Archived Be kind to your VM..its not our fault

[HRZone]

I have nothing against our VM tm. I have a lot against the position.

Amen our VM was a SRTL then moved to another store to be an HR.

All our good VM's leave for better jobs and the not so good ones don't last either.

 

[SigningLady]

Our current VM has lasted an entire year now and she's much easier to get along with lately. I think she has finally realized I do, in fact, have some visual merchandising skills.

 

[Stylized]

My vm is amazing. External hire, way over qualified. My team takes advantage and she ends up pushing freight, mostly. Soo aggravating. She has so much merchandising knowledge that I'd like my team(a&a) to learn but she's too busy pushing h&h and pulling overstock out of the home flat.

 

[Ashfromoldsite]

I have been a Vml/Vmtl/Vm with Target since its inception 3 years ago. Most of us came from leadership positions with other retailers where we were already making good money. I myself, was making $15 an hour with 40+ hours per week, bonuses, and an awesome discount. I also received week long, fully funded, trainings every year in other cities. My company also paid for my entire Masters Degree.When the Target recruiter contacted me, I was told I would make $5 more per hour and nearly everything I was already receiving. Plus, I was supposed to work Monday through Friday 7am until 330 pm and off every weekend. It was like a dream come true. I was also told that I would probably catch a bit of shade from some co-workers because the company decided to hire externally after they had already received an abundance of external applicants. After 6 interviews (yes 6 which also included tests), I got the job. Oh yea, and those hours they told me I would be getting, a lie. Oh yea and the last 2 classes they were supposed to pay for, a lie. I don't even get a full 40 hours per week. I have even been written up for going over my hours. I have never gone over 40 hours but Yea, for going over scheduled hours.
For the first month I was there, No one actually knew what I should do. I spent much of my time remerchandising clearance. I didn't dress mannequins because the SFTL just refused to give up the reigns. So I moved over to hardlines and made those trend runs and focals my babies. I set them, maintained them, flexed them and remerchandised them for the GODS! And when they went PTM, there would never be anything left in the backroom.
I say this to say that I have been in retail for over 20 years. I have worked for Nordstrom and Macy's. I have been a merchandiser for more than a decade. I have a Bachelor's Degree in Management and a Master's Degree in Marketing. Not only that, I am a great VM. When I went to my 1 day training for this position, many of the other VM's in my market had similar backgrounds. We DESERVE to be highly paid. We have already worked our way up in retail. With other retail outlets it is understood that the VM gets early morning hours, No weekends and higher pay. I have never heard the workers in other retailers I have worked for complain or even care. It's just weird that a company who doesn't listen to its employees most of the time, somehow decided to listen when it comes to making your VM equal to all other TM's. Don't get me wrong, I am not better than anyone else as a human. No one should treat you like that at your job or anywhere else. However, you should recognize that some of us have had years of training and experience to get to this position. I personally have been fighting to get more responsibilities because, like I said, No one here even knew what a VM did before I came. I even had my ETL/HR call me a "glorified sales floor team member". When word came down that our title was changing from VMTL to VM, she had my desk taken from me in the Tl office. Talk about humiliating. I have taken all the jabs and punches and remained humble.
I honestly think the VM position should be more like a PMT position and considered totally separate from the sales floor. It has caused too much confusion amongst the other Tm's. Besides, No one needs to be dressing a mannequin at 8pm on a Saturday evening.

The vm position just needs to go away. Any tm can remerchandise an aisle.

 

[SigningLady]

The vm position just needs to go away. Any tm can remerchandise an aisle.

I disagree, at least if you want the aisle to look decent when they are finished. I've seen what "any team member" does when merchandising in the home decor flat and aisle. No rhyme or reason to the placement; throw blankets merchandised on the same bookcase shelf as grow kits, but also those same throw blankets merchandised in 3 other places nearby, completely ignoring color schemes/themes. Looks horrendous. There's a BIG difference between merchandising and visual merchandising. Most people can do the first, not everyone possesses the skill to do the second.

 

[PackAndCry]

I mean, if there's a pog for the area and it's being replenished correctly, there shouldn't be any need for someone to decide what goes where. Having vague pogs that have to be interpreted by a VMTM is needlessly complex for a discount store.

 

[Malkiacera]

I mean, if there's a pog for the area and it's being replenished correctly, there shouldn't be any need for someone to decide what goes where. Having vague pogs that have to be interpreted by a VMTM is needlessly complex for a discount store.

Yes there’s pog’s but for visual areas like clothing and the new decor flat the styles and schemes rotate every 4-6 weeks. One or two people to set, maintain, remerch and upsell is crucial. But of course that position has been cut back so much. This is coming from an ex-brand Tm.

 

[SigningLady]

Yes there’s pog’s but for visual areas like clothing and the new decor flat the styles and schemes rotate every 4-6 weeks. One or two people to set, maintain, remerch and upsell is crucial. But of course that position has been cut back so much. This is coming from an ex-brand Tm.

I try so hard to maintain the home flat after I set it, but after a weekend it's so trashed by guests and team members. I haven't been able to fully recover it in over a week, just 10 minutes here and there for quick fixes. I miss getting brand hours for that kind of thing.

 

[Ashfromoldsite]

Our vm doesn’t maintain decor. Our senior hltl does. We don’t need our vm. She’s no more talented than any other dayside tm or tl. She has a college degree in design but you would never guess that.

 

[signingminion]

My vml are averaging about a year each. I'm hoping if this new one lasts about that we think about an internal next round.

My biggest problem with externals is they think nobody in store could possibly understand or do their job and target reinforces that in their training. But it's simply not true and talking down to me is getting old. I've got years of professional merchandising training by actual industry experts.

 

[Fancykhakipants]

The vm position just needs to go away. Any tm can remerchandise an aisle.

The vm position just needs to go away. Any tm can remerchandise an aisle.

I’ve gone on vacation, left explicit instructions with dedicated owners and when I come back freight is pushed but it looks a mess. Trust me, when a real visual does whatever the sales floor does, it looks and feels different.

 

[busyzoningtoys]

T

I’ve gone on vacation, left explicit instructions with dedicated owners and when I come back freight is pushed but it looks a mess. Trust me, when a real visual does whatever the sales floor does, it looks and feels different.

Too bad they tend to only do it in softlines

 

[graffiti]

I’ve gone on vacation, left explicit instructions with dedicated owners and when I come back freight is pushed but it looks a mess. Trust me, when a real visual does whatever the sales floor does, it looks and feels different.

That's unfair though, because the hours to meticulously perfect every single aspect of their department is simply not worked into the hours DBOs receive. Something has to give somewhere, and if their boss prioritizes getting it done over making it pretty, they're gonna do what they have to do to keep their jobs.

 

[Fyi]

Not trying to sound rude but Don’t VMs at target just arrange items by following pictures coroporate gives them? I’m pretty sure that’s what our VM did

 

[Rarejem]

Any tm can remerchandise an aisle.

Yep... those car mats fit perfectly in this spot where the discontinued towels were and if those candles are doublestacked we can get 300 of them on this shelf. There is absolutely no reason that there can't be 12 of the same chair in this aisle. Labels? We don't need to label. They can use the scanner. Tie this merch to the aisle I'm stashing it in? Whatever for? I love it when any tm remerchandises an aisle. (I am not a VM)

 

[L4D]

Not trying to sound rude but Don’t VMs at target just arrange items by following pictures coroporate gives them? I’m pretty sure that’s what our VM did

It’s a lot more than just putting things where they go in the picture. The VM job is 90% creative problem solving for when we don’t even get half the product we’re supposed to or we get it after the VMG is supposed to set or we don’t have the correct amount of fixtures needed for the set, etc. I’d still rather do the VMG than have to deal with fitting rooms and reshop though.

 

[Ahem]

Ok but a lot of VMs came in with a lil elitism. Like I can respect your background in fashion, fashion merchandising, marketing, and work in other creative spaces (granted weve had regular tms with similar backgrounds) but there's no reason so many came in with their nose pointed so high. You left one of the big fancy stores to come to red Walmart (ok it's upgraded to a cheap Macy's/bloomies now lol) at a time when they weren't even allowing creativity depending on regional leadership. We would be creative and the sales proved it worked, and then we'd go back to the visual adjacency for visits lol. Then boom actually we're gonna hire someone with experience to follow these instructions instead. Oh and the softlines tl who's been trying to become a senior for a long time and decided to apply for vml, she's not even gonna get an interview but we need her to train up the new vml lol. Of course she wouldn't like you right away. It's crazy that so many VMLs expected that when the position came about. I remember the threads on here were crazy and dramatic.

Target rolled the shit out in a trash way. Your anger is with the company. Corporate overlords manufacturing bullshit drama that lasts 3 years. Do your job and treat your coworkers with respect without looking down on them and you'll be fine. Target didn't make changes because of us. They made those changes because they're cheap bastards. They don't wanna pay you just like they don't wanna pay the rest of us.

 

[NotAvailable]

I’ve gone on vacation, left explicit instructions with dedicated owners and when I come back freight is pushed but it looks a mess. Trust me, when a real visual does whatever the sales floor does, it looks and feels different.

Dedicated TMs are lucky if they get shifts over 4 hours. Most VMs are full-time TMs and receive 8 hour shifts. I'm no mathematician, but I'm pretty sure that's a 4 hour difference. Most people would agree that a lot more can get done with an extra 4 hours.