Archived Corporate: Sociopaths?

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talan123

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I was deluded into thinking that since corporate hires people, they included people with feelings and/or are human. Much to my dismay, I have found out that they are not.

Our store suffered a rather huge loss with a team member (that's all the details I'm going into) and it hit us like a hammer because this particular team member was related to several other team members. The reaction from corporate to everybody has shown exactly what not to do.

1.) Announcing that a grief councilor is coming next week. That's a great start but saying that and then "Our guests don't know what is happening and if you need a few minutes to collect yourself, come talk to us but don't bring your emotions onto the floor" speech is not a good follow up. In fact, don't tell people how to grieve. We know that we aren't supposed to do it on the floor but occassionally grief overwhelms people. Have the decency to trust us with our emotions.

2.) Do not announce that you will be collecting money for said person, then cancel it because "it is redundent because the community is doing it as well" and then start up another collection in the form of a gift card later on. That really sticks a knife into the gaping wound already. We want to help them and playing games with our emotions isn't something a good company would let happen, let alone support.

3.) Security. It was a bad incident and we need security at night. When said incident happens, do not cut the hours that AP does their patrol at the same time. It is telling us that we are not important enough to be protected, which I guess we are no longer worth it anyways.

4.) When you do send for a grief councilor, open up a window that is larger than a few hour's for one day. Grief works at different rates for different people and trying to squeeze everything into one day shows that you REALLY don't care about us.

5.) ETL's need to be there. It doesn't matter if they have a trip or vacation planned, when a once in a lifetime event happens at a store then their life outside the store needs to go bye-bye for a few weeks. It's not that I don't think they deserve the time off, it's just that they are needed for the image that they project which is stability/compassion.

6.) Talk with the DTL's and how this might not be the best time to start springing visits on the store. There is a lot of stuff going on right now and having to please a totally useless person that doesn't give us money is not exactly useful. Their first words should be one of support and asking how Target can help rather than why the glass cleaner is being used on the glass (chemical control is the biggest safety issue?).

7.) Increasing sales floor coverage to improve security feelings. As the amount of hours on the salesfloor goes down, there is a direct rise in theft/security related incidents. I have been assaulted twice in the last year and it needs to stop. I have reported this to the team members and the police and the hours get cut again. The lack of hours is directly related to the social norms on the salesfloor collapsing. If there is no authority for people to respect then they will not respect what we are doing. Being the single team member on the salesfloor for the majority of the day (having your electronics team member get and put away the milk is not smart) is just dumb. Any money corporate thinks it is saving is being lost to our insurance premiums.

8.) Temperature: During these extremely hot times, it would be nice to go to work and not have to worry about my fellow team members collapsing on me. For every degree you raise the temp from 72, the cost is 3% production.

In short, I am firmly in the mind that corporate's well being is no longer tied to any of the store's well being and only see the stores as cost objects in the way of their "branding" efforts. It's the only way to explain this junk they are pushing as leadership.
 
I know you don't want to go into details...but did this occur at the store.
 
For crying out loud. Sorry to sound heartless about a team member/team member's family member dying, but it's death. It's a fact of life. Seems like corporate is already bending over backwards by sending a "grief counselor" for a period of time. What more do you want them to do?

Sorry to burst your bubble, but I hope it's not alarming to you that corporate doesn't care as much about the people inside the store than they do about the bottom line that we're helping them drive. Target is a business, and we're a means to an end, even after all that "Be the Best You" stuff.

And there is plenty of detail in your post for someone from corporate to identify your store. not that it matters because they know where you're from.
 
I was surprised they actually sent a grief counsellor.

If everyone was close with this TM it would have been appropriate for them to attend the wake/funeral.

Sorry for your loss.
 
Ultimately corporations have nothing to do with making society better, they have to make money whatever the cost so yes by definition a corporation is sociopathic.
They are made up of people many of whom do care about people so an effort will be made which you saw a bit of and there is some profit to be squeezed out of appearing to care so appearances will be kept up.
I'm sorry for the pain and loss that your community has suffered.
It also sounds like there is a certain amount of fear involved as well.
That might be worth expressing loud and often because the last thing Spot wants to deal with is lawsuits, effects the bottom line you know.
 
I know and I'm sorry, it was just a few days of grief coming out of me all at once.

I threw blame at them that they didn't deserve. I donated a $100 so far and I still feel like I haven't done anything.
 
Talan, I'm sorry for your store's loss & the grief you all are experiencing.
Attempts aside, it's better than acting as tho nothing happened & adopting the British stiff upper lip.
My condolences to all affected.
 
Every time I seem to make a joke --- ETL's are inbreds / zombie's / anti social / moron's / psychopath's --- everybody collectively says -- "Oh that SBS - he's such a card --- always kiddying" :thumbsup:

Do you-all get it now ---- they suck - I'll even bet my favorte screw-driver - their even tested on their suck-ness
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I wouldn't be surprised if their psych test is geared toward "Schadenfreude" like behavior ( German - look it up :thumbsup: )
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"Schadenfreude" - glee or delight over the misfortune of others; that smug feeling you have when you read about the downfall of some insufferable well-heeled jerk or ditzy glam-girl.
 
If I told you that John Doe, in Eagle Mountain, Utah, died last night, would you be emotional? Probably not, because you didn't know him.

Of course it's sad when someone dies unexpectedly, but nobody at corporate knew the person, so I would imagine it's not really in perspective for them.

I think in the case of something like this happening, the STL should be given some slack to do what needs to be done. There shouldn't be a strict "protocol" for when someone passes away. Like you said, people grieve differently.
 
sorry for your loss and the loss of your feelings of security.

its not necessarily a corporate thing; in my experience, when we've lost tm, it is a reflection of the inhouse team communicating with corporate as well.

our first stl... we had a tm die (outside of work, very unexpectantly). target sent a check to help with his funeral (around $500). no one talked about it. most of the team didnt know. i was told because i trained him his first day, and we were always close. he had so much potential. that was the extent of target. i dont even think the store sent flowers or announced it. the team thought he had quit.

our last stl... a tm who had been there a long time was very ill. the stl called the stores in our district and arranged for support help so that when she passed, every one in the store who wanted could attend the funeral. he arranged for food for the team, and held a floorwide chat. he walked the floor himself the next few weeks and kept a check on how people were dealing, and encouraged them to call the life resources for help if they needed. he put sign up sheets on his door if we wanted to grab a spot to chat, but wasnt pushy about anything.

i couldnt imagine if someone in my store was killed at work. my FIL's boss was killed by another employee at his retail job. very scary stuff.
 
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