Archived GSTL Sick of the Goose Stepping

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Hey everyone!

I just wanted to ask if I am the only one who is sick and tired of being told how to talk, walk etc. etc. I hit the wall and am officially leaving right in the middle of 4th quarter. I am sick of "Target Lingo", LET ME USE MY OWN WAY OF TALKING TO AND MANAGING MY TEAM AND BUSINESS! I have grown to hate using terms such as "following up", "opportunity" and "demonstrating courage" along with many others. Moreover, I feel bad for new team leaders when I hear them talk like this, it just makes me embarrassed for them for some reason. My question is, am I wrong? Is making everyone a cookie cutter manager a good way to develop people? I don't think so, the only thing I've learned in 3 years is how to grind my teeth whenever I use these lame, stupid terms. I can't keep up the charade anymore.

Thoughts?
 
Target lingo is its own language. I'm in agreement w/ Jeremy1818.

In fact, I am so sick of the word "opportunity" that I can't even stand to use it in any conversation.
 
A few years ago, our store maintenance guy (Sorry I forget the acronym ... SFM? Whatever.) left his self-review up on the screen on one of the computers. This was one of his sentences: "I have demonstrated the ability to demonstrate courage." I laughed out loud. What a bunch of crap! I wish I would had printed it so that I could bring it out for chuckles when I feel down.
 
i've grown to block most of these out - but i will never get over "demonstrates courage". it has to be by far the stupidest phrase ever.
 
I pretty much ignore it all, which is why I will be where I am for the duration of my employment with Spot.
Oh well.
 
One "demonstrates courage" by facing an armed enemy charging at them with the intent of killing them; not by thinking "outside the box" when building an endcap.
One "demonstrates courage" by doing the right thing even when it comes at their own peril; not by telling their ETL something they want to hear.
 
One "demonstrates courage" by facing an armed enemy charging at them with the intent of killing them; not by thinking "outside the box" when building an endcap.
One "demonstrates courage" by doing the right thing even when it comes at their own peril; not by telling their ETL something they want to hear.

This! This this this!
 
We had an etl get on the walkie in response to someone getting a red card with the comment "That's awesome!". It took all my self control to not get on and say, "Didn't you mean 'amazing'?". However, this etl has no sense of humor and probably wouldn't have seen the humor in that:spiteful:.
 
So true. One of my pet peeves is verbal cliches. Although, I just realized "pet peeve" is itself a cliche. But not a Target cliche. I think one of the Team Leads at my store, who is universally loathed, has managed to evade termination for several years simply by overusing the word "leverage" in every sentence possible.

"Set up for success" is overused and meaningless.

Whenever we're not fully staffed someone at the huddle says we're a "small but mighty" team.

No one ever just uses a check lane. They "hop on a check lane."
 
So true. One of my pet peeves is verbal cliches. Although, I just realized "pet peeve" is itself a cliche. But not a Target cliche. I think one of the Team Leads at my store, who is universally loathed, has managed to evade termination for several years simply by overusing the word "leverage" in every sentence possible.

"Set up for success" is overused and meaningless.

Whenever we're not fully staffed someone at the huddle says we're a "small but mighty" team.

No one ever just uses a check lane. They "hop on a check lane."

I wish our store would re-learn the phrase "set up for success" because we're in a perpetual merry-go-round of complaining about the other TMs in our area because closing team often can't get the reshop done because no one's touching up during the day in part because they're doing returns (an projects) which means closing team will have to concentrate on the zone more making it near impossible to get most of the returns done...
 
Omg....the "hop on a lane" thing never occurred to me until now. I may just have to start literally hopping....because it's going to annoy me now every time I hear it.

You just gave me some ideas! At my store, it's either "hop" or "jump", so maybe we could literally jump onto the lanes. :D
 
I stopped going to huddles because I couldn't stop giggling when someone said we were short staffed or short handed last night.

Truth is, we have an unusual amount of vertically challenged team members. I didn't think it was right to keep calling them out publicly.

And the short handed stuff, that's just mean. What are we? Circus freaks?




j/k
 
The use of this type of lingo and buzzwords is endemic to the corporate world. It values conformity over ingenuity and individuality.
 
The "lingo" used outside of retail is legit. What do I mean by legit? Doctors using the term "Rigor mortis". Bankers using the term "collateralized default swaps". IT support using the terms "RAM, blue screen of death, compile, transcode, etc." All words unique to their jobs and employment. All words that *actually mean something* relevant to their job to communicate things that could not be otherwise (easily) communicated without their own lingo.

Target lingo is more of a "we are college grads and think you have the intelligence of a hamster, so let us fu** with you a little bit". Target words are designed to demean and lower people, and would not be tolerated in most other workplaces. I wasn't around when this "vibe" stuff was invented, but based on what I am hearing here.... I can't imagine this stuff flying elsewhere. I remember at my store we used to have a "ice breaker" at the huddle where a random TM had to do the chicken dance while an ETL played the freaking chicken dance song on their phone. That went on for a couple months, and guests would walk by laughing at the TM. Can you imagine a supervisor trying this with a group of construction workers, for example? Chances are they would straight up walk off the job or punch the supervisor in the face. Why? Construction workers usually have a "don't fu** with me" demeanor.

Target knows that they can get away with this stuff because most TMs have a demeanor of not standing up when they are disrespected at work. (it goes along with the "smile and take it" from the customer attitude that retail instills in people) I remember one morning I came into work and our overweight Sr TL (about 400 pounds, not kidding) who loved to fu** with people all the time came over to me resting against his cart and said in an extremely condescending voice "Hey, mind if I give you a list to do. <without waiting for an answer> here you go. Hey, try to do a swell job. That would be jusssttt swell. So, let me see if I have anything else for you. <6 second silence> Nah, I guess that will be it. You'll do just swell for me I know it." with a huge freaking grin on his face. The he sat there grinning for about 15 seconds in a patronizing manner before walking off. I was just thinking to myself "Dude, you have no idea how lucky you are that we aren't outside on the street because I would fu**ing drop you right now"

But that is what I am talking about. There is a lot of work place bullying in retail, and most retail employees are conditioned to take abuse from everyone - guests, leaders, anyone who walks in the damn store. Don't take it? You're fired.

Most careers outside of retail/food service don't tolerate that BS.... but Target operates under the premise that TMs are morons. That's why the registers have a little animation showing you how to scan an item.
 
And then I just sit there and take it, because I don't feel like I have any better options. Wow.
 
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