Archived The End is Nigh

[Rock Lobster]

Cornell is a moron. He has a chance to change the culture, but ignores it. I can understand logistics taking up most of his time, but if your company's leadership is (often) a disaster, it won't matter.

Yeah, but he might be aware but it might not be the largest problem. Cornell seems to be fully aware of some of the major problems within the company and is choosing to address those. The problems with leadership and their culture has more to do with the higher levels (mostly Group Level and above) being disconnected from the stores. I would be willing to bet that most GVPs have no clue what their stores look like on a regular basis. Those around them tell everyone where they are going, those stores spend tons of payroll to make their stores look better by that date, and when they show up the red carpet is rolled out. After they leave the ETLs collapse from exhaustion and the store falls back apart until the next visit. In most stores, it is impossible to keep up with the workload on the payroll they are receiving.

Don't get me wrong, I love working for the company and am considered a very strong ETL. I also think I would be making the same decisions as Cornell given the position the company is in, but I do hope one day this weird structure and culture is addressed. At this point, if you are a store running an overall efficient building, the expectations are unreasonable. Then again, with so many ETL cuts, perhaps that is the strategy.

 

[Redzee]

I think there are simply too many desks between the unload and anyone who wants to or can bring about meaningful change. Target is being outperformed top and bottom. End to end isn't going to fix things fast enough, if at all. The execs don't care, their golden parachutes are packed and ready. Sorry to be so negative. Hope I'm wrong and glad I don't have a Mc mansion to pay for.

 

[Frontlanegirl]

Yeah, but he might be aware but it might not be the largest problem. Cornell seems to be fully aware of some of the major problems within the company and is choosing to address those. The problems with leadership and their culture has more to do with the higher levels (mostly Group Level and above) being disconnected from the stores. I would be willing to bet that most GVPs have no clue what their stores look like on a regular basis. Those around them tell everyone where they are going, those stores spend tons of payroll to make their stores look better by that date, and when they show up the red carpet is rolled out. After they leave the ETLs collapse from exhaustion and the store falls back apart until the next visit. In most stores, it is impossible to keep up with the workload on the payroll they are receiving.

Don't get me wrong, I love working for the company and am considered a very strong ETL. I also think I would be making the same decisions as Cornell given the position the company is in, but I do hope one day this weird structure and culture is addressed. At this point, if you are a store running an overall efficient building, the expectations are unreasonable. Then again, with so many ETL cuts, perhaps that is the strategy.

And all the more reason to not announce visits. You can't see what is happening in the stores by making your presence known.

 

[Redzee]

With all due respect Visitors should have an idea what unloading , sorting, stocking and other day to day store tasks are about. Right now it's Ugly Duchess.

 

[Frontlanegirl]

With all due respect Visitors should have an idea what unloading , sorting, stocking and other day to day store tasks are about. Right now it's Ugly Duchess.

Especially with all the carts still on the floor at noon. Not to mention the carts that are in the fire exit aisles.

 

[SFSFun]

Believe it or not, Cornell has actually had chat sessions with store leadership. When he was new, he came to my district (no where near Minnesota). One issue from that chat session actually caused change within the company that allowed us to perform our jobs much more effectively.

We need more honest discussions with store leadership and above. They often try to paint everything in the best possible light to their bosses so it looks like everything is great. One of the big issues with Target culture is the fake happiness and everything is great attitude, when honesty would help solve a lot of problems.

Thats how we end up with stupid shit like bagging SFS SPU orders as we pick them. TMs who tested it posted here about how ridiculous it is and how nobody likes it, and then a few months later my TL gets an email that it's being rolled out everywhere because of the overwhelmingly positive feedback.

 

[Rock Lobster]

We need more honest discussions with store leadership and above. They often try to paint everything in the best possible light to their bosses so it looks like everything is great. One of the big issues with Target culture is the fake happiness and everything is great attitude, when honesty would help solve a lot of problems.

Thats how we end up with stupid shit like bagging SFS orders as we pick them. TMs who tested it posted here about how ridiculous it is and how nobody likes it, and then a few months later my TL gets an email that it's being rolled out everywhere because of the overwhelmingly positive feedback.

Tests also are often not reality due to payroll. They allow stores to try things, but (for example) once GOM was up and running the payroll reduced drastically until it was not possible to keep up with the workload again.

 

[oath2order]

Let me do an HONEST chitchat with leadership.

 

[Digi_E]

that cheaply made article hardly sounds like it did any "real" research it just seems like a vent blog when i read it. Sure target is rough but every other retailer is doing far worse. Target has actually been praised at points for being able to show that it can adapt. Target is certainly not like it was in its glory days, but its still doing well. Walmart will crash sooner than Target and thats only because it is eventually going to implode. you can only bleed and provide crap service for so long before its not worth the 2 cent rollback

 

[Digi_E]

And all the more reason to not announce visits. You can't see what is happening in the stores by making your presence known.

there is rarely such a thing as an un announced visit. leadership right under the visitor will always leak it to make themselves look good, heck they even know when a VP is by themselves visiting a beach nearby lol. if anything they should pull up sales and payroll before and after a visit and see how much payroll is spent kissing rear when it can be used to staff the floor daily.

 

[OneGoodEar]

that cheaply made article hardly sounds like it did any "real" research it just seems like a vent blog when i read it.

It is an opinion piece. Sometimes they can be wrong. It seems for the past 5 years I keep reading that Sears/K Mart will go out of business by the end of the year.

 

[HRZone]

there is rarely such a thing as an un announced visit. leadership right under the visitor will always leak it to make themselves look good, heck they even know when a VP is by themselves visiting a beach nearby lol. if anything they should pull up sales and payroll before and after a visit and see how much payroll is spent kissing rear when it can be used to staff the floor daily.

Yeah or the killer of when stores get a visit they text the ETLs at all the other nearby stores to warn them since dtls and above seem to always make their visits the same day.

They should randomize it by day rather than hitting 6 or 7 stores in one day

 

[Frontlanegirl]

Instead of doing mystery shoppers for the employees, how about making mystery visits in the stores by DTL's and above?

 

[dabeastfromtheeast]

Instead of doing mystery shoppers for the employees, how about making mystery visits in the stores by DTL's and above?

We used to have something like this at my old store. The DTL would occasionally pop in unannounced through the receiving doors. Hilarity ensues as the ETLs and above scramble.

 

[OneGoodEar]

Instead of doing mystery shoppers for the employees, how about making mystery visits in the stores by DTL's and above?

Years ago, there was a DTL who would stop by the store unannounced and without wearing the Target colors.

 

[Billybobjoe]

Especially with all the carts still on the floor at noon. Not to mention the carts that are in the fire exit aisles.

This is another reason why E2E is going to fail in the long run. I know target wants to improve their customer service(err "guest" service), but the guests aren't going to like having to constantly maneuver around u boats, tubs, flatbeds, cages, etc on the sales floor. My parents recently went to a Target in a different area from me, and told me that the store was, "chaos". They said there was trash everywhere, push vehicles, and the whole place was just a mess.

In my store, after the Pfresh re-model our new tables take up most of the space on the floor so it's very difficult to push over there without being in the guests way all the time. I can tell the guests have been very irritated by this(as am I). This is especially problematic on the weekends because not only is it busier and you're in the guests way more often, it makes you much less efficient at being able to push fast. This leads to more push at the end of the day than we should have since we are being inhibited by the guests on the floor. E2E INCREASES this problem tenfold. So not only are we going to be in the guests way more often, but it's also going to cause us to be less efficient at our jobs because of it.

 

[Digi_E]

Instead of doing mystery shoppers for the employees, how about making mystery visits in the stores by DTL's and above?

this has been done and it fails for the same reason visits fail. someone always finds out and stores will usually show everyone a pic of the DTL to be on the look out lol

 

[Rolling CAFS]

This is another reason why E2E is going to fail in the long run. I know target wants to improve their customer service(err "guest" service), but the guests aren't going to like having to constantly maneuver around u boats, tubs, flatbeds, cages, etc on the sales floor. My parents recently went to a Target in a different area from me, and told me that the store was, "chaos". They said there was trash everywhere, push vehicles, and the whole place was just a mess.

In my store, after the Pfresh re-model our new tables take up most of the space on the floor so it's very difficult to push over there without being in the guests way all the time. I can tell the guests have been very irritated by this(as am I). This is especially problematic on the weekends because not only is it busier and you're in the guests way more often, it makes you much less efficient at being able to push fast. This leads to more push at the end of the day than we should have since we are being inhibited by the guests on the floor. E2E INCREASES this problem tenfold. So not only are we going to be in the guests way more often, but it's also going to cause us to be less efficient at our jobs because of it.

Since service is the focus 30 mins before opening everything to the backroom which makes my backroom team overjoyed...not. They've purchased green racks and utilize wacos to sort softlines and HBA...floor is clear by 8am except for the vehicle you are working on. No exceptions so U-Boats stay in backroom as well. Yeah for guest!

 

[smashandthrash]

We need more honest discussions with store leadership and above. They often try to paint everything in the best possible light to their bosses so it looks like everything is great. One of the big issues with Target culture is the fake happiness and everything is great attitude, when honesty would help solve a lot of problems.

Thats how we end up with stupid shit like bagging SFS orders as we pick them. TMs who tested it posted here about how ridiculous it is and how nobody likes it, and then a few months later my TL gets an email that it's being rolled out everywhere because of the overwhelmingly positive feedback.

The fakest culture I've ever encountered. Right up there and beyond indie pop shows at social clubs.

 

[Frontlanegirl]

this has been done and it fails for the same reason visits fail. someone always finds out and stores will usually show everyone a pic of the DTL to be on the look out lol

The DTL and above does not need to make multiple store visits Pick one store every couple of weeks.

 

[Yetive]

Our GVP shows up unannounced--a complete surprise to the first store he hits. Twice now in the last 2 months at my store, and we also got him twice later in the day. Add one announced visit for 5 total. We see our DTL frequently. She stops in on all of her stores, and often one per day, so the email/text chain is pointless. Also comes in evenings sometimes.

 

[NPC]

The end is....

 

[HRZone]

Our GVP shows up unannounced--a complete surprise to the first store he hits. Twice now in the last 2 months at my store, and we also got him twice later in the day. Add one announced visit for 5 total. We see our DTL frequently. She stops in on all of her stores, and often one per day, so the email/text chain is pointless. Also comes in evenings sometimes.

Love this wish more handled it this way

 

[SFSFun]

This is another reason why E2E is going to fail in the long run. I know target wants to improve their customer service(err "guest" service), but the guests aren't going to like having to constantly maneuver around u boats, tubs, flatbeds, cages, etc on the sales floor. My parents recently went to a Target in a different area from me, and told me that the store was, "chaos". They said there was trash everywhere, push vehicles, and the whole place was just a mess.

In my store, after the Pfresh re-model our new tables take up most of the space on the floor so it's very difficult to push over there without being in the guests way all the time. I can tell the guests have been very irritated by this(as am I). This is especially problematic on the weekends because not only is it busier and you're in the guests way more often, it makes you much less efficient at being able to push fast. This leads to more push at the end of the day than we should have since we are being inhibited by the guests on the floor. E2E INCREASES this problem tenfold. So not only are we going to be in the guests way more often, but it's also going to cause us to be less efficient at our jobs because of it.

That store doesn't sound like it's doing E2E. Or it's doing it wrong.

We have it now so the floor is completely clear by 8am, except for one vehicle of push per department. If it's not being worked, it stays in the backroom. We even put all of our trash cages up in the steel because we don't need them anymore.

 

[Redzee]

Early fast and dirty unload vs later partial sort, return to back, dribble out unload. Payroll math must differ store to store but the latter seems more expensive esp in a busy Super.