Archived How to coach TM for tasks not getting done bc they were helping customers

[Kartman]

Sounds good on paper.

 

[Planosss]

Sounds good on paper.

 

[IWishIKnew]

For me it's more like 9 out 10 all they say is hi back. In a 8 hour shift I only tell like 10 people where stuff is and only walk them to the item if there looking confused or it's an aisle or 2 away.

Dang, I want to work at your store. We get at least 3-4 customers asking for help per hour, before remodel. Now we're supposed to walk guests to the (usually new) locations, though I don't always if it's clear the guest isn't quite ready to go all the way across the store just yet.

These days, between guest assistance & backing up the lanes, I'm lucky to get half of my zone done a night.

 

[BigEyedPhish]

That's why I see great customer service begin with having merchandise on the shelf and not in the backroom because if it is on the shelf, more likely they will find what they are looking for and less likely to bother you. I'm here to ask me if you need anything but me continuing to focus on stocking is me telling you to make the effort to look for what you need before asking me. It's not rocket science. That's why we have street numbers and item names hanging up to guide. That's that.

"for now..." - says the Signing TM

 

[wiredharpoon]

TL’s/ETL’s: Let's say you ask Bob to do a task a day for 2 weeks and none of the tasks get done bc he was busy helping customers.

Don't get me wrong. I get customer service but at some point it becomes a time management issue when none of the tasks given are being done.

What would this coaching conversation sound like and what would be your response if Bob says "I was giving great customer service and you can't coach me for that."

I think that most people answered your question but an additional thing you could do is send an email to all the ETL's/Sr's in the building to keep an eye on that team member when they are LOD and let you know if they are loafing. From there all you would need to say during the coaching is "Another leader observed you on your phone/loafing/ect while you should have been completing tasks" or something like that. A lot of the time team members will do their best when you are around but know that other leaders don't know jack about their workcenter or what expectations are.

When you talk to them though they might say that other team members aren't holding their weight (ie, dayside not finishing the truck and leaving that + stocked pulls for them when they are closing). In that instance I would still document the coaching, follow up with the other team members and let them know that you are following up with them and to let you know if it happens in the future. A coaching is exactly that. You are coaching someone on how they can be more effective at their job. If they don't follow your advice and continue on their path that's when it becomes more serious.

 

[SilentCrow]

Give the TM information on how to better at time management. Understand that customer service is important but also task needs to be done. Also you need to follow up more if it got to this point. 2 weeks?

 

[RedX]

TL’s/ETL’s: Let's say you ask Bob to do a task a day for 2 weeks and none of the tasks get done bc he was busy helping customers.

Don't get me wrong. I get customer service but at some point it becomes a time management issue when none of the tasks given are being done.

What would this coaching conversation sound like and what would be your response if Bob says "I was giving great customer service and you can't coach me for that."

Something I do that I find works well with my top performers is I actually ask them. For instance, “hey Steve how long until you’re done with that go back cart/zone/push?” This lets the team member set their own expectations rather than you giving them timelines. So in turn to whatever their response, (within reason) I usually say “ok Steve I’ll follow up with you in 10 minutes since that’s when you said you’ll be done. When following up they either finished and that’s the goal, or they didn’t and you can coach them stating, “Steve you said you would finish so and so task committing to that time frame of being done and you didn’t finish” or however you wanna clean it up and phrase it. I find it helps me keep them accountable and myself accountable in following up. This lets them set their own goal. It even works with cashiers and redcards. “Hey cashier how many redcards are you going to try and get today?” And let them set their own goal rather than setting a pace for them. P.S. sorry for the long response.

 

[Kartman]

Don't forget micro-managing. TM's LOVE IT.

 

[TTGOz]

“ok Steve I’ll follow up with you in 10 minutes since that’s when you said you’ll be done. When following up they either finished and that’s the goal, or they didn’t and you can coach them stating, “Steve you said you would finish so and so task committing to that time frame of being done and you didn’t finish”

The only issue I take with that is perhaps the TM doesn't know what a realistic goal is for the task at hand. If a leader EVER asks me that I'm not giving them a specific number. My ETL set a "Goal" today to finish FDC freight at 10am... we finished around 10:45am.

This is the same ETL that dropped 9 pulls for Freezer that equaled 900 eaches today. She never asked for when I was gonna get done, just "how's it going?"

"Oh, it's good, I'm freezing my ass off pulling 900 eaches"

"Hahahahah yeah, I feel that... let me know when you're done."

I never finished it. This ETL immediately after we finished freight decided to go through and audit, drop pulls in the form of POGs(why she did, I have no idea, but we weren't setting anything!!!), and then we still had our halves to take and last 15's and I just can't understand why I had to do that. I left the closing TM with maybe 20 DPCIs left to pull but still, I still pulled 240 tasks prior to that with all of the POGs combined into one task. I didn't get to any of these pulls until about 1:30 just because I had my half to take, milk and eggs to fill, zone to do, audit to scan, pull, and work... 1 o'clock pulls at the same time.

I've never had an issue with this particular ETL but this weekend she piled on the work load tenfold more than normal. Every single department I heard complain.

It feels like I'm just venting about my shitty weekend with my Sr. ETL, but the point I think I'm trying to get at is sometimes goals are just unrealistic to finish in a specific said time-period. Yeah, hold workers accountable if he or she said, but if it's worth it, you should always give your input on their time frame set for themselves. "I can get it done before 10:30" and then you say "okay, sounds good, if anything just get it done before 11am." and then check back in after a while and see where they're at so they at least feel a bit pressed knowing you're going to be back before 11am to check progress.

My Sr. ETL also does that thing where she says "Okay, I'll let you do your task" and then she come's waddling back five minutes later "Hey howzit going?!" and it's like "I've probably literally made a very small amount of progress since you last came 5-10 minutes ago"

The reason why I like my team leader so much(other than I feel like I can actually be talkative to the guy now) is because he doesn't really micro-manage your ass the entire day and doesn't really make you work your ass off with 9 pulls immediately after freight while Zone, audit, and breaks still need to be done lol with 1 o'clock pulls right on our tails. He's really chill, and I think he's a great leader because he still manages the expectation of "we need to get shit done" and it does because he makes things realistic. If he wants to drop a man-caf, he lets the team know, gets their input, and drops according to expectation, and not immediately drop 75% of expected sales lol.

 

[Times Up]

Something I do that I find works well with It even works with cashiers and redcards. “Hey cashier how many redcards are you going to try and get today?” And let them set their own goal rather than setting a pace for them.

And that actually works.?

 

[RedX]

The only issue I take with that is perhaps the TM doesn't know what a realistic goal is for the task at hand. If a leader EVER asks me that I'm not giving them a specific number. My ETL set a "Goal" today to finish FDC freight at 10am... we finished around 10:45am.

This is the same ETL that dropped 9 pulls for Freezer that equaled 900 eaches today. She never asked for when I was gonna get done, just "how's it going?"

"Oh, it's good, I'm freezing my ass off pulling 900 eaches"

"Hahahahah yeah, I feel that... let me know when you're done."

I never finished it. This ETL immediately after we finished freight decided to go through and audit, drop pulls in the form of POGs(why she did, I have no idea, but we weren't setting anything!!!), and then we still had our halves to take and last 15's and I just can't understand why I had to do that. I left the closing TM with maybe 20 DPCIs left to pull but still, I still pulled 240 tasks prior to that with all of the POGs combined into one task. I didn't get to any of these pulls until about 1:30 just because I had my half to take, milk and eggs to fill, zone to do, audit to scan, pull, and work... 1 o'clock pulls at the same time.

I've never had an issue with this particular ETL but this weekend she piled on the work load tenfold more than normal. Every single department I heard complain.

It feels like I'm just venting about my shitty weekend with my Sr. ETL, but the point I think I'm trying to get at is sometimes goals are just unrealistic to finish in a specific said time-period. Yeah, hold workers accountable if he or she said, but if it's worth it, you should always give your input on their time frame set for themselves. "I can get it done before 10:30" and then you say "okay, sounds good, if anything just get it done before 11am." and then check back in after a while and see where they're at so they at least feel a bit pressed knowing you're going to be back before 11am to check progress.

My Sr. ETL also does that thing where she says "Okay, I'll let you do your task" and then she come's waddling back five minutes later "Hey howzit going?!" and it's like "I've probably literally made a very small amount of progress since you last came 5-10 minutes ago"

The reason why I like my team leader so much(other than I feel like I can actually be talkative to the guy now) is because he doesn't really micro-manage your ass the entire day and doesn't really make you work your ass off with 9 pulls immediately after freight while Zone, audit, and breaks still need to be done lol with 1 o'clock pulls right on our tails. He's really chill, and I think he's a great leader because he still manages the expectation of "we need to get shit done" and it does because he makes things realistic. If he wants to drop a man-caf, he lets the team know, gets their input, and drops according to expectation, and not immediately drop 75% of expected sales lol.

Like I said it mostly works with my top performers because realistically they do their jobs everyday and they know how long it’ll take them. I don’t let them get carried away with ridiculous times (1 cart of push or go backs an hour). But ultimately I know if they worked hard and made the effort or if they were just messing around chatting with other team members. And in the end they are just goals and sometimes they do change depending on the business. I feel more accomplished finishing a goal I set for myself than one my etl sets for me, but maybe that’s just me.

And on the topic of pulls and manuals if I ever drop one that’s huge I’m definitely in the back pulling it. Reminds me of one of my etls “hey how’s it going? Oh ok cool.” Then proceeds to drop grc2 and will call asking someone to pull it.

There are some I have to micro manage and I dislike it but if I didn’t it wouldn’t get done. But i also ask the entire team if they need something to let me know right away and I always make time no matter how far I stretch myself. And even if some team members don’t like me for how much I follow up. They recognize I do it for a reason and that I’ll make time for them and always find an answer if I don’t have one.

 

[Planosss]

Like I said it mostly works with my top performers because realistically they do their jobs everyday and they know how long it’ll take them. I don’t let them get carried away with ridiculous times (1 cart of push or go backs an hour). But ultimately I know if they worked hard and made the effort or if they were just messing around chatting with other team members. And in the end they are just goals and sometimes they do change depending on the business. I feel more accomplished finishing a goal I set for myself than one my etl sets for me, but maybe that’s just me.

And on the topic of pulls and manuals if I ever drop one that’s huge I’m definitely in the back pulling it. Reminds me of one of my etls “hey how’s it going? Oh ok cool.” Then proceeds to drop grc2 and will call asking someone to pull it.

There are some I have to micro manage and I dislike it but if I didn’t it wouldn’t get done. But i also ask the entire team if they need something to let me know right away and I always make time no matter how far I stretch myself. And even if some team members don’t like me for how much I follow up. They recognize I do it for a reason and that I’ll make time for them and always find an answer if I don’t have one.

Top performers? How do you reward your top performers?

 

[Kartman]

Recognition

 

[Flow Warrior]

Sounds like Bob is lazy AF, GTFO Bob.

I would disagree. The question is 'What is the task being assigned' If its zone all of essentials, yes that can be done swifty and deserves a coaching if failed. However, if its do 27 full repacks of freight without a device in a 4 hour shift thats the busiest without others near him then no, it means your the problem as you are overloading him.

So the task is important. No one is a lazy AF on the first meeting.

Then again, yesterday walked by STL office, door open and she's asking SrTL of A&A why Z racks remain in the back at 4 pm.
Response: Flow TL doesnt push them. (the them being the early morning TMs not the z racks. In fact, I know all he ever does is drop the pallets for them to do and then ignores them to montior the rest of the team)

This sounds like flow TL is lazy. He's not. SrTL is responsible for all A&A and needs to coordinate with ETL -Log over the A&A ladies and men to make sure everything is pushed on his closing days.

My uber sales people do sales. My people who don't like selling ot talking to guests find themselves using doing all the tasking. The goal is to get the job don't efficiently.

I want guests to come back. If this means BOB gets to task less than jan whose surly but can empty a UBoat of cereal in 15 minutes then yes, I'll let BoB talk about sports while he's selling that 1000 TV or 500 dyson 8 50lb bags of Dog food or $200 in cosmetics.

You don't coach sales people. You coach loafers. One of the reasons I got promoted even though I talk to everyone is the fact that when I did pets at TM, I did selling, and talking and research and push and trash and pricing in 6 hrs. It was always zones and fresh and ready.

 

[Flow Warrior]

@Planosss , you hit the nail on the head. I would have included the number of boxes that were on the Uboat to drive the point home of taking three hours to push cereal is unacceptable or whatever the task was.

Ok, at 5pm on a busy day in a 70 million store with the aisle unzoned can you push a full uboat if guests are asking you questions very 3 minutes? No you cant. If its dead and spotless, then yes.

 

[Flow Warrior]

I see a lot of that. Asking people constantly reveals you are a loafer and it is your time to shine. Like you are working but nothing gets done.

I disagree. My store you are expected to ask EVERYONE if they nneed assistance. We coach if you don't. Are comp is up 10% over last year.

 

[Flow Warrior]

WE reward top performers with free drinks at starbucks or food at cafe or $5 gift cards etc.

 

[Kartman]

Rewards at my store come and go like the ETLs and TLs. Some do it, most don't.

 

[Planosss]

I guess now we know Bob, @Flow Warrior.

 

[commiecorvus]

With the new push for everyone to do sales, to approach every guest, to walk them to the product if they ask for help, to try and sell them some thing extra, I am surprised everyone isn't lagging behind on their other duties.
I'm sure Spot isn't put double the number of people out on the floor so that this plan will work properly and instead is hoping that magic will make things fall into place.
Meanwhile the STLs and ETLs (or whatever they are called these days) are following orders to crack the whip and make sure the staff make with the sales MAGIC.
And the TL is asking how the coach the TM because they aren't getting their job done.

I don't know how many people saw 2001: A Space Odyssey but I'm sure most folks are familiar with the point where the HAL 9000 computer starts killing off the crew.
In 2012 we learn that HAL was programmed with a series of conflicting orders, one military and one civilian, that essentially caused a mental breakdown.
Now I'm not saying that TM are computers or that they will start shoving people out of airlocks but seriously there needs to be a consistency in instruction and priority.
If a TL notices that the floor is swarming with guests customers and they want shit to get done they should either cover the floor so the TM can focus on the job or get more bodies on the floor.
Other wise,

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

My vote is yes🙂

 

[redeye58]

Second that motion.

 

[Kartman]

I'll lead the way with 25 carts!

30 if no one's looking

 

[Guest]

I never liked the "term" coach at when I worked at Target. It's retail, not sports. There is no team. It's every person for themselves. Why not just be blunt about what it really means? It's when a boss bitches you out for doing something bad or wrong.

 

[Kartman]

"Coach" isn't any sillier than any other Target jargon.

Do we have to "status" about it?