Hello, I have just accepted a ETL position. I will be starting target business college in two weeks and wondering if anyone can share insights into what to expect there and the company as a whole. Background on me, I do not have a degree but I have been in retail for 15 years and the past 10 in management positions. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Archived New ETL
- Thread starter AngelGS
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Welcome!
A forum favorite:
http://www.thebreakroom.org/index.php?threads/before-you-sign-your-life-away.171/
We have several thread in this forum. Just search under "etl" in the title.
A forum favorite:
http://www.thebreakroom.org/index.php?threads/before-you-sign-your-life-away.171/
We have several thread in this forum. Just search under "etl" in the title.
I hope its not that bad. So far the STL and DTL were very on the ball. The store has always been in good shape when I shopped there and the staff was always top notch and I just hope management is as well.
Thanks for the heads up. I had read that thread and sympathize but the hours for salary managers in retail usually are very taxing. I am used to this because I have been at a similar schedule for the past 5 years but alternating weekends off is something that I never had the luxury of. I know the volume will outpace my previous jobs but salaried managers always needed to work at least 1 weekend day and days off were scheduled apart. My biggest fear is management style. The manager who I have learned the most from was on the floor as much as possible. Always visible. I hated when people were hidden away in the office and have made sure to not pick up that trait.
The whole reason I am leaving my current company is because my DM there felt I did not delegate enough although all my office work was in order. I tried to tell him that I want morale in the store up. Then when I came from my vacation they introduced me to a bench manager who was covering while I was away and stated how I should emulate her style. My team told me she was always in the office and still managed to be behind on the paperwork. On top of that our metrics for customer satisfaction were down and trucks were not being done on time due to her scheduling the presentation manager to close 4 nights a week so that she didn't have to. When I handed in my two weeks notice two of my managers did the same as did one of my supervisors. Another store manager did the same a day later. Like me, all his numbers were good and he was in a tougher situation since his store was in the red on all quotas when he took over the position but in his review the DM was not happy with his approach.
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Hands on is my favorite etl/stl. They care about the business.& the store.
60SecondsRemaining
Former SrTL - Replen
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In 90% of stores, you will find you are vastly more experienced, and a much stronger leader than your peers.
Don't expect to be very hands on. Target is all about leadership being hands off. Depending on your previous experience, and which position you end up in, you will have to do a lot of office work. Target measures everything. They have a metric for how many times you check the restroom daily, how many times the doors open, are your employees leaving at a certain time was the schedule published, etc. Expect to spend a huge portion of your time "planning" and "delegating" all of this work to your one burnt out team lead, and an ever revolving door of three team members. When they are unable to complete the unreasonable workload, make sure you write then up for not working hard enough, otherwise your stl will label you as a sympathizer and claim you aren't on board. That'll get you a ticket to splitsville.
So remember, write up your employees constantly for not accomplishing unreasonable goals. Blow your training budget on boarding new people every month, and fudge as much as you can to make your numbers green.
Follow these instructions, and you'll be promoted in no time.
You think I'm kidding. I'm not.
Don't expect to be very hands on. Target is all about leadership being hands off. Depending on your previous experience, and which position you end up in, you will have to do a lot of office work. Target measures everything. They have a metric for how many times you check the restroom daily, how many times the doors open, are your employees leaving at a certain time was the schedule published, etc. Expect to spend a huge portion of your time "planning" and "delegating" all of this work to your one burnt out team lead, and an ever revolving door of three team members. When they are unable to complete the unreasonable workload, make sure you write then up for not working hard enough, otherwise your stl will label you as a sympathizer and claim you aren't on board. That'll get you a ticket to splitsville.
So remember, write up your employees constantly for not accomplishing unreasonable goals. Blow your training budget on boarding new people every month, and fudge as much as you can to make your numbers green.
Follow these instructions, and you'll be promoted in no time.
You think I'm kidding. I'm not.
Mhugh220
Former ETL-Logistics
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You'll do fine. With retail experience Target will be a breeze. It's the fresh faced college kids that tend to struggle, or some military veterans who want to choke the shit out of TMs but Target's termination process prevents expedient terminations.
Target is all about metrics and staying within payroll. Just learn the best practices, review how your team does things, then start implementing better ideas where needed. And by better ideas I mean best practices because Target thinks they are given by God and apply to all stores and situations. Sometimes common sense is needed but can't be applied, but hey, it's retail.
Good luck! You'll do fine since you already have an extensive retail background. You know what to expect from retail. Target's expectations aren't much different.
Target is all about metrics and staying within payroll. Just learn the best practices, review how your team does things, then start implementing better ideas where needed. And by better ideas I mean best practices because Target thinks they are given by God and apply to all stores and situations. Sometimes common sense is needed but can't be applied, but hey, it's retail.
Good luck! You'll do fine since you already have an extensive retail background. You know what to expect from retail. Target's expectations aren't much different.
Your leadership culture is really going to be different store to store. With the huge cuts of the last couple of years it would seem that you would have to be on the floor. Not that it happens at some stores. Whatever the case is in your store as other have said, just follow Best Practice. It is often not the best way things can done and in fact sometimes they can be road blocks. They are however, your best protection. If you are on them and things are not good you are going to get better feed back then if you are off them and things are going great. Target is however, a company in flux after a series of high profile failures and everybody getting canned maybe, just maybe things will change and a little common sense will come into play.
My advice would be to not set expectations for jobs you yourself couldn't do.
My example ... A while back, my etl logistics said that a certain pog needed to be completed in whatever number of hours.
The number he stated had no relationship to reality except that it was Friday, and we needed to come on under a certain number of hours.
So, I got to work as usual. I had a positive attitude going in. But by 10am, it was apparent it wasn't getting finished by the predecided time.
I know he couldn't have done it faster because a week later, he had to ask me how to tie a pog. All I could think is, yeah, you should decide how long this takes.
Just one example. But very frustrating.
One last thing, you can only push people so hard when they are making $9.25 an hour.
My example ... A while back, my etl logistics said that a certain pog needed to be completed in whatever number of hours.
The number he stated had no relationship to reality except that it was Friday, and we needed to come on under a certain number of hours.
So, I got to work as usual. I had a positive attitude going in. But by 10am, it was apparent it wasn't getting finished by the predecided time.
I know he couldn't have done it faster because a week later, he had to ask me how to tie a pog. All I could think is, yeah, you should decide how long this takes.
Just one example. But very frustrating.
One last thing, you can only push people so hard when they are making $9.25 an hour.
^ Yes, that last bit. ETLs love expecting you to have the same loyalty as they have for 15% of the pay and considerably more of the leg work. Unless you've got someone on the bench for a promotion, when the going gets tough you're gonna have to do better at motivating the team then "I need this done by ##:## or you could be wrote up"
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Do etl's even have offices at target? Not where I worked. They use the computers in tsc or the booking room
Until you get an actual position, don't fret over metrics or if you should be on the floor or sitting at a computer. Some stores are to busy for being in one place to long. And when you are LOD your responsibilities change for that day.
Try to go with the flow and see how management handles situations in the store you are going to be in. I have seen those who come in "managing" usually aren't liked to much and tm's won't perform very well.
Learn target best practice inside and out before you start making decisions.
Good luck
Until you get an actual position, don't fret over metrics or if you should be on the floor or sitting at a computer. Some stores are to busy for being in one place to long. And when you are LOD your responsibilities change for that day.
Try to go with the flow and see how management handles situations in the store you are going to be in. I have seen those who come in "managing" usually aren't liked to much and tm's won't perform very well.
Learn target best practice inside and out before you start making decisions.
Good luck
Are you serious? Every store I have seen, each ETL had their own office, then there was general office room with 'cubicles ' for the TLs or SrTLs, then an office area for HR that ETLs could utilize too, plus a conference room
Mhugh220
Former ETL-Logistics
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@AngelGS - make the most out of BC. Training is in your hands so how much effort you put in determines how much you get back. Shadow all ETLs for at least a day and make friends with the STL if they are running a good process. Also find a mentor who has been with Target for a few years and is successful.
mrknownothing
purveyor of things
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At my store, only the STL and ETL-HR have their own personal offices with computers. Other than AP and Rx, the rest of the ETLs share two offices.
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Hahahaha this comment is hilarious!
But yes, ETL's have a shared cubicle space for themselves and the STL, ETL-HR, and Sr. ETL typically have their own private office. I'm currently interning there and I have my own "cubicle". It's pretty much just for show because no one is ever in there unless they are leaving something on their desk.
^^THIS^^
I had on "office." It was a desk in a room with a bunch of other desks. It was a place to throw my coat in the winter, and write in my communication book to pass/get information to/from my Team Leaders. If I was in there for 15 minutes during a 10 to 12 hour shift, I was lucky.
We didn't have room. It was several years ago, and things have probably changed, but we had 4 ETL-HLs, 1 ETL-SL, 1 ETL-GE, 1 ETL-Log, 2 ETL-Replenishment (1 day, 1 night), 1 ETL-HR, 1 ETL-Ops, and 1 ETL-Sr. Merch. Sr Merch, HR and STL all had their own offices. The rest of us were crammed in a room with five desks in it, and no computers. Even if we had a chance to hang out there, we wouldn't because it would have been WAY to crowded.
SFSFun
Ship from Store: Don't call it Ship To Store!!
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@bikebryan
I must know...If you had 4 ETLs just for hardlines, how many TLs did you have in hardlines???
I must know...If you had 4 ETLs just for hardlines, how many TLs did you have in hardlines???
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Back in old days, 1 tl for every dept at spot.
mrknownothing
purveyor of things
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@bikebryan, did your store have multiple floors? I can't imagine why else even a super-high-volume store would have that many ETLs just for hardlines.
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