Archived New ETL Looking for Advice

[Adigator]

Recently I promoted to ETL and am now on the bench. While I've grown up with the company and experienced a lot of good and poor leadership in my past roles, I'm looking for thoughts on your experiences. What makes a great leader and what should I do to be one after getting assigned a role and store?

 

[pinkp2ie]

What position ETL are you out of curiosity?

 

[Poohdini]

Waiting is the fun part. I'm assuming you have been with Target since you say you are being promoted - correct me if I'm wrong. My experience was being sent to a store with great leadership. For the most part, you'll know you have a great leader as an EIT based on the reception from the store TMs. I have picked up on a lot of the tendencies of the people I believe to be great leaders.

I hate to say it but you will learn as you go. The good ones alway survive the first 6-8 weeks of training as an ETL. Once they throw you into the LOD shifts is when the real fun begins.

Qualities that make a great leader (for me):
- Lead by example: Don't just tell TM what to do. Follow up consistently, jump into the fray yourself, and always be visible and available.
- Take criticism
- Be Transparent
- Drive results!

Good luck. I'm sure you'll love it. You've been here long enough already it sounds like - might as well stick around!

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Welcome!
You maybe short staff, due to payroll cuts.
Forum favorite:
Before you sign your life away...

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

From another thread:
The job is not bad if you like retail and plan on making a career out of it. It's also not bad to have it on your resume for later employment opportunities. Several ETLs love it and some don't. I didn't like where the company was and where it was going. It went down hill since 2003 ( when I was a TM before college).

ETL didn't fit with my life style. I enjoy weekends off and eating dinner every night with my wife and kids. Also spending time coaching and watching local sports. As an overnight ETL-Log of a AA+ volume store I didn't have the work/life balance I needed. And their benefits weren't what we were used to.

Every store offers a different experience so take other ETLs' experiences with a grain of salt. If you're new to the company then your greatest resources are your TLs and TMs. Apply what they know with the garbage corporate teaches. You'll find that a best practice doesn't always mean best solution. Long term TMs and TLs know the business the best and can help you become a better leader.
Thanks mhugh220

 

[cobycord]

I hate to say it but you will learn as you go. The good ones alway survive the first 6-8 weeks of training as an ETL. Once they throw you into the LOD shifts is when the real fun begins.

Completely agree with that part lol. There was an EIT that came to my store for orientation and he thought my ETL-GE was just a TM because she's the youngest out of all the other ETLs (but it's her second store) and when she spoke to him she said he was kind of an asshole. She told my ETL-HR when he sent him to lunch so later on that day he introduced him to her and his face went pale because he knew he'd messed up lol. Long story short he went to his store to train and the second day he was there he left for lunch and when they called him to see if he was okay he said he quit because it just wasn't for him LOL

 

[Adigator]

These are great! Thank you for sharing. I'm promoting from Sr TL and wondering how the transition to ETL went for others and what you recommend watching for

 

[PassinTime]

Lead by example and don't be afraid to roll up your sleeves when your team, or any team, needs an extra set of hands. I always appreciated seeing my STL on the register or pulling a flat with a big screen tv for a guest when needed. Granted she had bigger responsibilities, I appreciated the gesture.

Also, be sure to introduce yourself to your new TMs. I had to ask my TL who the new person was that I kept seeing. No one thought to communicate that my old ETL was transferred to another store, and that we had a new one. Talk about being felt like you were unimportant and not part of a team.

 

[cobycord]

I've learned to stop in an area and work alongside the team for a few minutes. Even if it's just 5-15 min I think it's actually improved perception of me. there's ALOT I have to do but those few minutes leave a lasting impression.....plus if you do it by lazy TMs you get to ask the question of why you got finished on your towel aisle that looked like a bomb went off and they're still working on there's and it wasn't half as bad

 

[SASSYJJ]

Recently I promoted to ETL and am now on the bench. While I've grown up with the company and experienced a lot of good and poor leadership in my past roles, I'm looking for thoughts on your experiences. What makes a great leader and what should I do to be one after getting assigned a role and store?

Support your TLs. Trust their decisions because they know what they need. It's their area. I am a HL TL and I have zero support. Not only do I not have support from my ETL but my STL and DTL, the ones who supported me, are gone. They walked out. So now we have brand new ETLS running my store and they don't know about the company needs. Why? Because they sit in their office all day. Never hit the floor. So get your hands dirty. Stay up-to-date with your leaders.

 

[SrTLall]

I've learned the one thing, above all else, that makes life easier at Target is:

Develop your TLs to develop their TMs.

 

[KillerTL]

Please don't sit in the damn office all day. Help out somehow, someway. I don't give a damn if you just do a cart of reshop, push some clearance, zone an aisle. But the TLs are busting their asses and the ETLs take all the credit. It won't hurt you to help on the floor for a fucking hour. Your desk will still be there for the other 9 hours of your shift. Rant over. Sorry but I can't stand lazy ETLs

 

[ColonelAngus]

Qualities that make a great leader (for me):
- Lead by example: Don't just tell TM what to do. Follow up consistently, jump into the fray yourself, and always be visible and available.
- Take criticism
- Be Transparent
- Drive results!

I'd also add:

- have a positive attitude, even when you're falling behind.
- listen to your TM's and their concerns. TL's usually fulfill this role but not all TL's are created equal.
- avoid criticisms and bad mouthing anyone. never show anger, frustration or contempt to anyone. As Poohdini stated, lead by example.
- recognize hard work when you see it, but be careful not to place too much of a burden on your hardest workers.
- be respectful of everyone.

 

[Rock Lobster]

I would say...

- Look for the root cause to the problems you notice. If you have something that is going wrong in your area (missing Unload Goal Times for Log, missing REDcard goals for GE, missing TWT goals in HL etc), always look for the underlying reason this is an issue. Many ETLs think, "Oh, we are missing Unload Goal Times, so I am going to spend the next month pumping the team up".... but this isn't addressing the problem. There is likely something wrong with the line (amount of people, roles not defined on the line, bad custom blocking) that is causing the problem, and those need to be fixed. Don't be a band-aid, be the permanent solution.
- If you are telling someone to do something, always follow it with "because"... this makes it sound like you are teaching the team, not demanding them.
- Remember to think long-term over short-term. Don't make decisions on what is going to make YOUR life easier, make decisions on what is going to make the next ETL's life easier after you leave. That is how you know you are making the right decisions.

 

[Him]

Rock Lobster, I soooo wish you were an ETL at my store.. Instead of the current ones we have... Eehh

 

[SilentCrow]

Old post but still:

My favorite ETL left recently. I was on his LOD rotation and loved it. What I loved about him was the fact that he trusted and had confidence in his team. We meet up during the start of our shift, discuss the plan, and execute. Not too much micro managing frustrating TLs to do a 1000 things at once.

He knew we could handle 95% of the problems. Was always around to help out the TMs. As a GSTL he reacted when I needed him because he knew if I called him my options/resources have been exhausted. I wish other ETLs developed a relationship with their TLs and TMs so they can entrust them. My biggest pet peeve is ETLs who hide in the office being Charlie from Charlie's Angels. Only a voice on the walkie like come on.

My tip would be to know your TLs and empower them. I had ETLs who would barely say hi to TLs, don't be that guy.