To that one Team Member I - ARCHIVED

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If clarifying (with the sentence I used), is somehow trash talking you in your eyes, then I'm not going to worry about it. Because it isn't. In my store, they are very clear that the LOD gets the final word on assigned tasks. If I go around deciding to follow someone else, then I'm responsible when the task isn't done. If the GSA had spoken to the LOD as she said, then what's the problem? An extra second to communicate the expectations when the LOD (also the ETL for the front lanes) passes me by can clear up any issues and we can all go on. Not communicating is where people get into trouble.

And I don't speak ill of anyone in the store. I smile, nod, go on and vent here.
 
Most TM's don't get in the position very often of getting multiple instructions from different bosses.
They have one person they check in with and sometimes an ETL will pull them off for something else.
For me, every day I have a half dozen TL's and ETL's asking or telling me to do something.
It's important that I make it clear to each one, what my priorities are and why.
RG was just doing the same thing.
 
to the tm's and tl that wrecked all of our hard work last night in softlines and the fitting room....boo to you!! We left decently to beautifully zoned areas (it wasn't all beautifully zoned but at least RTW was...I had it and had a trainee who had actually worked retail before) and I came into a hurricane at the fitting room and lousy looking areas. Yes, it was a Saturday but when one TM told me on the way in that 2 of them did just rack re-alignments all day on a short staff made me fume. Then I take two carts of reshop back to the fitting room and was told that they must have just been put there. BALONEY!! I had to come an hour early and at least one was there at that time. Don't blame guest services either...you know better and should know to look on the outside of guest services. Don't lie to me...I was here the night before and I now what we left.

To the LOD the last two nights...thanks for not forgetting the closers and requisitioning treats and letting us vent and actually listening to us . I doubt it will change much but at least you know the crud that went on.
 
Retail Girl said:
That's all I was doing. When his reply was, "go ahead and do whatever the GSA asks," I thanked him, said I just wanted to be sure we were all on the same page, and went back to helping guests and other duties as asked.

But lecturing me for other cashiers leaving stacks of bags under their registers yesterday? When I didn't work? I didn't say a word, and just nodded my head. But getting on my case about it just makes me feel crummy for something that I wasn't here for and don't control. Again, not going behind anyone's back....just sad and confused.
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Even though the LOD is in charge of everybody in the store, the GSA is your immediate supervisor, so it's probably best to do what they say. If the LOD has an issue with that, you did what you were told, so they'll have to take it up with the GSA (who instructed you otherwise). Like Imerzan said, the GSA knows what's in the best interests of the front end better than the LOD does (see: Undercover Boss), so even if you have a dumb **** of a GSA, you're still following the instructions given to you by your immediate supervisor.
 
To teh team lead (LOD) who;

After I pulled a crib for a guest, and they noticed a gaping whole in the box, and the ensuring scarring on the wood of the crib...
Refused to give any sort of discount because 'even though it is visibly damaged, we sell a lot of these, this is the last one in stock, and it's not a _lot_ damage, because if it was then by all means [whatever that implies??] we still can't give a discount on this even though we're both looking at and acknowledging the damage'...

Thanks for being a total douchebag. You cost us 200-5% in sales plus the likelihood of another 200 on the matching glider they were interested in.
And they associate Target with your horrible bedside manner now...

GRRSMASH!
 
Retail Girl said:
I hope someone is! Ours is getting to the point where the candy from the last shipment isn't always pushed before the next shipment arrives. And we are a twice a week shipment.
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We have o/n push most of the candy. At one point their checklane fill guy quit, so we scheduled cashiers preopen to push freight. We don't have to push freight anymore though (very convenient).
 
MorurDreamcat said:
Dear Team Leads and ETL(s)! Why do you keep people that constantly call in for one reason or another around ? (...) but what good do they do you when they aren't there 4 out of 6 times anyway?
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If ANYONE can answer ^, I'd LOVE to know. The person I'm talking about doesn't even get a ton of red cards (heck, they don't do much of ANYTHING, comes back late from breaks, takes 15 minutes to take the garbage back, screws something up on a daily basis, etc.), but everyone treats them like they're god or something. It's really beginning to try my patience and they're getting on my last nerve....causing me to be out of compliance for the THIRD time last week was the final straw (I was the only person in the pharmacy and they were late coming back from lunch so I was 2 minutes late clocking out....granted, I should have been watching the clock closer, but I wasn't expecting you to be 15 minutes late!). As soon as my vacation home sells, I'm quitting :angry:
 
mrknownothing said:
Even though the LOD is in charge of everybody in the store, the GSA is your immediate supervisor, so it's probably best to do what they say. If the LOD has an issue with that, you did what you were told, so they'll have to take it up with the GSA (who instructed you otherwise). Like Imerzan said, the GSA knows what's in the best interests of the front end better than the LOD does (see: Undercover Boss), so even if you have a dumb **** of a GSA, you're still following the instructions given to you by your immediate supervisor.
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RG--I'm going to back up what Imerzan and mrknownothing have to say on this. I can see what your intentions were here but you need to consider how it looks to both the LOD and GSA. It looks like you are playing them against each other which isn't going to sit well with either one of them. I'm sure you meant it differently, but I've watched TMs really screw themselves over getting into situations like this one. Sometimes pointing out someone else's shortcomings ends up backfiring on the one doing the pointing even when they are completely right. This is just one of those ugly little truths of office politics.
 
To the tm that keeps stealing the PDA in receiving, please learn to read that it says "Receiving PDA." If you took it for a minute, I understand, but for 5 hours without saying anything? :facepalm:
 
Fine. If clarifying what I'm supposed to be doing is talking about someone's shortcomings, then I'll just keep my mouth shut and get in trouble to make everyone happy. ****ing fabulous. I don't even care anymore.
 
Retail Girl said:
Fine. If clarifying what I'm supposed to be doing is talking about someone's shortcomings, then I'll just keep my mouth shut and get in trouble to make everyone happy. ****ing fabulous. I don't even care anymore.
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It just sounds like you disagree with your leaders, and talking with the LOD to see if its "okay" to listen to your supervisor is your way of expressing your disagreement... Sure, not all GSA/GSTLs are praiseworthy, but even if you don't like them you should do what they tell you even if somebody else says otherwise.
 
I wasn't expressing disagreement so much as I was trying to figure out how to not get in trouble. As I've said, they say over and over in our store that if the LOD says one thing and anyone else tells you to do something else, you had best be following the LODs orders.

Obviously I've managed to make myself sound like the worst cashier in the world here, which is fine. I'm done. Laterz.
 
Retail Girl said:
I wasn't expressing disagreement so much as I was trying to figure out how to not get in trouble. As I've said, they say over and over in our store that if the LOD says one thing and anyone else tells you to do something else, you had best be following the LODs orders.

Obviously I've managed to make myself sound like the worst cashier in the world here, which is fine. I'm done. Laterz.
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I don't think you have at all. i've seen your other posts and don't think anything bad about you.

I've been in those situations where you don't really know what to do and it's a sticky situation. If your store tells you to always do what the LOD says then i get why you asked. I really see both sides to this but don't beat yourself up over it. Only you know your intentions.
 
At my store, the LOD only manages TLs, and the GSA. If there is an absence of a TL/GSA, then they will usually step in. If they want to assign a Guest Service TM on a task they always check with us first, and we keep them updated on the status of said task. Its very rare that the LOD will give instructions to Guest Service TMs directly, and even if they do, I might have other tasks for that TM that are more important. If the LOD ever questions why TMs are doing a certain task they always go through me or the gstl. If they insist that their task is a higher priority, they will tell us, not yell at the TM. ETL-GE doesn't even micromanage our TMs, they will usually always consult with us first.

It doesn't really make sense from a management standpoint to have ETLs micromanaging TMs when there are TLs scheduled in that area, the ETL just needs to talk to the TL to set any expectations. Its the whole reason there is a leadership hierarchy.

Talked to my friend and apparently its pretty much the same at his store.

I apologize if your LOD really does micromanage TMs directly, and has a totalitarian control/no questions asked attitude. I just find it odd.
 
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Retail Girl said:
I wasn't expressing disagreement so much as I was trying to figure out how to not get in trouble. As I've said, they say over and over in our store that if the LOD says one thing and anyone else tells you to do something else, you had best be following the LODs orders.

Obviously I've managed to make myself sound like the worst cashier in the world here, which is fine. I'm done. Laterz.
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No, you haven't at all. I really do understand your intentions. I was just trying to offer you some friendly advice on how to handle these situations the Target-way, especially since I know that you want to stretch out beyond your current role. Playing things their way will help you get there. And I know this partly because of the hard lessons I've had to learn through my own mistakes. It is, of course, your choice to play it their way or not depending on what works for you personally.
 
Works fine except for yesterday afternoon and evening when there were absolutely NO TLs scheduled on the salesfloor and the GSA up front. Although I do have to say that he is a really good GSA :good:. So the LODs were everywhere and essentially doing the TL's jobs. And we are so lucky that for the most part we have awesome ETLs in our store.
 
We had a SL TL who tried to manage the cashiers and run the lanes. It's hilarious because she thinks she knows better than the GSA/GSTLs, even our GE ETL, what the front end needs, because "I used to be a GSTL." Even the new cashiers listened to her demands, rolled their eyes and came to us for instruction.

The last straw was when she started calling for back ups to the cash lanes. The STL walked up to her, told her to go fold some tables and leave the front end to the pros.

The LOD/ETLs in our store know that they can make suggestions for front end, but the final say is with the GE ETL, the GSTLs and the GSAs. Every time.
 
mxrbook said:
We had a SL TL who tried to manage the cashiers and run the lanes. It's hilarious because she thinks she knows better than the GSA/GSTLs, even our GE ETL, what the front end needs, because "I used to be a GSTL." Even the new cashiers listened to her demands, rolled their eyes and came to us for instruction.

The last straw was when she started calling for back ups to the cash lanes. The STL walked up to her, told her to go fold some tables and leave the front end to the pros.

The LOD/ETLs in our store know that they can make suggestions for front end, but the final say is with the GE ETL, the GSTLs and the GSAs. Every time.
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We have one of those TLs at my store also 😉
 
Retail Girl said:
I wasn't expressing disagreement so much as I was trying to figure out how to not get in trouble. As I've said, they say over and over in our store that if the LOD says one thing and anyone else tells you to do something else, you had best be following the LODs orders.

Obviously I've managed to make myself sound like the worst cashier in the world here, which is fine. I'm done. Laterz.
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SuzyTarget said:
No, you haven't at all. I really do understand your intentions. I was just trying to offer you some friendly advice on how to handle these situations the Target-way, especially since I know that you want to stretch out beyond your current role. Playing things their way will help you get there. And I know this partly because of the hard lessons I've had to learn through my own mistakes. It is, of course, your choice to play it their way or not depending on what works for you personally.
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SuzyTarget hit the nail right on the head.

Retail Girl, you have not made yourself sound like the worst cashier in the world. I know nothing about your or your store, but I'm willing to bet you're a top performer. And don't take what we've said regarding your situation personally. What I posted before is part of the general philosophy of working under multiple bosses. If your store leadership does things differently, then so be it. It's like driving - regardless of what the speed limit is, go with the flow of traffic so nobody gets hurt. It's my understanding that you'd like to move on to bigger and better things. In order to do so, challenge when the opportunity presents itself; otherwise, go with the flow.

Just as a small bump in the road doesn't prevent the car from reaching its destination, neither should this prevent you from achieving your goals.
 
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