Archived Well, today was the day I had to say goodbye to half my long term friends at work

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StateofTarget

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It happened just the way my ETL-HR said - today every TL at my store that did not present proof of 60 college credits was called in the office and told they were demoted to TM. We were all called in the office weeks ago and told if we didn't have a transcript showing the credits we were to be demoted after 4th quarter, so this wasn't a surprise to anyone. 5 TL's total were called in the office. All but two of them quit on the spot.

Fortunately I have an AA degree, and had my transcript mailed to our ETL-HR weeks ago. Otherwise I would have been one of them.

So we lost the following:

1 GSTL
Our pricing TL
Our plano TL
two hardlines TLs (one of them a Sr TL)

So, apparently all of their replacements have already been hired and are scheduled to start tomorrow. From what I "heard" from an ETL willing to talk to me about it, most of them are external hires.... with 4 year degrees. He called them "promotable", and the company is trying to find a way to allow TL's to have a "career path" where they can slowly move up to higher paygrades/positions over time. Apparently this happened at every store in the district today, and apparently happened at multiple districts all around the country. He said this is all some kind of "pilot program" (whatever the hell that is) that is supposed to run over the next year and then the company is going to either kill it off or roll it out to more stores.

Pretty sad day for everyone. Most of these TLs I had worked with for years. I will miss them.
 
StateofTarget said:
It happened just the way my ETL-HR said - today every TL at my store that did not present proof of 60 college credits was called in the office and told they were demoted to TM. We were all called in the office weeks ago and told if we didn't have a transcript showing the credits we were to be demoted after 4th quarter, so this wasn't a surprise to anyone. 5 TL's total were called in the office. All but two of them quit on the spot.

Fortunately I have an AA degree, and had my transcript mailed to our ETL-HR weeks ago. Otherwise I would have been one of them.

So we lost the following:

1 GSTL
Our pricing TL
Our plano TL
two hardlines TLs (one of them a Sr TL)

So, apparently all of their replacements have already been hired and are scheduled to start tomorrow. From what I "heard" from an ETL willing to talk to me about it, most of them are external hires.... with 4 year degrees. He called them "promotable", and the company is trying to find a way to allow TL's to have a "career path" where they can slowly move up to higher paygrades/positions over time. Apparently this happened at every store in the district today, and apparently happened at multiple districts all around the country. He said this is all some kind of "pilot program" (whatever the hell that is) that is supposed to run over the next year and then the company is going to either kill it off or roll it out to more stores.

Pretty sad day for everyone. Most of these TLs I had worked with for years. I will miss them.
Click to expand...

If the company decides to "kill it off," do all the former team leads get their jobs back? Don't answer that...I know better.

If this happened at my store virtually all our team leads would be out of a job. I think that only three of our team leads have degrees.

I feel sorry for the two TL's that stayed on at your store. What are they going to do when they have to train their replacements? It is not easy when you step down, believe me. I was able to do it, but some days were harder than others. I am through that now after being a TM for 10 months and it helps that I probably make as much or more than most TL's at my store.

I have a feeling your store and others like it are going to go through a rough transition for a few months.
 
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Axing great leaders just to make way for college grads. I have no words to express my disappointment in this company regarding this. Sure you will have those defending this and the college TL route Spot is taking but come on, leaders who probably worked their way up are now unemployed. Target gave them enough rope to hang themselves. I would have walked too.
 
On one hand, I can imagine that those people were crushed when they lost their jobs because of that. On the other hand, lots of people on here complain that ETLs have no experience. If they start promoting TLs with degrees into the roles, then maybe there will be higher quality ETLs. It's a tough situation though.
 
Ludwig3 said:
Axing great leaders just to make way for college grads. I have no words to express my disappointment in this company regarding this. Sure you will have those defending this and the college TL route Spot is taking but come on, leaders who probably worked their way up are now unemployed. Target gave them enough rope to hang themselves. I would have walked too.
Click to expand...

I agree. A number of the Team Leads at my store don't have degrees, but they absolutely work their butts off. I don't have a problem with making a degree required, if the candidate pool is large enough to do that and come away with quality workers. I do however have a problem with demoting TLs that don't have a degree. They absolutely should be grandfathered in, exempted from the requirement. After all, there are many ETL's floating around out there without college degrees because they were with the company before that became a requirement.
 
I agree about being Grandfathered in. At least if they aren't even sure they will keep it that way. I hope it comes back to bite them in the butt.
 
I can see this working on a regional scale, but it is absolutely asinine to think this will work on a national level, it's just dumb. People don't go get 4 year degrees so they can make less than 25-35k a year, they just don't. Unless they plan on bumping starting TL pay by 30-50%, this won't work, not even a little bit.
 
There goes my last store. Almost everyone (except for about 2-3) had no college experience. Let them be grandfathered in or have Target help them in getting some courses under their belt to keep their position.
 
Was this an official test? I wonder if it's listed on your Store Fact Sheet.
 
Did any of the remaining TL's (with at least 60hrs) get compensated any additional pay? I heard there was going to be additional responsibilities, with the potential of being key-carriers.. any word on that?
 
I think someone brought up the theory a long time ago that the reason why Target is requiring TLs to have college experience is that they are going to condense or eliminate the ETL staff at stores. Basically just having the STL, maybe at most an ETL for each major area (HL/SL/Logistics) or none, then TLs (key carriers) and TMs.
 
I think Target needs to revise its action plan for this... If it were me they need to promote education within (instead of just recruiting externally)...

They need to make this "career path" focus on those who don't have degrees, and make it line up that way!

PG11 = TL not in any classes
PG13 = TL attending any classes (even part-time)
PG15 and PG17 = HIPO TL attending any classes (ETL potential... goal of getting a Bachelor's)

Improve tuition reimbursement and you got yourself a program that actually promotes education! Instead of throwing them away, you give them the option to work up! This also will get Target just what it wants! All the young college kids going to school will start as PG13 TLs and then decide if they have the potential to be ETLs (move to PG15 if so), and then when they graduate they will be a strong ETL (while the poor performers will be PG13 and not yet promotable)

My store, including myself has 5 team leaders currently attending college full time, but have not completed their degree yet... This kind of program would be perfect for us (potential ETLs) and for adults who want to work and go back to school too!
 
Rock Lobster said:
I think Target needs to revise its action plan for this... If it were me they need to promote education within (instead of just recruiting externally)...

They need to make this "career path" focus on those who don't have degrees, and make it line up that way!

PG11 = TL not in any classes
PG13 = TL attending any classes (even part-time)
PG15 and PG17 = HIPO TL attending any classes (ETL potential... goal of getting a Bachelor's)

Improve tuition reimbursement and you got yourself a program that actually promotes education! Instead of throwing them away, you give them the option to work up! This also will get Target just what it wants! All the young college kids going to school will start as PG13 TLs and then decide if they have the potential to be ETLs (move to PG15 if so), and then when they graduate they will be a strong ETL (while the poor performers will be PG13 and not yet promotable)

My store, including myself has 5 team leaders currently attending college full time, but have not completed their degree yet... This kind of program would be perfect for us (potential ETLs) and for adults who want to work and go back to school too!
Click to expand...

best idea i've heard. SPOT LISTEN UP. THIS GUY SHOULD BE IN YOUR THINK TANK!!!
 
dek067 said:
best idea i've heard. SPOT LISTEN UP. THIS GUY SHOULD BE IN YOUR THINK TANK!!!
Click to expand...

We've been saying it for years. Rock is an untapped resource.
I suspect that if Spot listened to half of his suggestions we'd be running twice as well.
 
Rock Lobster said:
I think Target needs to revise its action plan for this... If it were me they need to promote education within (instead of just recruiting externally)...

They need to make this "career path" focus on those who don't have degrees, and make it line up that way!

PG11 = TL not in any classes
PG13 = TL attending any classes (even part-time)
PG15 and PG17 = HIPO TL attending any classes (ETL potential... goal of getting a Bachelor's)

Improve tuition reimbursement and you got yourself a program that actually promotes education! Instead of throwing them away, you give them the option to work up! This also will get Target just what it wants! All the young college kids going to school will start as PG13 TLs and then decide if they have the potential to be ETLs (move to PG15 if so), and then when they graduate they will be a strong ETL (while the poor performers will be PG13 and not yet promotable)

My store, including myself has 5 team leaders currently attending college full time, but have not completed their degree yet... This kind of program would be perfect for us (potential ETLs) and for adults who want to work and go back to school too!
Click to expand...

What about the TL (and/or tm) that already has their degree. There are a lot of us that are working at Target that have already accomplished this.
 
Well I hope that they can give me the money to pay my school off so I can get proof that i have the degree...
 
Rarejem said:
What about the TL (and/or tm) that already has their degree. There are a lot of us that are working at Target that have already accomplished this.
Click to expand...

If a TM has a bachelor's degree, I would question whether they wanted to move up with Target (most I have met do not want to...)
If a TL has a bachelor's degree, then they need to be put onto a development plan to make them into an ETL! The whole point I am trying to make is (by Target's standards) an ETL job requires a degree while a TL job does not, so therefore a TL with a degree is a waste of talent and resources! The company isn't managing talent well if there are TLs sitting with 4 year degrees! I think TLs should be attending school in some form however, making them a strong talent pool for ETL staffing choices....
 
commiecorvus said:
We've been saying it for years. Rock is an untapped resource.
I suspect that if Spot listened to half of his suggestions we'd be running twice as well.
Click to expand...

If only :)
I understand Spot doesn't like complaining, so I try and be positive and give alternatives! Even though I know it falls on deaf ears, I at least know I can say "well I DID say a better way, you just didn't listen!"
 
And hear I am with a AA on the IS team. This will suck to watch roll out as I know almost all our TL do not have one.
 
I don't think Spot wants any new ETLs to be over 30 though, unless they are already coming from Retail Management experience. Could of sworn I read that on here somewhere.u

Also, all of my team leads are OLD. Like old enough to be my parents, mind you I am a very young TM. Most probably don't have much college experience, and probably wouldn't consider going back.
 
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