Archived Am I Being Strung Along?

[That BackroomGuy]

So, I've been with Target for 3 years and I believe I'm an above average worker. To give you a background of myself, I began leading the closing backroom team in about 2 months into my employment and have never stopped. I believe I have potential into becoming a Team Lead, and my ETL's love to have me working, they never have to worry about the backroom when I'm clocked in.

A few months ago, I was called into my ETL-HR's office and asked if I was interested in moving up, I had to decline due to some personal issues, and, at the time, was taking up to 20 units at my college. I told them I am still very much interested in moving up after the semester ended, but, nothing has been done, even while I tend to bring up moving up to ETLs.

I'm not too sure if I made a mistake here, but I chose to transfer work centers to Human Resources. My reasoning for this was that I noticed that in my store, HRTM's have the highest chance of promotion for some reason, and they told me if I were to transfer to any department, my pay would go down due to me being above every other pay grade's base. I was told that since Backroom and HR are under N07, I would keep my pay.

My HRTL and I were made in agreement to have me work both HR and Backroom so my ETL-LOG can remain happy and that I can continue leading the team because I continue to deliver success.

Anyway, I just want to have some opinions if you think I'm getting strung along.

TL;DR: Was offered a TL position, declined due to reasons, switched to HR because my store seems to promote from that department, want to know if I messed up.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Go for hr!

 

[PM2NO]

HR is a good choice because you can leverage it should you decide to leave Target. You can't really leverage Backroom much to a promotion or to another company.

If you get real good at HR, they will want to keep you there. I was Receiving TM and I was good at it and for that reason I kept getting strung along for a team lead position for many years until they finally promoted me. Just make sure to keep on them for a lead position or else they will shrug it off

 

[HRZone]

Nope don't second guess yourself. You are more likely to promote from HR as any other position and honestly non senior HRTL is arguably the easiest of all the team lead positions for great pay.

I will say turning down a promotion usually doesn't bode well. It's just tricky waiting for a spot to open up. Could be tomorrow could be years. My old store had a girl on the bench 3 years. I hope you don't have to wait that long.

 

[That BackroomGuy]

Go for hr!

What do you mean go for HR? Like, stay there and try to move up to a HRTL?

 

[That BackroomGuy]

HR is a good choice because you can leverage it should you decide to leave Target. You can't really leverage Backroom much to a promotion or to another company.

If you get real good at HR, they will want to keep you there. I was Receiving TM and I was good at it and for that reason I kept getting strung along for a team lead position for many years until they finally promoted me. Just make sure to keep on them for a lead position or else they will shrug it off

Thanks, that's also a thought that popped into my head. Although, the sucky part is that my current HRTL won't be leaving anytime soon. She has it made for her at our store. The ETL-HR would die if she weren't there. I love her and wouldn't dare to wish she transferred or anything. If there's anyone who would vouch for me it honestly might be her.

 

[That BackroomGuy]

Nope don't second guess yourself. You are more likely to promote from HR as any other position and honestly non senior HRTL is arguably the easiest of all the team lead positions for great pay.

I will say turning down a promotion usually doesn't bode well. It's just tricky waiting for a spot to open up. Could be tomorrow could be years. My old store had a girl on the bench 3 years. I hope you don't have to wait that long.

Yeah, I do regret it, but, I wasn't going to allow a retail job to overpower my education. I'm really geared to obtain my Master's, and Target is paying me way above the average for N07, it's just that I really like to be part of a team I can lead and continuously deliver results in a AAA+ store.

 

[SweatyShirts]

Yeah, I do regret it, but, I wasn't going to allow a retail job to overpower my education. I'm really geared to obtain my Master's, and Target is paying me way above the average for N07, it's just that I really like to be part of a team I can lead and continuously deliver results in a AAA+ store.

It seems to me then that you gotta figure out if you can successfully juggle school and being a TL at the same time. And if you even truly want to do that, it will be tiring and stressful at times.

But as per the title of this thread and what you've said so far, I really don't think you're being strung along. I get the impression that the powers that be want to promote you but they have some concerns about your ability to be as committed to your role as a TL while going to school.

Which even though I see education as a perfectly good reason to not take a TL position, I can still understand that they might have concerns about your ability to meet the needs of the business if they do make you a TL. Especially given they sought you out and offered to promote you and you turned it down.

So for practical advice, and assuming you decide you want and are able to be a TL and continue your education; you should express your desire to do just that as well as find a way to prove that you can still find healthy balance between meeting the needs of the business and your schooling. And in such a way that neither gets neglected.

You might think you already have found that balance and maybe you have (I'm not gonna judge that here) but there might not be a lot of overlap between what you see yourself as capable of and what your management perceives you're capable of.

In essence, I'm saying you gotta make sure their perception of your capabilities lines up with what your intentions are.

 

[HRZone]

It seems to me then that you gotta figure out if you can successfully juggle school and being a TL at the same time. And if you even truly want to do that, it will be tiring and stressful at times.

But as per the title of this thread and what you've said so far, I really don't think you're being strung along. I get the impression that the powers that be want to promote you but they have some concerns about your ability to be as committed to your role as a TL while going to school.

Which even though I see education as a perfectly good reason to not take a TL position, I can still understand that they might have concerns about your ability to meet the needs of the business if they do make you a TL. Especially given they sought you out and offered to promote you and you turned it down.

So for practical advice, and assuming you decide you want and are able to be a TL and continue your education; you should express your desire to do just that as well as find a way to prove that you can still find healthy balance between meeting the needs of the business and your schooling. And in such a way that neither gets neglected.

You might think you already have found that balance and maybe you have (I'm not gonna judge that here) but there might not be a lot of overlap between what you see yourself as capable of and what your management perceives you're capable of.

In essence, I'm saying you gotta make sure their perception of your capabilities lines up with what your intentions are.

Great thoughts I have had team leads in school and many just work 32 hours. Which is technically still fulltime while giving them time for school.