Archived In closing...

[jedijenchan]

I would like to append a message that I posted here, but it's been locked. It's ok. no problem. This probably should be separate anyway.

Anyway, I wanted to say that I really did enjoy working with the people at my store. I kind of enjoyed my job, but the hours just were not kind to my health and well being.

Regrettably, I am leaving target on a sour note. An unexpected injury and illness had forced me to call in many days, and leave early a few days in between. I am feeling a bit better these past few days, and I will do my best to push myself these last few days to leave in a dignified manner.

I actually like my coworkers. I really like the ones I have met on this job. The majority of them are very nice.

You see, I didn't mind the job. What I didn't like was the snotty managers that felt that I should be talked to like a five year old and disrespected. they were all very young, and not very "life experienced" and seemed to feel that it was their chance to "boss around the adults". A few of them seemed to be on a power trip more than half of the time, and would not answer any questions. I was not the only one at the store to experience this treatment. I understand that they have to answer to someone else, and I answer to them. I completely respected them, but they seemed not to understand that I had no grasp of the way things worked, and expected too much.

My "zoning" was never good enough, and it seems they wanted to stick me in the areas that no one else wanted, or that were excessively difficult. On my first full day after training, I was assigned to an area that i was told was the most difficult in the store - it was an entire right side of a store. It contained such things as cards/party, home office, to kitchen and seasonal. I was chastised for not zoning fast enough. I was chastised for leaving "messy" isles. As soon as i would clean up an isle, it would be torn up by customers and their kids.

Then I was getting called for cashier backup every 30 minutes. It was busy. I was asked "what have you been doing for the past 4 hours". I told them. They did not like what I had to say. All they said in return was "fix isle LN".

I would really like to understand how one is expected to zone a section that big, while helping customers every 5 minutes(some took more than 20 minutes of my time looking for school supplies), while responding to backup for cashier, and getting different directions every 10 minutes, and then attending a "team huddle" for 20-30 minutes. It's humanly impossible.

At first, I took the fast paced environment challenge as positive - losing weight, getting in shape, etc, but it became such a psychical burden on me that I was almost unable to walk the next day regardless of what insoles I used in my shoes or how long I soaked my feet at night. It became so bad, that on my days off, I was unable to complete any of the tasks I needed to personally, and I was exhausted.

My thoughts are that they do not hire enough people, and overwork who they have. Yes, there is the occasion where someone calls in sick, but this store is not staffed sufficiently because we are "short staffed" every shift I am on. But they do not see this as a problem, and wonder why nothing gets done. I wonder if they stick all the "new people" in closing shifts, regardless of their availability. Does management ignore all schedule and availability details provided by the employees?

Granted, I think that a 4pm-12am shift is a bit much for a new person, but I'm not sure if it's normal. When I was hired I was told that I'd only get a maximum of 20-30 hours a week, but I am ending up with more close to 40. 7-8 hours shifts were unexpected, especially when they are closing shifts when I was told that shifts are no longer than 5-6 hours. I pray for the one woman I know that has to go home and care for a newborn child after a crazy hectic 7-8 hour shift. I don't know how she does it, but she should get an award. I know I could not.

I think from an employee perspective, this is bad management and they expect you to do the work of 3-4 people AT MINIMUM WAGE. Do they forget that we are getting paid minimum wage for working ourselves into exhaustion? We are not robots. We are human beings with limits. I have ended the shift every time exhausted and physically sick because I am pushed to such limits to attempt to please management. This is a psychically demanding job - you are on your feet for all of your shift not to mention, your lifting and bending all kinds of ways. I'm not sure that minimum wage is appropriate, but then again, I probably sound like a snob for saying that, being ignorant to the world of retail labor.

With all that being said, I think it may not be representative of Target as a whole. This was my experience, and I hope that someone somewhere would read this and re-evaluate their management procedures or training to include a focus on compassion and humanity.

Many of you have had different experiences, and some may have the same experience as I, but overall, the job was not bad, but the hours and management were. I do not find fault in Target as a whole, but isolate this to this location I worked at.

I will actually miss some of my coworkers and managers, and I wish them well. I wish everyone here much success, and hopefully better experiences than I have had.

Thank you to everyone here, you have my utmost respect and admiration for having this forum for folks to vent and inquire.

Thank You!

 

[commiecorvus]

Unfortunately what you saw is the state of retail as a whole.
Sure there are stores that handle it better, that have more mature bosses, that do a good job of training, who have a handle on scheduling, where labor is assigned appropriately but I'm willing to bet there isn't one that has all of those and not all at the same time.
Spot has fallen into some very bad habits and it's going to get worse before it gets better.
If it gets better.
There are companies that are breaking the mold but most of them are stuck in the rut that Wal-mart created and can't seem to dig their way out.

Good luck in your journey.

 

[buliSBI]

The worst sections at my store are Toys, HBA, seasonal, towels, Market, and cleaning supplies. Anything that was little or need precise zoning.

My favorites was home storage, sporting goods, and domestics/home goods (except picture frames). Large bulky items

 

[Super]

Good luck on your journeys

 

[Backroom81]

Sure there are stores that handle it better, that have more mature bosses, that do a good job of training, who have a handle on scheduling, where labor is assigned appropriately but I'm willing to bet there isn't one that has all of those and not all at the same time.

We have one ETL who is all of that and more. He is very experienced in almost every ETL position at Target and is also the type to roll up his sleeves and help get things done when needed. Because of that, he is actually looked down upon by the rest of the ETL staff at the store and has been prevented from moving up. Apparently, when the entire sales floor is helping the lanes and the CAF pulls are piling up, helping answer calls and pushing CAFs until the floor is off the lanes isn't delegating enough.

 

[glo]

Its amazing how much each store is different from eachother. Every single one of my ETLs, and even team leads, are awesome. They're very hands-on, understanding, and respectful. Hell, even our STL will take backup calls every so often. I guess I must've just lucked out.

Sorry it didn't work out for you. Good luck with your future endeavors!

 

[jedijenchan]

Thanks everyone! Best to you all!

 

[Backroom81]

Its amazing how much each store is different from eachother. Every single one of my ETLs, and even team leads, are awesome. They're very hands-on, understanding, and respectful. Hell, even our STL will take backup calls every so often. I guess I must've just lucked out.

There are generally 2 schools of thought when it comes to leadership:

1. The "hands on" style where the one in charge personally ensures things get done.
2. The "delegate everything" style that believes that the one in charge should only be supervising.

Both styles taken to the extreme are a bad thing. If a leader is too hands on, he's not trusting the lower level employees to do their jobs or at worst, interfering with our ability to do our jobs. Too much delegating (especially from lower level TLs and ETLs) and you run the risk of losing the respect of the team. I mentioned in another thread seeing an ETL call someone on the walkie to pick up a piece of dry trash on the floor. The nearest trash can was literally 15 feet away but he felt it was necessary to make someone stop what they were working on, walk halfway across grocery, and pick it up for him. I was glad that I was within earshot at the time as I just snatched it up while barely breaking pace.

There's a certain balance to S between the two. Leaders are responsible for making sure everything gets done and have to S a certain balance on delegating the tasks out and knowing when it's necessary to step in and help. The STL will be the one to set the example for everyone else at the store. I've seen both types go through and it is greatly reflected by the rest of the ETL staff.