If you could restructure the target process...

[tdude2020]

How would you do it?

I thought this would be a fun thread to take part in with a lot of the recent changes happening at the store level.

I think a thread like this was started ten years ago, but if you could alter anything about how target operates its business, specifically at the store level dealing with anything from staffing/scheduling to leadership or replenishment, what would you change and why?

For me, right off the bat, I would double our staffing efforts for the floor and change some leadership positions around.

 

[StyleMaven1]

All truck push needs to go back to overnights, period. It's a huge guest disruption and if we're supposed to be focused in guests, this is the way. I'll bite and still keep price change, replenishment etc as part of modernization dbo routines. In Style, I'd honestly be fine with how we used to have truck team not push new sets of product and just save them for us during the day so they were placed correctly.

 

[commiecorvus]

Return to teams, maybe not completely but allow people to become masters of certain areas, to play to their strengths and not be dinged for their weaknesses.
As the psychist Amos E. Dolbear pointed out, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
Allow people who are not good at interacting with people to run the backroom, stuff like that.
I think this would also make it possible to hire more people with disabilities but that's just my bias.

 

[PackAndCry]

Bring back Instocks! The floor has never been as full as when we had instocks TMs.

 

[Captain Orca]

4am unload. Ad Set Sunday mornings. staying on top of the cardboard-bales so it doesn't look like a dump in the back. Keeping some of the flow folks over if they wish to push the dry grocery and P fresh. Free P-B & J daily in the break room. Stop saying CIHYFS

 

[balthrop]

Return to teams, maybe not completely but allow people to become masters of certain areas, to play to their strengths and not be dinged for their weaknesses.
As the psychist Amos E. Dolbear pointed out, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
Allow people who are not good at interacting with people to run the backroom, stuff like that.
I think this would also make it possible to hire more people with disabilities but that's just my bias.

requesting a reaction emoji stronger that little heart eyed guy I just used 'cos not gonna lie fam this hit me in the feels.

just literally go back to the way it was before Store Modernization. maybe keep some of that silly salesfloor stuff but as for anything dealign with logistics straight back to the way it was. instocks, closed backroom, Plano team the whole lot.

That and I just want to stop pulling onto those dumb U-boat things, I kinda miss those tubs, especially the ones with the tray and yeah the regular ones to. oaky I do miss pulling into tubs

 

[Alexbegt]

requesting a reaction emoji stronger that little heart eyed guy I just used 'cos not gonna lie fam this hit me in the feels.

just literally go back to the way it was before Store Modernization. maybe keep some of that silly salesfloor stuff but as for anything dealign with logistics straight back to the way it was. instocks, closed backroom, Plano team the whole lot.

That and I just want to stop pulling onto those dumb U-boat things, I kinda miss those tubs, especially the ones with the tray and yeah the regular ones to. oaky I do miss pulling into tubs

I miss tubs when we are doing transitions, they are the best shelf movers....

 

[DBZ]

If target wants us to receive two trucks, target needs to give us the hours to deal with the freight that comes off of it. People also need time to rehop and zone during their shift.

 

[MIRSlave]

I would somewhat return to pre modernization. Keep DBOs during the day to do pricing, salesplanners and instocks. Return inbound to an overnight/4am process. Resurrect the pog team. Give tech one or two TMs that do nothing but push truck during BTC/4th Q. Tell prospective HR ETLs that the job is not a desk job.

Those are the things I would do off the top of my head.

 

[tdude2020]

requesting a reaction emoji stronger that little heart eyed guy I just used 'cos not gonna lie fam this hit me in the feels.

just literally go back to the way it was before Store Modernization. maybe keep some of that silly salesfloor stuff but as for anything dealign with logistics straight back to the way it was. instocks, closed backroom, Plano team the whole lot.

That and I just want to stop pulling onto those dumb U-boat things, I kinda miss those tubs, especially the ones with the tray and yeah the regular ones to. oaky I do miss pulling into tubs

All of the stores in my district still have tubs and a bunch of them too. We also still have a small stash of those clips used to brand U-boats. My store is modernized and got the remodel as well.

 

[IWishIKnew]

Either go back to the more optimized, specialized processes or give more hours.

Modernization requires more hours--for GM, at least. It's far more efficient to have one or two people on working exclusively backroom tasks and GM on the floor than it is to have GM trying to do all the backroom & floor tasks & serve guests & back up the lanes and all of that.

My store has been back to overnights for almost a year for inbound, and I don't know what it is about it, whether it's hours or staff or process or what, but man, do they suck. We did better with 4am starts, but that was before the 20% bump in sales and all the craziness that has come with the pandemic. If it's easier to find people willing to show up consistently at 4am, let's do that, but it seems like overnight should be better but it's not turning out that way. I don't work overnights so I don't know what's going on but it's just not good.

 

[RunForACallBox]

Mine is so fantasy it probably wouldn’t work. I’ll return here later today.

 

[StyleStar]

4am unload. Ad Set Sunday mornings. staying on top of the cardboard-bales so it doesn't look like a dump in the back. Keeping some of the flow folks over if they wish to push the dry grocery and P fresh. Free P-B & J daily in the break room. Stop saying CIHYFS

My store has 4M unload, sunday ad team, and my inbound team almost always works 6-8 hours to help push. PB &J is tough right now due to covid, but my stores hr puts individually wrapped food fairly often. We make bales when its full....

 

[Not My Name]

All truck push needs to go back to overnights, period. It's a huge guest disruption and if we're supposed to be focused in guests, this is the way. I'll bite and still keep price change, replenishment etc as part of modernization dbo routines. In Style, I'd honestly be fine with how we used to have truck team not push new sets of product and just save them for us during the day so they were placed correctly.

You're correct in terms of what is right for guest experience and operations and long term profitability but it isn't going to happen. And it's not going to happen because of the $15 / min wage at Target. While it was already trending in this direction, that announcement 6 years ago or however long ago was the final nail in the coffin, so to speak. I laughed at the people that thought that announcement was good for them, and I still do. lol. How'd that work out for everyone? I laugh at the people that think that a $15 minimum wage nationally would be good for everyone... but I digress.

The company isn't going to accept lesser profits in the short term. Most publicly traded companies do not think with long term profitability in mind once the founder dies off or retires/steps away. Occasionally you'll get lucky and get a CEO like Bob Ulrich or something, but that's an anomaly to say the least. Most of the time the new CEO either doesn't understand what made a company successful... or more to the point... doesn't care. There is no emotional investment in the long term success of the company. It's just a "I'm going to get mine now before the ship sinks" mentality, nothing more.

Having flow team members around during the day to bear the burden of guest service reduces their overall payroll while being able to keep the wheels of this ride from falling off, even if the stores look infinitely shittier in the process.

The unfortunate part of this because the stores now look infinitely shittier, the brand suffers tremendously and undermines what differentiated a company from its competitors. It takes many decades in most cases when you're dealing with companies this big, but this is just Target furthering itself along in going out of business. Make no mistake, it may take another 15 or 30 years, but Target is in the process of going out of business. Their business model is largely the same as Wal-Mart's and trending further in that direction with each passing year. The biggest thing separating them now is the stigma... and the fact that Target does have nicer clothing. Once those things go... boom.

 

[60SecondsRemaining]

Strip control of the process at a top level.

ASANTS. ASANTS. ASANTS. ASANTS.

We say it 1000 times a day here. Each store is unique in the team it has, the guests it sees, etc. Give the stores the ability to self-manage.

Is when or how you unload and stock a truck relevant as long as it's done within the parameters of payroll and accuracy? This can be said for every process in the store. Inevitably strong leaders are handicapped and true innovation is stifled with the desire to be "Brand".

Shoppers don't care if you're wearing red and khaki, they don't give a shit about redcards, or if you have a salesplanner on G1 instead of G7. They care if your shelves are empty, they care if they have to wait too long in line, they care if what they need isn't there. Fuck the brand.

 

[Not My Name]

Strip control of the process at a top level.

ASANTS. ASANTS. ASANTS. ASANTS.

We say it 1000 times a day here. Each store is unique in the team it has, the guests it sees, etc. Give the stores the ability to self-manage.

Is when or how you unload and stock a truck relevant as long as it's done within the parameters of payroll and accuracy? This can be said for every process in the store. Inevitably strong leaders are handicapped and true innovation is stifled with the desire to be "Brand".

Shoppers don't care if you're wearing red and khaki, they don't give a shit about redcards, or if you have a salesplanner on G1 instead of G7. They care if your shelves are empty, they care if they have to wait too long in line, they care if what they need isn't there. Fuck the brand.

ASANTS, totally true.

However, there are certain things that run true for all stores... say for instance.... it's optimal to have the truck process wrapped up by the time 8 am comes. Missed potential sales that are still sitting in vehicles. So in that sense, they are all the same. Trucks should all be done 100% overnight, in a theoretical sense, for optimal efficiency and sales. Just saying, but yeah I do agree ASANTS.

Now it could be that there's some sort of equilibrium where you running an overnight is actually less profitable and makes your brand and sales worse ultimately because of team member turnover, but now I'm really getting into the weeds, haha.

 

[60SecondsRemaining]

ASANTS, totally true.

However, there are certain things that run true for all stores... say for instance.... it's optimal to have the truck process wrapped up by the time 8 am comes. Missed potential sales that are still sitting in vehicles. So in that sense, they are all the same. Trucks should all be done 100% overnight, in a theoretical sense, for optimal efficiency and sales. Just saying, but yeah I do agree ASANTS.

Now it could be that there's some sort of equilibrium where you running an overnight is actually less profitable and makes your brand and sales worse ultimately because of team member turnover, but now I'm really getting into the weeds, haha.

This is not necessarily always true.

The smaller the store the more cost-effective it is to have the truck processed during the day, because you are able to share payroll by having your flow team handle required coverage during the slow morning hours. That being said, the dayside model is only manageable if it's smaller, just-in-time trucks sent on a more frequent basis (think 5 900 piece trucks instead of a 3000 and a 1500). You can process a 900 piece truck almost entirely into two-tiers and u-boats which are far less customer intrusive than flats and pallets.

I do agree that any B volume store and up should just be processing trucks overnight. They should also be setting pogs overnight too.

 

[Dream Baby]

1) Push all truck to the floor by 2:00 PM THE DAY IT COMES IN.

For example our store gets upset when we have an INF for an OPU. That item is usually buried in repack box or grocery pallet that won't be touched until after 4:00 PM. This is especially true in the grocery.

2) SFS is inefficient because you are shipping an item twice. You need to have the DC setup setup to do this though I realize this is a major undertaking.

3) In regards to ETLs do two things. Give the CURRENT TLs an inducement to become one. Don't hire 22 year olds with no retail experience as one just because they have a college degree and the did an internship with Target.

 

[SigningLady]

I miss tubs when we are doing transitions, they are the best shelf movers....

Moving 22 shelves in one go is WAY more efficient than the 11 trips I make to fixture room now!

 

[Tarshitsucks]

Make it so they don't take insurance and full time hours. So many people would not quit Tarshit if they would just stop doing that. People do not want to do more for less.

 

[Spotter]

You're correct in terms of what is right for guest experience and operations and long term profitability but it isn't going to happen. And it's not going to happen because of the $15 / min wage at Target. While it was already trending in this direction, that announcement 6 years ago or however long ago was the final nail in the coffin, so to speak. I laughed at the people that thought that announcement was good for them, and I still do. lol. How'd that work out for everyone? I laugh at the people that think that a $15 minimum wage nationally would be good for everyone... but I digress.

The company isn't going to accept lesser profits in the short term. Most publicly traded companies do not think with long term profitability in mind once the founder dies off or retires/steps away. Occasionally you'll get lucky and get a CEO like Bob Ulrich or something, but that's an anomaly to say the least. Most of the time the new CEO either doesn't understand what made a company successful... or more to the point... doesn't care. There is no emotional investment in the long term success of the company. It's just a "I'm going to get mine now before the ship sinks" mentality, nothing more.

Having flow team members around during the day to bear the burden of guest service reduces their overall payroll while being able to keep the wheels of this ride from falling off, even if the stores look infinitely shittier in the process.

The unfortunate part of this because the stores now look infinitely shittier, the brand suffers tremendously and undermines what differentiated a company from its competitors. It takes many decades in most cases when you're dealing with companies this big, but this is just Target furthering itself along in going out of business. Make no mistake, it may take another 15 or 30 years, but Target is in the process of going out of business. Their business model is largely the same as Wal-Mart's and trending further in that direction with each passing year. The biggest thing separating them now is the stigma... and the fact that Target does have nicer clothing. Once those things go... boom.

Isn’t Brian Cornell 63? That means we have at least another 2 yrs with him being CEO. That’s what happened to Ulrich. At 65 he had to retire. Then we will get another CEO that will come in and change everything all over again. It’s a never ending cycle.

 

[SweatyMess]

Modernization may work or work better if we were able to follow the actual instructions. Each DBO works no less than 7 hour shifts. This gives them time to do zone, SP, p/c all the extra stuff that the TLs are drowning in. Right now we have probably 3 less DBOs than we suppose to because we've combined areas together and ZERO ppl have 7 or 8 hour shifts. Even the DBOs that unload only have 6 or 7 hour shift so they only have 4 or 5 hours in their areas. I never understood, why roll something out that is so heavily focused on hours being given in the right areas to be able to succeed then never actually give the hours. If we couldn't afford to allocate these hours, never shoukd have rolled it out.

 

[happygoth]

Yep, hours are the main issue, and people to fill them. We are a mess right now because coverage in Style is a joke, and half the time at least one TM calls out on top of that. We are getting 4-5 hour shifts, and often single-person coverage during the day. Three TMs closing but almost a guarantee at least one calls out.

 

[happygoth]

Return to teams, maybe not completely but allow people to become masters of certain areas, to play to their strengths and not be dinged for their weaknesses.
As the psychist Amos E. Dolbear pointed out, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
Allow people who are not good at interacting with people to run the backroom, stuff like that.
I think this would also make it possible to hire more people with disabilities but that's just my bias.

I hear what you're saying. But a lot of times it's not that the person can't do multiple tasks, it's that they don't have the time.

I've been in retail for many years, and I know how to do it all (mostly, lol). Merchandising, pricing, adset, pulling, backstocking...easy peasy - processing reshop, pushing reshop, zoning, no problem...but I am not getting all or even half of that done in 20 hours a week. Zoning and reshop are constant tasks so they are going to take up a good portion of one's day. Pricing can get done in one day, if that's all you have to focus on. Pushing truck is 3-4 times a week. Setting the floor pads, filling, moving merchandise around, all take time.

When Modernization first hit we were supposed to have a primary DBO in the main areas of Style and ideally a backup on the days the DBO wasn't there. Some midshifts to keep the floor right until the closers came in, 7-8 hour shifts for the main DBOs. That all fell by the wayside - there are no DBOs, no hours, unreliable TMs, slow TMs, too many calls for backup, and it all shows.

 

[seasonaldude]

Create a more proactive guided audit process and a specialized team to do it. If a store hasn't sold an item or 90 days, that should trigger an audit that needs to be done within a week. Once those are cleared out, go for items that haven't sold in 60 days. Then, onto items that haven't sold in 30 days. You could at that point even go to two weeks for essentials and market.

After that the 30 days audits should be done every week. There will need to be a specialized team to do this. Give ownership of them to the new dedicated fulfillment TL because this process is what you need to really make fulfillment work as wanted.

This would take a task away from DBOs that they rarely get to anyway while at the same time making fulfillment more productive. Guests would be more satisfied with fewer INFs so NPS scores would also be better.