Bench advice

Haha, that's me. I've been on the bench for a year now. My ETL keeps telling me about the HR Sr TL position, but I wonder if they'd ever go from TM to Sr in one jump, considering the LOD aspect that would entail. I haven't seen it happen in my district at any rate, but I'll still try for it anyway, I've got a lot of experience.
There was a thread about it before if I can recall, and the person ended up going from TM to Sr. TL.
 
One of my friends has done it, just requires having the right people have your back. They just held off on LOD duties until he was a few months in, then let him ease into it.
 
Their is an o/n SrTL at my store. They either don't want to be LOD or are not interested in pursuing advancement into an ETL though. Even when we didn't have an ETL, we still needed another Key holder from another store come "cover" although they being a key holder, the SrTL could have easily ran the process without anyone from the outside "covering"
 
Panda13, I was having a Terrible morning!! Until I read your post!! You truly made my morning!! :):D
 
Would a hypothetical candidate be approached by management or would said candidate have to seek management out and request them?

Also how often are they typically held, like is it am annual thing?
 
They can prep you anytime and put you on the bench if there is no immediate opening.

Talk to your ETL and TL. Express how you want to grow with the company and seek feedback on your performance. Whats good and what can be improved. See is they have anything you can start owning and such.
 
Would a hypothetical candidate be approached by management or would said candidate have to seek management out and request them?

Also how often are they typically held, like is it am annual thing?

ASANTs some stores approach. Most people who promote do so because they asked
 
target is pretty big on a "pipeline" of talent. part of the roles of an etl are developing team members. at least once a month at my stores etl meetings promising team members that they want to try to develop. i was always one of those but my stl thought i didn't care/give a shit. once i won him over things progressed really quick.

you can always ask, and be vocal. it really depends on how good the person who likes you is. i hired a gsa over stl judgement as a tl because he trusted me. an etl got me on the bench as his major ask. but i've had other etl's who wanted to mentor me and i got nowhere.
 
target is pretty big on a "pipeline" of talent. part of the roles of an etl are developing team members. at least once a month at my stores etl meetings promising team members that they want to try to develop. i was always one of those but my stl thought i didn't care/give a shit. once i won him over things progressed really quick.

Ever since I learned about the Pipeline and what it is, I've kind of had a disdain for it and haven't been super eager to assert myself and say I want to be developed. Mostly because I like to think I'm capable of figuring out what I should be improving and executing on that improvement. I do still seek out feedback and consider what I'm told but I try to figure out the how on my own and then follow through on that.

In general I've very visibly taken charge of my own development, so I haven't really have been approached on TL things. I figure the TL roster at my store has recognized that and they give me space to do my thing.


Beyond that though, I'm on good terms with my STL and she knows I want more out of my time here at Target and that I want to be a TL. Just at the time of that conversation, I made it sound like more of an eventuality rather than a move I'm looking to make immediately.

But that conversation was a few months ago and I'm starting to reconsider my stance a bit, I'd like to start making more progress than I currently am towards becoming a TL. Might be time to status again with her soon.

And really thus this post, I wanted to know more about the Bench interviews and really just try to prepare myself a bit before I approach my STL again.
 
Be relentless. Tell every leader in the building you want to move up and ask for their help with development.
 
You're going to want the backing of at least a few of your store's existing team leads. Be open with some that you think go above and beyond. Ask them for advice and some tasks that will help you stand out from the other team members.

It's much harder to promote by doing your own thing and hoping someone recognizes your work.
 
Currently there are two team members (myself included) on the team leader bench at my store, with one more heavily in the pipeline.

Late last week a team leader position for logistics got posted on the hiring board and neither of us have heard anything either way about it.

I have a weird feeling they are looking around externally for the position to be filled. Anyone ever have a similar situation at their stores?
 
Bring it up with your mentor or another ETL and listen to what they say. It can be an oversight or it can be what you are saying.
 
I don't understand this whole bench thing, so feel free to ignore me. If you're interested in the position, be proactive and go talk to someone about it. They might not think either of you are interested because it's LOG. They might be waiting to see how each of you reacts. Or maybe they are looking externally.
 
Have you expressed interest in the position to your ETL/STL since the position was posted? Are you actually on the bench (interviews complete and signed off), or are you just in the pipeline? Have you gone on eHR and applied for the job?
 
Currently there are two team members (myself included) on the team leader bench at my store, with one more heavily in the pipeline.

Late last week a team leader position for logistics got posted on the hiring board and neither of us have heard anything either way about it.

I have a weird feeling they are looking around externally for the position to be filled. Anyone ever have a similar situation at their stores?

Being on the TL bench doesn't automatically give you the next open position. Basically the bench is your time to learn and grow so that when a position does come open, you can nail the interview and be ready to jump in.

I'm confused how you both saw the posting of the LOG position but say you haven't heard anything about it???? That posting is all you need to hear. Being a leader is about taking initiative and action, if you want the LOG position, do something to get it!
 
Being on the TL bench doesn't automatically give you the next open position. Basically the bench is your time to learn and grow so that when a position does come open, you can nail the interview and be ready to jump in.
The bench is normally used to refer to someone who's already completed their interviews, is signed off on the promotion and is waiting for placement. The pipeline is "your time to learn and grow so that when a position does come open, you can nail the interview and be ready to jump in."

That's how it's always talked about in my stores/district anyways, and I'm pretty sure it's the same everywhere but these colloquial terms could have a different meaning in different places.
 
The bench is normally used to refer to someone who's already completed their interviews, is signed off on the promotion and is waiting for placement. The pipeline is "your time to learn and grow so that when a position does come open, you can nail the interview and be ready to jump in."

That's how it's always talked about in my stores/district anyways, and I'm pretty sure it's the same everywhere but these colloquial terms could have a different meaning in different places.
I think it’s the same everywhere. I was in the pipeline for a couple months. But then I went straight into ‘Hey this is going to happen sooner than we all expected, interviews will be next week so we can have you in by Q4’. No bench for me lol
 
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