Archived How is your FR managing without an operator

[Thistheoperator]

Our FR has been a disaster since implementing this. Who do they think will sort go backs from FR and the GS? I guess in a slower store it might work with everyone taking turns every so often to check on it and sort, but we are a high volume store. In fact, we are the highest in the district. By the time you finish sorting gobacks from the front, multiple guests with 10+ items have gone in and out and then you’re just stuck sorting. Then, you’re push isn’t getting done and they wonder why. Add to the fact that we are always being picked on for smart huddles and guest first because we have the biggest team. It’s absoultey ridiculous. We were literally told not to have anyone in the FR for a visit we had THE FRIDAY BEFORE EASTER SATURDAY. To make matters worse, AP is constantly calling us back to FR to watch out for suspect people.If they want to do away with this role, then why not have everyone logged into the zebra taking the calls and not just SL? Thoughts?

 

[RTCry]

HOLY HELL.

 

[NKG]

Do you not have dedicated areas in softlines?

 

[skrepo1977]

I doubt very highly we will see Cornell in an episode of "Undercover Boss" before we will see a store in an episode of "Hoarders" 🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

OMG!

 

[unknown]

Our FR has been a disaster since implementing this. Who do they think will sort go backs from FR and the GS? I guess in a slower store it might work with everyone taking turns every so often to check on it and sort, but we are a high volume store. In fact, we are the highest in the district. By the time you finish sorting gobacks from the front, multiple guests with 10+ items have gone in and out and then you’re just stuck sorting. Then, you’re push isn’t getting done and they wonder why. Add to the fact that we are always being picked on for smart huddles and guest first because we have the biggest team. It’s absoultey ridiculous. We were literally told not to have anyone in the FR for a visit we had THE FRIDAY BEFORE EASTER SATURDAY. To make matters worse, AP is constantly calling us back to FR to watch out for suspect people.If they want to do away with this role, then why not have everyone logged into the zebra taking the calls and not just SL? Thoughts? View attachment 7823

Ha ha. Got to do what's best for the investors/CEO .... oops, I mean the guest.

 

[flow4areasonuno]

Cornell is too well known to do Undercover Boss, they'd probably send some minor VP or something

What a disaster area. Even ours has never been that bad.

 

[Yetive]

If they want to do away with this role, then why not have everyone logged into the zebra taking the calls and not just SL? Thoughts?

My store does have everyone signed in to take calls. Works great.

 

[ThatAPguy]

My store says everyone has to be logged in to take calls. Works great, nobody does and softlines still answers the calls

 

[unknown]

My store does have everyone signed in to take calls. Works great.

Everyone? Receiver? PML? Don't mean to be snarky, but it makes me crazy when people say everyone. For example, at huddle, the talking face will say .... it's everyone's responsibility to to do backups. But what they mean is .... not the pml, not sfs, not the receiver, etc. I'm not saying they should. I'm just saying it's not everyone.

 

[Fluttervale]

My store says everyone has to be logged in to take calls. Works great, nobody does and softlines still answers the calls

Part of the changes I am making of my own volition include a lot of supporting other departments in small ways. Starting next week my team will be answering the phone too, since we are on the opposite end of the store from soft lines.

 

[Yetive]

Everyone? Receiver? PML? Don't mean to be snarky, but it makes me crazy when people say everyone. For example, at huddle, the talking face will say .... it's everyone's responsibility to to do backups. But what they mean is .... not the pml, not sfs, not the receiver, etc. I'm not saying they should. I'm just saying it's not everyone.

Receiver, yes. PML doesn't carry a my device. SD, ETL, VM, HR all answer. I have never seen PML on a register, but everyone else, yes.

 

[Thistheoperator]

Do you not have dedicated areas in softlines?

We do kinda. We aren’t scheduled the same everyday. But for the most part, the zones will be the same when possible.

 

[busyzoningtoys]

What does operator have to do with fitting room?

My fitting room still has open to close coverage, even if there isn’t a phone ringing over there anymore.

Could this be a clever softlines leader thinking they’re going to gain a few hours for truck by cutting FR? Someone in this chain of command is an idiot.

No store’s payroll is so bad that there isn’t basic coverage like that. That only happens when someone is overspending in different areas, or has overspent so much overall that the second half of the month becomes one big and painful test of austerity. Look at your plan vs actual payroll.

 

[TheCartGuy]

Target's answer to A&E's "Hoarders?"

 

[Greenie]

That is insane.

 

[idkwhattodo]

without a fitting room attendant, it’s pretty bad, but it’s even worse when there are about four softlines tms in total that actually work.

last night three tms sat in tsc with their tl for the entirety of my meal (none of them were on meal) and then i went to change walkie batteries 45 minutes later and they all had not moved from that spot. one girl walks around with her phone in her three tier and talks on speaker. also, i see their snapchat stories of them at work, so i completely understand why softlines looks the way it does.

guest service hangs, folds, and does their defectives. hardlines generally has to send at least one tm to help at the end of the night. if we have a surprising hr tm there at night, they end up in softlines. spare cashier or extra person at the service desk? they end up in softlines. they don’t call zone until everyone comes and helps zone a section of softlines. and leadership in the stores doesn’t see the actual problem. they just think we must be that busy.

 

[ThatAPguy]

What does operator have to do with fitting room?

My fitting room still has open to close coverage, even if there isn’t a phone ringing over there anymore.

Could this be a clever softlines leader thinking they’re going to gain a few hours for truck by cutting FR? Someone in this chain of command is an idiot.

No store’s payroll is so bad that there isn’t basic coverage like that. That only happens when someone is overspending in different areas, or has overspent so much overall that the second half of the month becomes one big and painful test of austerity. Look at your plan vs actual payroll.

The fitting room person used to be the operator as well. My store now every SL person is given an hour or so they have to cover now, but there’s no “fitting room” shift

 

[countingsheep]

We literally have thrown fr to ap apart from reshop. We no longer check in nor check frs. Not our job. Our fr looks that way when the lazy noobs are working with no solid tm to sort and push reshop. When our closers come in we sort and push then every 30mins circle back and push again. Nothing ever gets done anymore for anything from truck to zone but they refuse to let us leave till reshop is done so we keep that a focus. Frankly the sniping about red zones to much truck push and now our pulls rolling and dropping out fall on deaf ears because we arent staying an hour past clothes to do stupid reshop

 

[band_rules16]

This is insane. I've seen places like Kohls and Walmart look like this, but never Target...as a former FRO, I prided myself in never letting the desk look like that and making sure the rooms were cleaned out regularly.

I remember back in 2011 when they took the chair and computer because the FRO appeared to "not be doing anything" and I was angry because most of us did (at least in my old store).

I often see softlines currently wandering around in packs, slooooooowly sorting reshop in the back, and occasionally working out a metro...but most of the time they're on their phones, standing around chatting, or sitting in the breakroom for extended periods of time. It's maddening. A few of them DO work and our TLs rock, but the TMs aren't held accountable by any means, which just makes the rest of the store angry. Plus they have huddles of just them (okay) but they get treats every. single. time. "Great job, have some ice cream for not doing anything!"

On Kronos, what's the majority of shifts (once you're finally in)? Softlines.

Maybe they actually do work. I don't know. It makes me glad to be in market now so I don't have to constantly move all their stuff to do hardlines pulls/backstock. Chatting and zoning or doing reshop is possible. We were pros at it at my old store. You could still carry on a conversation and keep on at the task at hand.

 

[busyzoningtoys]

We literally have thrown fr to ap apart from reshop. We no longer check in nor check frs. Not our job. Our fr looks that way when the lazy noobs are working with no solid tm to sort and push reshop. When our closers come in we sort and push then every 30mins circle back and push again. Nothing ever gets done anymore for anything from truck to zone but they refuse to let us leave till reshop is done so we keep that a focus. Frankly the sniping about red zones to much truck push and now our pulls rolling and dropping out fall on deaf ears because we arent staying an hour past clothes to do stupid reshop

We stay an hour after close every night, we schedule it that way.

 

[countingsheep]

We arent we are scheduled 15mins after close.

 

[PackAndCry]

Thank god all of our doors lock, so we just keep them locked so the guests have to find a TM to use a fitting room. Too bad it's a shitty guest experience, but if that's what HQ wants...

 

[Tessa120]

I literally had my hand over my mouth when I saw that image. That is horribly, horribly bad.

The rules say there's no FRO anymore. The rules are very specific for how the attendant is to interact with guests going in and out of the room in order to sell more. (Remember that test folks?) It seems the corporate mandates for the fitting room directly contradict each other.

How is our fitting room managing without an attendant? The person assigned to the men's department, which is fairly low maintenance, stages out of the fitting room area.

 

[Bosch]

Looks about right. Ours keeps dumping it in carts and pushing it to guest services for them hang up. Real fun when you are trying to put orders into hold and you have move eight shopping carts out of the way. Then when guest services does get a rack of clothing hung up softlines refuses to come get it.