Barely trained

[Anon432]

Is it normal to barely be trained? I’m a ‘guest advocate’ and the leader who was supposed to train me was busy so they told this guy who was already at a register to show me. He stepped back and told me just to scan things while he opened another register behind me. He helped out when I needed it a few times but now (my second day of work excluding orientation) I feel like I don’t know anything and usually have to call someone over wherever there’s a hiccup. There seems to be no intention to train me further

 

[Black Sheep 214]

Is it normal to barely be trained? I’m a ‘guest advocate’ and the leader who was supposed to train me was busy so they told this guy who was already at a register to show me. He stepped back and told me just to scan things while he opened another register behind me. He helped out when I needed it a few times but now (my second day of work excluding orientation) I feel like I don’t know anything and usually have to call someone over wherever there’s a hiccup. There seems to be no intention to train me further

Yes, it seems like that’s how training works at Spot, at least it did at my store. The only people who get much in the way of actual training are those going into leadership who are sent from other stores to learn their roles. The rest seem to be pretty much thrown to the wolves or thrown in to sink or swim, or both. Keep asking questions when you need to, that’s much better than guessing wrong and fouling something up. The one and only thing I know about being on the terminals is never let a guest tell you what key to push, ever. That never leads to anything good. If you are in doubt, ask a leader. Good luck!😁

 

[commiecorvus]

Is it normal to barely be trained? I’m a ‘guest advocate’ and the leader who was supposed to train me was busy so they told this guy who was already at a register to show me. He stepped back and told me just to scan things while he opened another register behind me. He helped out when I needed it a few times but now (my second day of work excluding orientation) I feel like I don’t know anything and usually have to call someone over wherever there’s a hiccup. There seems to be no intention to train me further

SOP got Spot. Sorry you are having to deal with it but it's a thing.

 

[Planosss]

Yes, it seems like that’s how training works at Spot, at least it did at my store. The only people who get much in the way of actual training are those going into leadership who are sent from other stores to learn their roles. The rest seem to be pretty much thrown to the wolves or thrown in to sink or swim, or both. Keep asking questions when you need to, that’s much better than guessing wrong and fouling something up. The one and only thing I know about being on the terminals is never let a guest tell you what key to push, ever. That never leads to anything good. If you are in doubt, ask a leader. Good luck!😁

Believe me, training at leadership is also lackluster. have poorly trained leaders, training TMs poorly..

 

[happygoth]

As @Black Sheep 214 said, keep asking questions. I came to Target with decades of experience in retail which definitely helped, but I can imagine it's hard for those with little experience. Time, patience, and lots of questions and you'll get there.

 

[Dream Baby]

Believe me, training at leadership is also lackluster. have poorly trained leaders, training TMs poorly..

A lot of companies think training is not worth there time and just do "on the job" training.

 

[KarmaToBurn]

Since Cornell took over, yeah... they have this crazy notion that everyone already knows everything

 

[Planosss]

A lot of companies think training is not worth there time and just do "on the job" training.

Those are probably the same companies that can’t retain employees 🤷🏻‍♂️.
Make people feel like you are investing in them. Training shows structure and cohesiveness... Current Target model is chaos and fake it till you make it..

 

[Nauzhror]

Is it normal to barely be trained? I’m a ‘guest advocate’ and the leader who was supposed to train me was busy so they told this guy who was already at a register to show me. He stepped back and told me just to scan things while he opened another register behind me. He helped out when I needed it a few times but now (my second day of work excluding orientation) I feel like I don’t know anything and usually have to call someone over wherever there’s a hiccup. There seems to be no intention to train me further

Training is usually more in-depth than this. That said, a TL is usually not the person who trains new cashiers.

At my store the typical process is you would watch someone else cashier for a hour or two, and they'd explain things as they went along, and you'd ask any questions you had.

Then they'd switch, and they'd watch you, but still be at your lane with you to help answer any questions you had or help you if they spotted you struggling with something.

 

[He77CAT]

I know the training I had was 7 minutes like Anon432 mentioned. Thankfully I brought a lot of life experiences with me from my previous jobs. I've been with Target 3 years now and I was talking to a newer TM (about 4 months), while making a purchase on my break and she didn't know that the Target card/debit card gave an additional % off.. she noticed that some transactions would become less but didn't know why. I'm guessing it wasn't mentioned in-between her new higher video watching... When I sat in our training room, (kind of a joke to call it that), for 8 hours it was watching videos and nothing that pertained to daily register use.. I remember the videos being "how great to work for Target" type of videos... I found out on my own a couple of months later that we had a matched 401k and the qualifications for medical. Seasonal could get away with not knowing all the fine details but come on spot.... let's stop that revolving door of new hires. From what I understood about our seasonal workers, before them we were having next to no one applying. I'm thinking I have maybe a couple more months left in me.

 

[NewKidGSTL]

I transferred from being a closing TL to specialty sales TL and had ZERO training. Just thrown right in to the shit show. So, right now, yes it’s normal which is why no one stays.

 

[MysticMan]

Is it normal to barely be trained? I’m a ‘guest advocate’ and the leader who was supposed to train me was busy so they told this guy who was already at a register to show me. He stepped back and told me just to scan things while he opened another register behind me. He helped out when I needed it a few times but now (my second day of work excluding orientation) I feel like I don’t know anything and usually have to call someone over wherever there’s a hiccup. There seems to be no intention to train me further

I'm a Guest Advocate (FOS) with three years experience. In the store where I work TL's don't train. I believe I'm, most often, the T.M. who is selected to train new cashiers. I introduce new hires to the navigation keys in "The Cart" mode and in the "Payment Mode". I try to introduce new hires to the procedures for releasing security devices, how to process the purchase of gift cards, and how to issue promotional gift cards when the pop-up appears. A problem I've noticed is most of the new hires are "seasonal". They get the job in the fourth quarter, and experienced Guest Advocates are too busy most of the time to do a good job training. I wrote a one-page training summary for new hires to review. I gave it to my T.L., As far as I know, the training summary I wrote has never been given to any new hires. "Seasonal" new hires are canon fodder.