[sprinklesontop]

Well it finally happened. I pushed hard against it, but I walked with the dtl today and now we have to have 1 per size of everything. I'm going to order more containers to sit outside and more zbars. Backroom is full and outside the store is the only place to go.

Stay strong softlines.

wow. Just wow. Outside? Can someone explain the efficiency here? We're spending more time pulling merch, backstocking merch, and then purging merch than we actually spend with our GUESTS !!!! I thought the concept behind the E2E strategy was to give us ( "the experts") more face-time w/ our Guests !!! It's so counterproductive !!! I've never spent so much time in the backroom !! Surprise ! There are no Guests back there !

Outside?? wow.... I really can't get over that one.

 

[DialMforMonkey]

Because there's zero possible chance that two guests could want the same item in the same size in the time it takes a TM to notice one has sold and replenish it... Definitely not going to lose any sales with that policy!

Yeah, the only way to protect our sales is to have someone replenishing the floor all day everyday. During 4th Q I'll have 2 people doing it, 1 for rtw and for bgi. It's the only thing I can think of. Talk about waste of man power. I'll also be dropping a lot of money, pushing for two containers and upwards of 15 more zbars.

 

[Noiinteam]

Well it finally happened. I pushed hard against it, but I walked with the dtl today and now we have to have 1 per size of everything. I'm going to order more containers to sit outside and more zbars. Backroom is full and outside the store is the only place to go.

Stay strong softlines.

I said it before and I'll say it again. End to end has ruined softlines. My store is a disaster. Starting this Sunday we have a truck everyday. Even prayer can't help us now. We have as much unlocated softlines in the back as we have on the floor. It makes me fucking mad as hell, because it doesn't have to be this way. I can't even wrap my head around how anyone thinks this is working. #endthemadness

 

[RTCry]

wow. Just wow. Outside? Can someone explain the efficiency here? We're spending more time pulling merch, backstocking merch, and then purging merch than we actually spend with our GUESTS !!!! I thought the concept behind the E2E strategy was to give us ( "the experts") more face-time w/ our Guests !!! It's so counterproductive !!! I've never spent so much time in the backroom !! Surprise ! There are no Guests back there !

Outside?? wow.... I really can't get over that one.

They keep piling on the work and then say we have to interact with every guest- start a conversation with them. Yeah. OK. Something’s gotta give.

 

[DialMforMonkey]

I said it before and I'll say it again. End to end has ruined softlines. My store is a disaster. Starting this Sunday we have a truck everyday. Even prayer can't help us now. We have as much unlocated softlines in the back as we have on the floor. It makes me fucking mad as hell, because it doesn't have to be this way. I can't even wrap my head around how anyone thinks this is working. #endthemadness

E2e hasn't really impacted us negatively. I've found that stores who don't support the e2e teams properly are the ones who struggle. We get the hours we need, training is spot on, and I make sure that softlines either has a smart huddle or mid day zone on the worst tables.

In my store the biggest thing holding me back is scheduling. Ever since we went to "one click" schedule I am constantly trying to maneuver people into the right job whether that's pushing truck, backstocking, setting etc.

 

[Doglover89]

In my store the biggest thing holding me back is scheduling. Ever since we went to "one click" schedule I am constantly trying to maneuver people into the right job whether that's pushing truck, backstocking, setting etc.

Be grateful you even have the people to move around. Tomorrow we have: two tms at 8, a TL a bit after that, and no one else until afternoon. Day after its two tms at 8 until afternoon. High volume store. I think we're screwed.

 

[DialMforMonkey]

Be grateful you even have the people to move around. Tomorrow we have: two tms at 8, a TL a bit after that, and no one else until afternoon. Day after its two tms at 8 until afternoon. High volume store. I think we're screwed.

Something is wrong with this picture. If you're a high volume store like mine, you should be seeing plenty of hours in a+a. Where are the hours being funneled? Logistics?

 

[RightArm]

Something is wrong with this picture. If you're a high volume store like mine, you should be seeing plenty of hours in a+a. Where are the hours being funneled? Logistics?

It's not a lack of hours, it's a lack of bodies. At least that's the case for my store. Pretty sure it's the same for Doglover89.

 

[DialMforMonkey]

It's not a lack of hours, it's a lack of bodies. At least that's the case for my store. Pretty sure it's the same for Doglover89.

Are you light on hardlines too? When i was short staffed, I supplemented with hardlines tm's. Also if you guys are this bad right now, your HR etl must be in deep shit with they're HRBP. Our goal was to hire 90 seasonal employees store wide and it doesn't sound like youre anywhere close to that.

 

[RightArm]

Are you light on hardlines too? When i was short staffed, I supplemented with hardlines tm's. Also if you guys are this bad right now, your HR etl must be in deep shit with they're HRBP. Our goal was to hire 90 seasonal employees store wide and it doesn't sound like youre anywhere close to that.

NOwhere close, nohow. We were four short pre-season and so far they've only managed to hire two. They say we are in a "hard to hire" area. I do not think hardlines is doing all that much better. And I think they are more focused on hiring people for SFS and covering FLEX. Of course I haven't been updated in about a week. Maybe they've hired more since then.