January is a dead month for us. I'm sure it depends on the location of your store.
So look back last year, what did January results look like? It could just be that all your druggy thugs are in hibernation for the month, pretty sure that's what happens here. You got to get a spotter to call them out for your APS there are days that I (as a tps) will spend most of the day on camera calling out possibles to my APS and 9 out of 10 of them will be duds, but all it takes is that one good one. Also make sure everyone gets along, have fun with it, AP is a fun job if you make it a fun job, sometimes you just have to laugh at stuff sometimes, swear in the office when your pissed off and don't discipline your team for doing the same (within reason), Get them pizza, show them a funny youtube video you found, go to Applebees and have a beer and apps with them after inventory or big bust(i know that may break a few Target rules 😛fft🙂 if you have a team that likes their job and trusts you, they will drive for better results and back you up too when your scores are red and you ask them to get them green to get the APBP off your back.
Lastly it takes someone special to be an APS I have only seen one (our current aps) out of the 4 that have worked at our store since I have worked with target, get into the role and make stops frequently. The others could have been on someone that was stealing and when it was time to go home they already had their jacket on and walking out the door to go home. Most of the good AP team members I have seen, not just at my store, take it seriously, they basically throw out "work - life balance" We have a ton of punch corrections because we come in if anyone else needs help or another set of eyes or come in for an hour to watch an internal that always takes stuff before there shift and nobody is there at that time. Watching an internal overnight and can't be seen so I can't leave the office to go to the bathroom, that's what empty milk jug is for. (trust me its not just our store) But that's the kind of teams who get results, the people who pee in a milk jug not the ones who stare at in stocks reports all day long thinking it will save your inventory numbers. Reports can help narrow your focus and look for trends but you have to put all that into action. I see it a lot with APL's they are great at looking at reports and telling you what is getting stolen and what days and what times, but if that happens to be on one of their days off, they won't change their schedule to correlate with the theft trends, they will just keep filling out KTR's.
I read TCM cases all the time from other stores, they have 2+ AP people there, have all the steps covered, but just guest service them instead of making the stop. Why? Because Target has passed down this sense of fear, that you and your team will get fired for the smallest of errors, and they are watching everything you do, so no wonder why nobody wants to make stops anymore because its safer for there jobs to not make stops. If you want results you have to have their back when they do make errors, not telling you to let everything slide, but you better fight for them and make it the least severe punishment they could get. You don't want them to think they will get fired over a single NPI in a year, or not using the team position (which really never works out) will get them fired.
Sorry, half that probably doesn't even relate to your question, just got on a roll about AP. There are a few tips buried in there, take them or leave them.
