Visits need to happen

[GRC]

The problem is, y'all care too much. You can't care more than management. It will make you crazy.

I used to get worked up over all the crap I saw that was messy, wrong, unprofessional, etc. But I've learned there's nothing I can do about it, so even though I still shake my head at what I see, I try to not let it get to me.

Exactly. If you're a TM, all you you should worry about is doing as much as you reasonably can in your assigned area in the time you are given. I see TMs who are constantly stressed out because other TMs aren't taking care of their own areas, or there's extra work because someone called out, or they had to get called up to the checklanes, and it's just unnecessary stress. I understand the irritation when you can't get your own things done or other TMs aren't doing their part, because I feel the same way. But you have to realize that it's just not your responsibility to manage the whole store, or even a whole department.

I know ASANTS and some stores might have unreasonable expectations, but in general, your job at Target is simply to do your work for the X amount of hours that your shift is. You shouldn't be worried about getting every single thing done in your area in that time, because that's almost never going to happen.

 

[MrT]

We get visits all the time. We pretty much have to be on point all the time. It can be quite overwhelming at times, but for the most part it is a good thing imo

 

[Marvin Martian]

I think all visits should be unannounced. Just so they can see what really goes on in the store and what the leaders are doing. I have over 35 years retail and most of that was in a manager position. Can't stand the leaders being paniced because a visit is comin.

 

[TheaGrace]

Hah we gets visits almost every other week

 

[flow4areasonuno]

Wow. We still get visits, though maybe not as often (I don't work enough to always know). But we also have an SD that prioritizes zone & reshop. Even at our worst I can't imagine that many carts of reshop sitting around or that much of a mess. Your store's INF numbers must be awful. That alone should trigger a visit, I would think.

The last time we had that much reshop people were called in just for that despite our lack of hours. Someone's manager really needs to get a handle on things

 

[NotCynicalYet]

I like there being some announced visits, because the ability to scramble and get your shit together is a really useful skill to have as a team. Put it this way - if you are on notice and still can't get your stuff straight, there's a serious problem. Bigwigs know this.

 

[Florida Dawg]

I think all visits should be unannounced. Just so they can see what really goes on in the store and what the leaders are doing. I have over 35 years retail and most of that was in a manager position. Can't stand the leaders being paniced because a visit is comin.

Yep agreed, Recently my store management has been doing better than they were the past few months somewhat doing better. Hopefully they keep it that way but I doubt it. No reason to panic unless you aren’t doing things right then ya better get right, Same job for teachers when the school district or school principal visits their classroom. Unfortunately my district corporate is a joke currently and isn’t helping much. Uf they visit when I’m there, I work hard but fake smile and act funny around them just to joke around. 😂

 

[Elohseeyou]

Most visits are “unannounced”. However, getting a heads up—directly or indirectly (seen both lol)—is rewarding for both parties involved. That’s why it happens. You can debate about the rightness of it, but the “spin” is still there.

The DSD knows they look bad to the group/regional if a store looks bad. And so it goes, all the way up the chain. The goal never has been to operate at 100%, but to control the narrative of operating near 100%.

That said, you can’t lie—I mean if the store is a mess, you can’t really hide that—and you will get in trouble/maybe loss your job if you try to hide stuff. But if you get a heads up, you can make quick tweaks and craft a better message about how things are running and where you are going.

Really when you distill it down, it is just PR on a smaller scale. And really just a part of doing business.

 

[IWishIKnew]

Even when visits are announced, it's not like you always know where they're going to go or what they're going to do. Spend time frantically sprucing up the sales floor only to have them blitz through some random backroom locations or whatever. Whaddya gonna do?

 

[happygoth]

Even when visits are announced, it's not like you always know where they're going to go or what they're going to do. Spend time frantically sprucing up the sales floor only to have them blitz through some random backroom locations or whatever. Whaddya gonna do?

Ugh that happened to me when I was the shoe dept manager at my old job. One of my team members and I stayed until midnight making our department absolutely perfect. It seriously looked like a brand new store that just opened. During the visit these suits walked down the main aisle, barely glanced at shoes and kept on walking. I was sooo pissed.

So a few months later when we were getting another visit (different bigwigs by this time), we only stayed until 11, but we still looked great. And of course these guys scrutinized everything, and found three sale tags missing (of about 200 individual price tags attached to each display shoe), and dinged us for dust on the base of a standing display sign - a base that was hidden under a display table, that they had to bend down and practically get on their knees to see. I had also not updated a task board in the back, off the sales floor - a board that no one paid attention to and that was abandoned as a standard by the company only weeks later.

The way these guys apparently carried on and the way my direct supervisor acted during our meeting after they left, you would've thought we looked like a shithole. I can't even imagine what they would think of Spot's shoe department!

 

[OK Then]

My store has the occasional 'surprise' visit. The problem is that the people who do visits tend to hit a few stores in an area at once. So whoever is the first stop will send out messages to all other stores in the area. Then it is a rush to make the store look amazing. We had a visit where we had about 10 pallets of crap in the back, so my ETL just put it all on the trailer, closed the door and put a seal on it so looked like a sweep.

Haha. My store did this once. Someone must have tipped off the visitors because they made them open the trailer.
leadership got yelled at, then shit ran downhill and the TMs got yelled at.

Then nothing changed.

 

[DBZ]

I saw at least 6 pallets on the floor this afternoon, several u-boats and a flat. No one was working them. They were just there.

 

[NotCynicalYet]

I saw at least 6 pallets on the floor this afternoon, several u-boats and a flat. No one was working them. They were just there.

Only 6? Sounds awesome. We are in much worse shape and the backroom is impossible to navigate. Oh, and we also happened to get a visit. Good times, it was a fun "shit-rolls-downhill" meeting afterward lol.