Archived AMA: EX ETL

[prim07]

Haven't seen one of these threads in a while. Curious if anyone has any questions for an ETL. I'll answer anything in line with the rules of this forum. If I fall asleep tonight I'll get back to questions in the morning.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Hanging out, like rock lobster

 

[DoWork]

Is it true y'all sacrifice one seasonal hire during the holidays to please the DTL gods?

 

[Him]

In regards to developing people for promotions, e.g. Tm-TL, TL-ETL, ETL-STL, What are the many variables that come into play where the actual promotion gets the "go-ahead"?

 

[prim07]

Is it true y'all sacrifice one seasonal hire during the holidays to please the DTL gods?

I sacrifice those I deem necessary. And unfortunately more on top of that.

 

[soyaxo]

With End2End has there been satisfactory training for sales floor TMs on the backroom certifications at your store? We have some TMs who say they feel like they weren't trained well enough but others say they are more confident. I was curious if this was ASANTS or not because we are a big store. If you left before End2End then anyone can answer lol

 

[prim07]

In regards to developing people for promotions, e.g. Tm-TL, TL-ETL, ETL-STL, What are the many variables that come into play where the actual promotion gets the "go-ahead"?

TM-TL is probably the easiest and has least amount of possible push back and challenge. The only variable is yourself giving the effort.

TL-ETL is probably the toughest. There's a Sr. TL in my store who out performs the other ETLs I work with and is still having the ETL promo dangled in front of him. It requires having your entire ETL team in addition to your STL having your back for promotion. You need to be killing it 100% of the time and as soon as you might start to crumble a bit, it becomes "he/she might not be ready". Takes a lot of effort, more than necessary.

ETL-STL seems to be a joke. As long as you're a well performing or can put on a good smile and cheerful attitude, there's not much in your way. Just your STL promoting you to the district and speaking good on you. The rest is how well you can handle interviews. An ETL in my district just got the go ahead for STL and I never in a million years would have thought he was capable, so it must have been his personality.

 

[prim07]

With End2End has there been satisfactory training for sales floor TMs on the backroom certifications at your store? We have some TMs who say they feel like they weren't trained well enough but others say they are more confident. I was curious if this was ASANTS or not because we are a big store. If you left before End2End then anyone can answer lol

No, training has been a joke, a failure. Without being given the hours to do the training, and with the demands of the store, TMs are given rushed training to do their jobs 100%. Speak up with you don't feel like the training has been sufficient or you'll be deemed "not the right person in the right place". I don't want to speak on my volume store but we're not top tier and training did not go well.

For most of E2E, stores had to adapt without a rollout guide or execution notes. It was more of "figure it out". Management isn't familiar with that method so it's been a sloppy process for my entire district. Our fault? Probably. But we could have been set up better than that.

 

[BackroomAlpha]

Great thread! Give me a couple hours and ill have some good ones!

 

[Billybobjoe]

How many ETLs that you worked with can you say legitimately cared about their job? To me, it seems like a lot of them really don't care.

Also, how do you guys decide what TMs to promote to TL? From the outside looking in, it looks like their are a lot of politics involved.

 

[prim07]

How many ETLs that you worked with can you say legitimately cared about their job? To me, it seems like a lot of them really don't care.

Also, how do you guys decide what TMs to promote to TL? From the outside looking in, it looks like their are a lot of politics involved.

I decent handful actually, but there's never been a store where everybody was on the same page. You always have that one ETL not putting in as much effort as the rest. It's annoying. With my current team I feel like I'm the only one, so I simply don't care anymore either.

For a TL promotion here's a basic list of what needs to happen:

1. Be high performing on your own initiative. Communicate as needed and be on top of your tasks for the day.
2. No call outs, or use rarely. A stores not going to want a TL who has a history of calling out frequently and is unreliable.
3. Express interest in learning more and eventually your desire to growing with the company.
4. Be well spoken and professional.

A lot will depend on you, the last part is having a Executive/STL team that is supportive. Stores are stressed by DTLs in having a good pipeline/bench.

 

[Doglover89]

If TMs are coming to you with legitimate complaints about a TL working under you, would you be willing listen to them? Basically, do you and your fellow ETLs really listen to your TMs? Any ideas for how tm-leadership communication can be improved, when obviously, TMs dont have email access?

 

[prim07]

If TMs are coming to you with legitimate complaints about a TL working under you, would you be willing listen to them? Basically, do you and your fellow ETLs really listen to your TMs? Any ideas for how tm-leadership communication can be improved, when obviously, TMs dont have email access?

I'm always willing to listen. If a concern is mentioned I'll keep my eyes open to see if I notice the same concern and address it as necessary. As far as communication is concerned, if you are confident and have the courage to approach your TL you're having issues with, a good leader would take the feedback and try to resolve the issue. If you truly feel uncomfortable you can always go to your ETL, but ultimately it should be able to be handled at TM-TL level. If I had a complaint about my STL and I just went to my DTL to complain, that doesn't look good for either myself or my STL. I'd be challenged with having more courage to address it directly rather than going over someone's head.

Really depends on the leader though and how well they handle feedback, that's the only issue. It can be touchy.

 

[graffiti]

Are there ever "quotas" set for there to be a certain number of coachings per (or in a particular) department?

(A longstanding rumor at my store and one that hasn't been proven false by the numbers of coachings we see happening every week.)

 

[Evildead2]

Why does target hire more employees instead of giving the existing, more liable employees the hours?

 

[prim07]

Are there ever "quotas" set for there to be a certain number of coachings per (or in a particular) department?

(A longstanding rumor at my store and one that hasn't been proven false by the numbers of coachings we see happening every week.)

No, that would be ridiculous.

 

[prim07]

Why does target hire more employees instead of giving the existing, more liable employees the hours?

At my store, we have that sort of situation where we have less TMs for certain work centers and give them 40hrs a week. The issue is when they call out and we run into issues replacing the shift. That's probably one reason.

 

[tgtfla]

Great thread,thank you for caring enough to do this.

 

[WalksforMiles]

You ever think your fellow ETLs were childish and immature?

I'd hate to ever be a TL or above, cause I'd turn into a massive asshole.

 

[WalksforMiles]

I'm always willing to listen. If a concern is mentioned I'll keep my eyes open to see if I notice the same concern and address it as necessary. As far as communication is concerned, if you are confident and have the courage to approach your TL you're having issues with, a good leader would take the feedback and try to resolve the issue. If you truly feel uncomfortable you can always go to your ETL, but ultimately it should be able to be handled at TM-TL level. If I had a complaint about my STL and I just went to my DTL to complain, that doesn't look good for either myself or my STL. I'd be challenged with having more courage to address it directly rather than going over someone's head.

Really depends on the leader though and how well they handle feedback, that's the only issue. It can be touchy.

Some TLs seriously can't take the criticism. I hate that I have to baby some TLs cause their precious feelings get hurt.

I just want to yell at them. They're leaders and should act like it.

 

[SeniorAP]

How accurate is it that the more beautiful and attractive you are, the higher up the ladder you promote? I've had ETL's/STL's that are not very bright... but brighten up the store with their good looks haha..

 

[Saul Goodman]

How accurate is it that the more beautiful and attractive you are, the higher up the ladder you promote? I've had ETL's/STL's that are not very bright... but brighten up the store with their good looks haha..

I've been in quite a few targets and this doesn't seem to be the case at all lol

 

[Him]

How accurate is it that the more beautiful and attractive you are, the higher up the ladder you promote? I've had ETL's/STL's that are not very bright... but brighten up the store with their good looks haha..

Personally i don't think it really has to do with looks as i personally think it has to do with how they handled the interview and can speak for potential problems they might incur if they were in a given situation. A Lot of Leadership I have met throughout my years at Target were Very young. Some were mature were as others were not. Some were even well dressed, well groomed but spend a few moments actually trying to keep a conversation, it could go "Left" real fast. @prim07, am I correct or incorrect in this assessment?

 

[BrohemianRapcity]

Why are you an EX ETL? Also, what factors play into your bonuses?

 

[HRZone]

I've been in quite a few targets and this doesn't seem to be the case at all lol

The consistent I seem to see is high energy. We have some ETLs who aren't much to look at but almost all of them are passionate. Some passionately suck but we have very few low energy ETLs in my district