Archived Is it weird? New TM thoughts

[Fishpin]

New team member here. Just started working for Target at August 29th. Scratch that I mean I had my orientation on the 29th and if we want to be technical, officially started doing some work at Target last weekend on the 18th of September. So far sounds good right? I would also agree if there wasn't, let's say, a glaring problem with my schedule.

Now let me ask you veterans employees out there. Is it weird that in the past three to four weeks that I have been employed at Target, is it weird that I have only worked for two days? Yes you heard it two days (but at different weeks so I gotta give props to them at that. At least they know how to be different that's for sure) I mean I'm not complaining about the lack of hours (due to the horror stories I've been reading about Target) but come on this is ridiculous, even for Target.

 

[Nauzhror]

Very weird. Our seasonal hires are working 3-4 days a week atm.

 

[Fishpin]

So I'm a seasonal hire huh? Wasn't told that during the interview but oh well I'm not surprised by that or any of this schedule shenanigans due to the stories I read about Target.
Fun fact about my employment: I told them during the interview that I was available to them 24/7 and pretty much admitted that I had nothing going on in my life, a blank state as you would say while others would say a perfect candidate for Target to mold into whatever the hell they want in a worker. Funny how they didn't take advantage of it. I'm surprised.

 

[mrknownothing]

So I'm a seasonal hire huh? Wasn't told that during the interview but oh well I'm not surprised by that or any of this schedule shenanigans due to the stories I read about Target.
Fun fact about my employment: I told them during the interview that I was available to them 24/7 and pretty much admitted that I had nothing going on in my life, a blank state as you would say while others would say a perfect candidate for Target to mold into whatever the hell they want in a worker. Funny how they didn't take advantage of it. I'm surprised.

I'm fairly certain they're supposed to give you a form to sign acknowledging that your employment is seasonal. If you didn't have to sign that form, you're most likely a regular hire.

 

[Fishpin]

Either way it's still weird how I only had two days to work these past two weeks. Anyway I have a another problem. Today was that second day I mentioned. Had to close(already?) 4pm-10pm. Literally got off at work a few hours ago.Worked in Electronics with another guy who was my trainer, met the TMs and leaders. It was a pretty nice day. Now where's the problem you'd say? Well at the end of the day I asked about how to look for your schedule and my trainer told me how. So I went into the breakroom and went to look at the schedule sheet on the wall. Okay let's see where's my name... nope not there, flips page... not there too... a couple of minutes later okay I'm not on the schedule sheet at all. So I decided then to look at next weeks schedule. A few, couple, okay a lot of page flipping before my name appeared however as all the other people have schedules WITH their positions and their hours on the piece of paper, all I have is on top of my name: UNSCHEDULED followed by AVAILABLE on all of the dates.
So does that mean I can just show up anytime because my first impressions made me seem like I'm just that much of a bad ass, that one exception? I'm joking really (not really) however I am concerned about what this means: does it mean that I truly will never know what my schedule will be because I have read that if you put your availability as open or always then you're not going to have a stable schedule. And also should I follow my orientation schedule or go talk to HR or my LOD the next day because let me tell you something about my orientation schedule for work next week. Guess! Yep another one day only.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Hours maybe reduce because of poor sales at your store. Most shifts for new hires at my store after training are from 4 to 16 hours a week.

 

[Fishpin]

But that's the thing those two days that I had ARE my training days which now that I think about it today while working at Target, I kinda felt like they thought I already did the whole training days already. They would assume I knew how to do certain things such as back stocking and pulling, using the walkie talkie to call for assistance or using it to answer someone and the trainer even gave me a phone to answer calls from guest which luckily I didn't have to do because boy would that had gone down terrible. I know this is part of the job and I accept all the responsibilities of a TM and my mistakes as I make them but I can't help but feel as though they have a extreme expectation of some sort of hybrid human being who could do these impossible tasks in a limited amount of time with no sweat or problem, even if its your second day working for Target, first day working in sales floor because technically it was.

 

[Producer]

My guess is that you weren't keyed into the proper workcenter, so when they make the schedule, they take you out of the workcenter that you populated in, but they don't insert you into your proper department because it's already set. It's happened in my store. It's a simple fix if that's truly the case.

It sounds like your HR dropped the ball with you, which doesn't surprise me since you just found out today how to view your schedule (something they should have told you during orientation). It also sounds like you haven't brought it up to anybody yet, which if you're really serious about getting hours, you need to do asap. HardlinesMaster is right that as a new team member, you'll be lower on the pecking order when it comes to hours, but Target cannot give you zero hours a week. Even if payroll was tight, you'd still get at least 4-8 hours a week. Talk to an Exec, Team Lead, or Human Resources Team Member. At very least, you deserve an answer as to what happened. And then come back and update us please.

 

[Noiinteam]

At my store new hires are only put on schedule for 2 maybe 3 days for about 2 weeks. My ETL says it is a training schedule. It sucks. We are down 8 tm's on flow. Obviously we need the people or they wouldn't have been hired. Give them the god damn hrs. That's target for ya.

 

[tgtguy]

I would talk to your etl, or e h r about it . I am sure its a Mytime glitch.

 

[jozk]

I worked a shift the same day as orientation, and the next day and the next... I also started with 24/7 availability. I am all-store trained (which from what I've heard is rare & also the best way to get hours) I try to pick up shifts off the board when I can (sometimes out of courtesy for my team members because I figure if they see I am willing to cover for them, they will help me out when needed -"You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours") I went from a high vol store to what seems to be low vol, but still get around 35-38 hrs a week. I would definitely suggest bringing it up as frequently and to as many front office people as possible-- the squeaky wheel gets the grease!

 

[eleuthreophile]

TMs at my store usually get 3-4 shifts a week during training, usually 4-5 hours each. Two shifts in two whole weeks is really weird. Definitely talk to your HR asap.

 

[SFTOnThree]

I'm a little surprised, but Welcome to the Break Room.

 

[PinkZinnia]

Yes, you need to talk to tsc (team service center). have you done your online training? Hazardous materials? Other work related training? Cashier training so you can be a backup cashier? It all has to be done in a certain time frame. In my store, tsc will nag you and your trainer like crazy until its all done.. Also ask them at tsc about your hours..
When it says available on the schedule, that means that they can call you if they need help and that it isn't a scheduled day off.
Your lack of hours could be a glitch in mytime which is the scheduling program most target stores use to generate a schedule.. Just ask them if its normal for you to only be working one day, or whatever it is that they scheduled you for..

 

[PinkZinnia]

I worked a shift the same day as orientation, and the next day and the next... I also started with 24/7 availability. I am all-store trained (which from what I've heard is rare & also the best way to get hours) I try to pick up shifts off the board when I can (sometimes out of courtesy for my team members because I figure if they see I am willing to cover for them, they will help me out when needed -"You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours") I went from a high vol store to what seems to be low vol, but still get around 35-38 hrs a week. I would definitely suggest bringing it up as frequently and to as many front office people as possible-- the squeaky wheel gets the grease!

Don't always count on the - you scratch my back and I'll scratch your back theory. When it comes time for you need a shift filled, many might be working the same shift or many might have the day off and don't want to work. There will more often be times when you will have to call out because no one picked up your shift.
It's a very - think only of yourself place to work..unless of course it's during the time of year when they aren't giving out many hours, then people will be asking you if you want to give up a shift..,they are usually the people who are never willing to switch with you when you need it for something important..
You will learn who those people are...you will also learn who the people are who pick up your shift on the board, and then they call out anyway, leaving the store scrambling to find someone to cover that shift..

 

[commiecorvus]

Welcome to The Break Room.

Yeah, I'm a little surprised.
It sounds like they are having a rough time getting enough training hours in.
Not your fault but it sucks all the way round.

 

[CleanMyBackRoOm]

I would say maybe they're just trying to break you in slowly. Sometimes more ETL's find it easier to get people trained and groomed easier when they aren't just flooded with all the information that you're going to have to retain working at target. If you're working on the sales floor you're going to get a lot expected from you at some point. There's a lot to learn with the PDA alone for a new member. I would just take it one week at a time and if you seem to be getting everything just let them know that you're available for more hours. Also getting trained in other areas makes you a more viable option over another team member. Being cross trained in several locations can greatly increase the amount of hours you're given.

 

[jozk]

I worked a shift the same day as orientation, and the next day and the next... I also started with 24/7 availability. I am all-store trained (which from what I've heard is rare & also the best way to get hours) I try to pick up shifts off the board when I can (sometimes out of courtesy for my team members because I figure if they see I am willing to cover for them, they will help me out when needed -"You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours") I went from a high vol store to what seems to be low vol, but still get around 35-38 hrs a week. I would definitely suggest bringing it up as frequently and to as many front office people as possible-- the squeaky wheel gets the grease!

Don't always count on the - you scratch my back and I'll scratch your back theory. When it comes time for you need a shift filled, many might be working the same shift or many might have the day off and don't want to work. There will more often be times when you will have to call out because no one picked up your shift.
It's a very - think only of yourself place to work..unless of course it's during the time of year when they aren't giving out many hours, then people will be asking you if you want to give up a shift..,they are usually the people who are never willing to switch with you when you need it for something important..
You will learn who those people are...you will also learn who the people are who pick up your shift on the board, and then they call out anyway, leaving the store scrambling to find someone to cover that shift..

Yeah I have been lucky with a great team I guess because in 2 different stores I have never had a problem getting hours or getting people to trade/fill in shifts... I guess it all depends on where you are and what the "culture" of your store is! But it has definitely been my experience that people are willing to help you out if you are willing to return the favor!

 

[whippingboy]

Your post sounded quite familiar... for a second I thought you may have been a new hire in my department (but electronics! nope) - we have a new hire who has experienced the exact same thing. My ETL told me to "take a vacation day" and give it to him, that was her solution. Really Target? You are going to give someone eight hours for a week, have them skip a week on the schedule, THEN schedule them? This isn't the way Target used to work.

My solution is to call in every day, first thing and have your name put on the operator's callback list. Hopefully they will call you to fill someone else's shift. Don't take it personally - you couldn't have wowed them any more, it wouldn't fix what is already broken.

As far as nagging the trainers until the Learning Plans are submitted.. I had a new hire in my department for nine weeks. I saw him for four hours. That isn't enough time to complete all of his training. No one nagged me, and no one scheduled me to train with him to complete it. He was well past his ninety days before it was completed.