Archived How do I move on bottom performers???

[Sbux babe]

I was recently promoted to GSTL. Our ETL-GE has said we must move out our bottom performers so we can increas our percent amazed score and our conversion. I know the key is coaching and being consistent. My question is how many coachings will it take to move those bottom performers out? I feel somewhat overwhelmed at the fact we probably need an entirely new pool of cashiers.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Questions to asked. Watch them & observe them. Are they trained correctly, retrain them if not.
On coachings:
1. Verbal
2. Corrective action
3. Final warning

 

[commiecorvus]

I think Hardlinesmaster has the best idea.
Watch thek, try to get an idea why they aren't able to meet the metrics before you summarily shove them out the door.
Do they need to be trained, so many people get a half hour than are expected to pick it up on their own.
How many of them come here for the information because they can't get it at work.

You might have TMs who are having personal problems and need support or might not be a good match for the position at all.
Why loose a good employee if you can move them?

Most of all you need to be aware of the atmosphere of the front end.
Does everyone seem defeated?
You might need to do a major change in the tone of the department before you can hope to get any results.

 

[Mhugh220]

I think Hardlinesmaster has the best idea.
Watch thek, try to get an idea why they aren't able to meet the metrics before you summarily shove them out the door.
Do they need to be trained, so many people get a half hour than are expected to pick it up on their own.
How many of them come here for the information because they can't get it at work.

You might have TMs who are having personal problems and need support or might not be a good match for the position at all.
Why loose a good employee if you can move them?

Most of all you need to be aware of the atmosphere of the front end.
Does everyone seem defeated?
You might need to do a major change in the tone of the department before you can hope to get any results.

Couldn't agree more! Training, Training, Training! Observe the culture of the team-is their current performance status quo? is there energy? Leaders lead by example?

Get personal with the bottom performers. Dive into why they aren't performing well. Some can be turned around while others just suck. Or as Commiecorvus said, maybe they would be better at another position. It may seem simple to just fire and hire but if the problem isn't the TM then hiring won't make a difference.

Recommendations - Fair and Consistent across the board - from seasoned TMs to newbies. Set expectations, follow through, and hold TMs accountable.

Seek to Understand (informal) -> Coach -> Coach -> Coach ->Corrective Action -> Coach ->Coach->Coach -> Final Warning -> Fired!

This is coming from an ETL who loved terming shitty TMs but preferred to improve their performance or put them in a better suited position.

 

[Sbux babe]

Thanks for the advice everyone! Good call out on the training piece, I really feel that we need to watch what training they are getting. I know we have a cashier who is a great team member, and does anything asked of him, but doesn't really engage with the guests because he is just a shy guy. Maybe we could look Into moving him to another workcenter.
Thanks again guys!

 

[APredux]

Time for a name change to GSTL babe?

 

[copycopy]

The new GE and I started right about the same time. The existing team was pretty defeated. The TMs who were seen add the bottom performers when we started are now the new team trainers. With encouragement and fun in the front end, you never know who is going to step up. Try to keep them informed and engaged through one minute huddles. I start conversations with them on a personal level, then tell them what they are doing right, move on to where they need to improve and see what the obstacles are. If I get replies like " I just don't care about conversion" or "I don't want to work." I am happy to promote them to guests.
The most important thing is to keep good energy in the front end. Upbeat, positive, and fun. The guests will notice it and it will be a better atmosphere to work in.

 

[redandkhaki]

training is definitely the key to turning bottom performers around. If you have a cashier struggling with conversion find out why. Observe them, give them tips if they're asking but not explaining the benefits real well, set them up to watch another team member who is good with conversion. Are they negative? Build energy and be a positive force. HAVE FUN. Engage your cashiers, get to know them personally. HAVE FUN. Have cashier huddles to engage your team, give them feedback, let them know what's going on in the store, make them feel part of the team, find out who would be better suited in another position and partner with that TL to see if you can get them trained over there.
I once had a cashier who was just terrible with asking people for redcards. She would try so hard but just wasn't good at it. They wanted me to start coaching her out the door and i thought that was crazy because she was such a great team member besides that. We talked and ended up moving her to the different dept and she is now the top performer over there. There is no reason to get rid of good team members if they would be great in a different dept.

 

[Sbux babe]

Thank you everyone! I have a meeting with our GE tomorrow; I have some fun ideas to motivate our cashier team that I'm going to put in motion.

 

[tellmeaboutatime]

To motivate the cashier team,cashiers need to know what an important part of the service piece they are. Its so odd to me that we drone on and on at huddles about service scores while the team that can really impact this is basically ignored. A guest can come in, find exactly what they are looking for have a great shopping experience then get to the lanes and have a less than happy cashier who is talking to someone else. That person is going to have the impression that this Target sucks. On the reverse end, a guest comes in can't find what they are looking for, haven't interacted with anyone then the cashier engages them in conversation and is able to help them by asking a GSTL if we carry XYZ. That guest is going to say this Target is amazing, Cashiers are the last people to interact with a guest and they are able to really impact the guests perception. If we would let the cashiers know how important they are maybe some of them would really put some effort in. Also the leaders need to know they MUST let cashiers know they are valued. Blowing smoke up the teams ass over the walkie means nothing because as we all know cashiers don't hear the walkie because they don't carry them. If you feel the job you are doing is not important you will treat it as such. It really ticks me off when I hear someone say "well she could be a cashier I guess" Set your standards high! Ranting about scores will do nothing except tune out your audience. Let them know the whys. Cashiers should know how much more a guest will spend when they are using a Target Card or Target Debit. They should know what the conversion score is and how they are doing. Be careful when heaping praises on that one team member who seems to carry the team with conversion (all stores have that person!) When other cashiers hear this they will feel that they can't compete so why try? Call another store in you district and set up a friendly competition. Start with training, if your trainer has a poor conversion rate that is a big part of the problem. Lastly during the interview process make sure the applicant knows that promoting the Target Debit/Card is an expectation.

 

[BullseyeBabe]

To motivate the cashier team,cashiers need to know what an important part of the service piece they are. Its so odd to me that we drone on and on at huddles about service scores while the team that can really impact this is basically ignored. A guest can come in, find exactly what they are looking for have a great shopping experience then get to the lanes and have a less than happy cashier who is talking to someone else. That person is going to have the impression that this Target sucks. On the reverse end, a guest comes in can't find what they are looking for, haven't interacted with anyone then the cashier engages them in conversation and is able to help them by asking a GSTL if we carry XYZ. That guest is going to say this Target is amazing, Cashiers are the last people to interact with a guest and they are able to really impact the guests perception. If we would let the cashiers know how important they are maybe some of them would really put some effort in. Also the leaders need to know they MUST let cashiers know they are valued. Blowing smoke up the teams ass over the walkie means nothing because as we all know cashiers don't hear the walkie because they don't carry them. If you feel the job you are doing is not important you will treat it as such. It really ticks me off when I hear someone say "well she could be a cashier I guess" Set your standards high! Ranting about scores will do nothing except tune out your audience. Let them know the whys. Cashiers should know how much more a guest will spend when they are using a Target Card or Target Debit. They should know what the conversion score is and how they are doing. Be careful when heaping praises on that one team member who seems to carry the team with conversion (all stores have that person!) When other cashiers hear this they will feel that they can't compete so why try? Call another store in you district and set up a friendly competition. Start with training, if your trainer has a poor conversion rate that is a big part of the problem. Lastly during the interview process make sure the applicant knows that promoting the Target Debit/Card is an expectation.

I love every word of this!!! To reinforce what is said here please read the "cashier breaks" thread. It will give you a good read on how cashiers are treated. They are important team members and need to be treated as such!

 

[commiecorvus]

@tellmeaboutatime
I don't know if it's the system your using, I know I have a terrible time formating with a tablet, but you wrote an amazing piece and I'm afraid people won't read it.

Some breaks and sentence blocks make the process less tl;dr.
I don't usually make comments like this but your post is one well worth reading and folks who skip it are missing something.

 

[Sbux babe]

I have called each of my cashiers in to the office just to chat with them on a one on one. I've let them know that I am passionate about our guests and want to help them be amazing at their jobs. I have talked to them about why we care so much about that RedCard and how their job truly impacts the store as a whole. I do know that once I started having these conversations with the team, we started seeing an increase in our conversion. (Now we've heard our district conversion goal is going to 3.5%. Kill me now!!!)

 

[mrknownothing]

I have called each of my cashiers in to the office just to chat with them on a one on one. I've let them know that I am passionate about our guests and want to help them be amazing at their jobs. I have talked to them about why we care so much about that RedCard and how their job truly impacts the store as a whole. I do know that once I started having these conversations with the team, we started seeing an increase in our conversion. (Now we've heard our district conversion goal is going to 3.5%. Kill me now!!!)

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what a Red Card coaching should be, not that "MORE. RED CARDS. NOW." crap.

 

[Jill of All Trades]

I have two cashiers who I'm trying to motivate on red cards. They're both SUPER sweet and friendly and chatty with guests, both of them have high survey scores, and both of them have lousy conversion. I've said some variation of "Hey, you have awesome conversations with guests! Can you incorporate red cards into those conversations?" about a dozen times. The problem seems to be that both of them see red cards as a "conversation killer" and feel bad asking the guest for things. Neither is remotely willing to go past the first "no, thanks." How do I help them see that they can be more informative with the guest without ruining rapport or being rude? I know how _I_ do it, but my approach won't necessarily work for them. Ideas?

 

[Sbux babe]

When I see that with my cashiers, I call them aside and tell them that instead of seeing the Redcard as a conversation killer, it can be used as a catalyst for conversation. For example, guest purchasing diapers and formula: hi how are you today? How old is your baby? Really a six month old? Are you saving 5% everytime you shop with us? (Guest says no thank you). Well just so you know you can also save online and receive free shipping. There's some really good deals that are online only. That really comes in handy when holiday shopping with a little one! We also have the debit option if you just don't want credit and you will still get all the benefits if the Redcard." This way it's more about engaging the guest in conversation that is relevant to them and you're using the benefits to sell the Redcard. I also tell my cashiers it's important that we educate and engage the guests then we can sell. When they get comfortable making it personal and making it more of a conversation starter they will start getting more results