Archived Anybody else switching to "Guest Centered" scheduling?

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I didn't see any topics on the first few pages, and I know we aren't the first to adopt it. From what I've heard, it doesn't sound very pleasant. Essentially most scheduling will now be mid shifts (obviously not for logistical areas like flow and presentation). Team members can't have set schedules at all. We can still set availability, but we were told that the fact is that if we didn't have open availability during mid-day hours, we should expect to have less hours. If I understand it correctly, all scheduling will be don't automatically by the system, and edits are frowned upon. Along with that are going to be new expectations (One I've heard so far is that 30-40% of the store is expected to be zoned before six). I can't really do midshifts all week because I'm in school as well and it's hard to fit in time to do school work when I don't get off until seven or eight. Besides that, I just don't see how this will work anyway, as it sounds like hours are starting to be cut again and we probably won't have as many seasonal hires. I don't see how they expect to have substancial mid-shift coverage and still have adequate closing coverage. Our store is still busy enough at night to warrant having salesfloor TMs on the floor.
 
We are going to be doing that too. Won't have SF coverage until probably 10 or 11 am (not that our SF ever responds to anything). Doesn't affect me any so I really don't care.
We have been told that we aren't doing much seasonal hiring either, we will just utilize the people we have. Should make for an interesting Black Friday!
 
This sounds like another great target idea! I'm also in school and only available 3 days a week, and I couldn't open my schedule if I wanted too. School is my first priority right now, so I don't have to work at target until I die. -_- And 30-40% of the zone being zones by 6 is a joke at my store. They have never focused on a mid day zone. It always projects and pushing go backs. I (personally) have never had much luck with pushing and zoning at the same time either. I end up zoning to long or pushing go backs to long and the zone looks like crap. This is just a personal thing though.

Anyways, I don't possible see how this is going to go over well.
 
I think we need more mid shifts. We're always so busy from 2-6 but yet we never have enough people working. I schedule more cashiers from 2-6 than my cashier fill calls for but no one else takes this approach so it doesn't really matter.
 
Our store is doing this as well. On top of that, we are not going 4AM for our trucks this year (we are a 6AM store and have gone 4AM for 4th quarter the past 2 years)... should be fun.
 
I am waiting to see what specifically is part of a roll out and what is being implemented because your store wants it that way. I think night hours are busy as well in tons of stores but morning is generally slow. Perhaps all areas are going to have to follow a dashboard similar to cashiers, and the result would be a guest focused schedule
 
I think guest focused scheduling is a great idea. My one major problem with guest centered scheduling is that salesfloor team leaders and some non-food team members (entertainment, merchandising brand, cosmetics somewhat) have tasks that must get done. Tasks other than zoning, working CAFs, and putting away returns. It is way harder to get salesplanners, business walks, revisions, reports, etc. done when you are scheduled mainly for peak hours. Mornings are when most of my work gets done anyway. Once it hits 11 or 12, everyone is pretty much focused on normal (zone, strays, pulls, etc.) anyway. I'm all for more mid shifts. People that just push CAFs and help guests. Guest centered scheduling just doesn't appear to take into account that salesfloor has stuff other than zoning that has to get done just like every other team in the store.
 
This sounds though like it is more for the lower volume stores? I don't see how my store would function with this type of scheduleding, as our BUSIEST time is at night. Plus the fact, my store is an 11pm store. If we zoned the store by six and had less coverage afterwards, the zone would look horrible, not to mention the Vibe scores would go down the tubes. Our scheduleding is always geard towards having more coverage for closing.
 
sounds like a great idea lets not have anyone on the floor to help guests and our vibe scores go down and we get berated because were not on the floor to help the guests but no one is schueduled on the floor to help the guest yet were expected to do 100 000 dollars on a monday when we have no guests confused yet excellent. yikes this company is going down in flames it really is
 
i fully agree that the store should be staffed during peak guest traffic hours. are tasks going to get done? helllllno. not a chance, at least not in my store. when we get busy, we get busy. anything thats not done by 11 isn't happening. expectations better be adjusted.
 
i fully agree that the store should be staffed during peak guest traffic hours. are tasks going to get done? helllllno. not a chance, at least not in my store. when we get busy, we get busy. anything thats not done by 11 isn't happening. expectations better be adjusted.

I guess this means anyone who comes in around noon at my store will have to wait in long lines. For whatever reason we always seem to be in backup from the hours of 12-2 or so which is awesome because thats when the CAFS start dropping to be worked out too.
 
Whoever came up with this idea has probably never zoned in a high volume store on a Friday night. 30-40% of the store zoned by 6? You effectively wasted your time because it's going to be destroyed by 9.

65M. Recovery comes in at 5PM. Not even 5% of the store is zoned by 6. First item on the agenda is a CAF blitz so that the backroom has a chance in hell of actually finishing the CAF push. Second item on the agenda is reshops. Then zone as you go. They're lucky to have 30-40% done by closing. They claim it gets pretty close to 100% every night, but I think they've got differing standards as to what "zoned" means than I do. I go to a nearby store that is a few million behind us and their zone is gorgeous. 24/7, year-round. Ours looks like poorly-raised little hell-kids ran through it - and that's after it's been "zoned". Items still pushed back, items in the wrong location, similarly-looking-but-actually-different items mixed in one location, locations massively over pushed, auto-zoner fixtures totally skewed, etc. Although with the utterly horribly terribly atrocious integrity and quality that our flow process has, I supposed it's hard for a recovery team to fix a mess like that on a daily basis. Not with having to do so many reshops that they still have 10-15 left every night.

For whatever reason we always seem to be in backup from the hours of 12-2 or so which is awesome because thats when the CAFS start dropping to be worked out too.

I don't get it. Our front end is busier from 11AM-2PM than it is from 5PM-6PM. Who the hell goes to Target for their lunch hour? I know I sure as hell wouldn't waste a lunch hour going to Target. Maybe on the way home or on the weekend, but sure as f*** not during my lunch.
 
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Whoever came up with this idea has probably never zoned in a high volume store on a Friday night. 30-40% of the store zoned by 6? You effectively wasted your time because it's going to be destroyed by 9.

65M. Recovery comes in at 5PM. Not even 5% of the store is zoned by 6. First item on the agenda is a CAF blitz so that the backroom has a chance in hell of actually finishing the CAF push. Second item on the agenda is reshops. Then zone as you go. They're lucky to have 30-40% done by closing. They claim it gets pretty close to 100% every night, but I think they've got differing standards as to what "zoned" means than I do. I go to a nearby store that is a few million behind us and their zone is gorgeous. 24/7, year-round. Ours looks like poorly-raised little hell-kids ran through it - and that's after it's been "zoned". Items still pushed back, items in the wrong location, similarly-looking-but-actually-different items mixed in one location, locations massively over pushed, auto-zoner fixtures totally skewed, etc. Although with the utterly horribly terribly atrocious integrity and quality that our flow process has, I supposed it's hard for a recovery team to fix a mess like that on a daily basis. Not with having to do so many reshops that they still have 10-15 left every night.

For whatever reason we always seem to be in backup from the hours of 12-2 or so which is awesome because thats when the CAFS start dropping to be worked out too.

I don't get it. Our front end is busier from 11AM-2PM than it is from 5PM-6PM. Who the hell goes to Target for their lunch hour? I know I sure as hell wouldn't waste a lunch hour going to Target. Maybe on the way home or on the weekend, but sure as f*** not during my lunch.

I mainly see women and a lot of younger kids. So probably stay at home moms and what not
 
I always see people buying like hot pockets and stuff during those lunch hours. Cheaper than eating out. A lot of companies give hour lunches, so I see how that could work. Also, lot of stay at home moms.
 
I believe this is primarily for low volume stores. Makes sense at mine. Most weekdays, our closing salesfloor is 6-10:30, so there is only one SF TL on the floor from 3:30-6, and that's when we're calling back-up. When I close, my team has the zone done by 9:30 and we've been sending people home by 10. Leave the reshop, smart huddle it the next day. If our salesfloor starts getting scheduled 3:30-9, then we wouldn't have lines to jewelry with nobody to respond for two hours. So, yeah, all for it.
 
Leave the reshop and smart huddle it? So when are we going to do the real smart huddle and remerchandise MPG aisles? We have simply got to get out of the mentality that the closing team/opening team will take care of what doesn't get done. Sure there are times you have to, call ins super busy night/day. But don't plan on it. The daytime teams should not be leaving soft lines reship for the closing team. It happens on your shift, you own it!
 
Leave the reshop and smart huddle it? So when are we going to do the real smart huddle and remerchandise MPG aisles? We have simply got to get out of the mentality that the closing team/opening team will take care of what doesn't get done. Sure there are times you have to, call ins super busy night/day. But don't plan on it. The daytime teams should not be leaving soft lines reship for the closing team. It happens on your shift, you own it!

You should see my fitting room. The rack is never clear and we have large clear plastic tubs like you can buy back in home storage for EACH AREA. I'm pretty lucky if I come in for a 3:30p operator shift and the rack alone is empty and there's nothing cluttering the floor in the returns closet. The Jewelry person is often dragged away from Jewelry tasks to do returns and backup. If there's anyone who's not Brand or a TL, they're shunted to returns. Oh, and the SL pulls are starting to accumulate during the day instead of being pushed. Don't even get me started on clearance push!
 
I think we've switched to "closing centered" scheduling. HL's will barely have any TM's until 3-5 PM, SL's will have maybe 2 in the morning. TL's tend to work in the morning, with one closing most days, sometimes there will be one TL for the whole store at night, sometimes none. It's a mess because nothing will get done in the morning and because they don't staff cashiers properly either, everyone is at backup constantly.
 
We're switching. We'll see how it goes, but this may be the thing that nudges me out the door. It's hard enough for anyone to get any work done now. The blatant manipulating of the numbers is starting to get to me too. Tying multiple salesplanners into endcaps and then not setting them because no one has time to do it may make the percentage look good, but it creates a total nightmare for the floor and backroom. It's all kind of getting to be a joke at this point.
 
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