Archived false placement on bench

[keynesian]

sort of as an addendum to what I asked earlier, do you ever see regular team members put on the bench, but whereas management has no intention of promoting them?

I ask this only because I have had my suspicions since I was asked to go through this process, and I don't know if target actually thinks I would make a good leader, or if they just want to keep me from quitting so that they can replace me in my position without significant operations impact?

does target put high performing TMs on the bench to stop them from quitting? or do they genuinely wish to develop all of their "benched TLs"?

 

[Flabbergasted]

The idea of the bench is that everyone on it has already been cleared to take a TL position, and are just waiting for one to become available. Executive leadership merely "promising" to promote someone or attempting to develop an individual is not considered placement on the bench.

It's very shitty to put someone on the bench, taking them through the whole process with no actual intention to promote them. Very shitty indeed.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Dangling a carrot by spot. Happens all the time.

 

[LogisticsFox]

If I was benched (including passing the DTL interview) and not getting promoted I would be looking at other stores by now. The good thing about being benched is that all you really have to do is win over the new STL.

 

[buliSBI]

During my tenure, I was highly praised by one set of Execs at my store but didn't make the initial Round Robin interviews; just not enough experience just yet. When the store's Exec staff got shook up and totally revamped, the new Execs promised that I would be looked and prepped for the next bench interviews. Never happened. All they would say is that my previous 5 years meant nothing to them and I had to reprove myself to them. Yet they never accepted any application of mine after that. Only one internal TM was promoted to GSA. All other TL positions were filled by externals or transfers.

 

[KillerTL]

My experience of being promoted from TM to TL was all about bugging them about it. Now not everyday but probably once a week. It is easy for them to forget about trying to get someone promoted if it doesn't directly help their store!

 

[APredux]

Having someone on the bench is just as good for the store and/or district as it is for that particular TM, as it assures the store's leadership won't be short handed when the inevitable TL opening happens.

 

[RetailWorld]

If you've gone through the interview process...interviewed at other stores and with your DTL...and you're being refused positions, then there is something weird going on. Actively benching somebody with the intention of not promoting would make that STL look terrible...as this is a quality TM that the entire district has seen.

 

[RS190]

This probably varies among districts/groups and such, but where I am the bench is more or less a quota for higher-ups. If you don't have people on the bench, it looks bad for you. So they'll put anyone on the bench but that doesn't mean they'll get promoted.

I know a Sr. APS that has been on the bench for literally years. Hell, I was told I was on the bench and I still had to interview for a position with 5 other people who weren't on the bench...

 

[paidtosmile]

They want high-potential team members that they can slot into their succession planning tools. Putting somebody on the bench (and I mean actually passing through the round robin interviews, not just talking about doing it) assures that when a slot opens up, they have TL ready team members available to jump in right away. Or at least so they can list somebody as an available replacement on paper.
It safeguards their ability to keep their leadership team staffed, and carrot-and-sticks team members because they have the possibility of being promoted sometime in the future.

 

[CleanMyBackRoOm]

You have to do your part and actively pursue the openings. 98% of the time the execs are too busy with their own stuff than to go out and find the openings in your district for you. I have seen some mention in passing in our store to the other kid on the bench but he refuses them every time. I've talked to him about leaving the store strictly because he has been on the bench for about 3 years and hasn't left. His reasoning is because he doesn't want to take on anymore responsibility while in college and he's just going to use the bench leverage to his advantage when he goes for his spot as an ETL which will work in most cases.

I have checked everyday in our district for openings in other stores and when this VML position was created and they started considering people I put in for it without even talking to any of my execs at first. I called the stores in question and found out more about the role and contacted the one VML who has been in place since January in an adjacent district. They all gave me more than enough information to make me feel confident enough that I could do this. After I put in for it I have pretty much gotten all of the interviews handed to me. If you actively pursue the openings and let your STL know they will be more than happy to guide you through the process.

If you've been sitting on the bench and your STL and other ETLs are not pushing for your growth with the company they're not doing their job correctly. However I will say that sometimes they won't push you or fill you in on an opening if they don't think you can handle a certain volume store or certain position. If you're a GSA or cashier and you're on the bench and don't really work the floor you don't really have a whole lot of business taking on a role of a HL TL or back room TL if you don't know anything about it. That could back fire on the execs and make them look bad. They're going to want you to go to a role and store you will succeed in to make their resume look better.