New Food & Bev TL

[Djlittlebuddy]

I was hired as the food and beverage team lead of my GM store about four months ago. I got one week of training in Starbucks and one week of training in Consumables where basically all I learned was how to make drinks and push truck. After about a month at my store we started the 1 for 1’s. I usually get about 100 hours in grocery and I am scheduled 40 of those. I am also the TL over Starbucks but only spend time with them when they need a break or to cover a lunch. I am so behind and FDC trucks keep stacking on top of each other. We don’t do our store huddle, there is no person who does pogs, pricing, etc., all of that is my responsibility as well as doing one for ones every morning and pushing FDC and RDC. There is never any overlap scheduled in grocery and sometimes we don’t even have a closer. Today is my day off and I am spending all day studying material from Starbucks that I brought home because the DM wants to certify me tomorrow and I don’t even know what that means or can’t get a clear answer by any of my ETL’s.... to any other food and beverage team leads out there, preferably of GM stores, not P Fresh or Super Target’s where you have a lot of labor and help… How is it possible??? How is it possible to get all the work done and still be a leader? I am so behind on sales planners, revisions, POGs, pricing, the truck is piling up, one for ones are barely getting done, and now I need to be certified at Starbucks and I can barely remember how to make half the drinks with my one week of training… How is it possible??? What am I doing wrong??? What kind of questions am I going to be asked by the Starbucks DM at my certification meeting???I feel like I am going to fail and I feel like I am drowning which sucks because typically I am a very strong manager, I just don’t understand how things are supposed to work at Target with so little resources.... and every week it seems like we are focusing on something different that suddenly becomes more important than anything else... And lastly the DBO routines are a joke… How could they possibly get done every day? How could you do a sign audit in the entire department, zone, pull your one for once, push them to the floor, and do the truck, when you have pricing, POGs and everything else to do???

 

[Planosss]

Hi, first off, breathe. Second, prioritize. Between push and pog work, which do you think you can knockout the easiest? Once you come clean on one, tackle the other.
Do not worry about getting it done all at once. Come up with a plan you can present to your ETL/SD. Let them know of any resources you might need to come clean. Put the ball in their court.
Now, as for Starbucks certification, don’t worry if you aren’t able to get certified. If you are not ready , the DM will tell you exactly what you need to do and come back for recertification.
Also, if you can post how many TMs and what dept they’re are in i.e dry/dairy/produce. It will shed some light on your current situation and we can perhaps make suggestions on how to allocate the resources you have.

 

[Djlittlebuddy]

like I said we are a GM “low volume” store. Sales around 60k per day currently. I have myself and 3 other “DBO’s” (which is I guess what they call every TM now) in grocery. One good, one new, and one who is toxic and takes 3 hours to push a U-Boat (he loafs). I have a team of 7 in SB, I make the 8th “Barista” but if I had to be honest with my lack of training I just wing it back there and go with whatever the Team says on truck orders, etc. We tried to split responsibilities by giving each of the 3 DBO’s a section (like GRC 1,2,3 or SNACK/CANDY) but honestly this just has made thing worse as they seem to think that pushing anyone else’s U-Boats is not their responsibility. And I am still learning... every day.... I seem to only “learn” when I get behind or fail at something, then the response I always get is “they didn’t train you how to do that at the other store?”... No, they didn’t. How could I possibly have been trained on every aspect of this job (both Starbucks AND Target) in 2 weeks? The DM (who everyone is afraid of) has already come by and made me feel like I have no business being in this position, which is a shame because I myself was once a DM of a company and I did not rule by fear and belittlement... The thing that attracts me to Target is that everyone I work with has been around for decades (and they expect me to be just as knowledgeable as they are) and this is the first job I’ve ever had where I have been home in time for dinner every night, but I feel like I’m about to have an aneurysm from all of the stress of literally trying to cram 120 hours of work into a 40 hour work week. I truly don’t see how it’s possible.

 

[Ontheregular]

Talk to your ETL about scheduling you a mid shift at Starbucks once or twice a week. This should help get you familiar with drink making at Starbucks but also help you step away during downtimes to assess the business in your market.

Start looking at your Plano workload now for your 3 week out. Set early when you can. Enlist the help of your gm partners to help you plan it all out.

FDC can sometimes pile up..usually for me it happens on the Monday following my weekend off. It’s okay! When you break down your pallets, break down and push right away. Don’t stage your backstock. Don’t overload your coolers with too many vehicles. It’ll just overwhelm you more if you’re looking at a wall of u boats.

Market is a beast. Don’t panic. You literally just have to push your way through it.

 

[Ontheregular]

Also..something is wrong if you aren’t being scheduled a closer! Market should be open to close every day

 

[Djlittlebuddy]

I have a peer in a neighboring store, the one who trained me actually, that seems a lot less stressed. That store also gets at least 30 more hours dedicated to (I don’t even know the correct terminology; Market? Consumables? Grocery?). It seems like with the additional hours he is able to be far enough removed to get the workload done. I literally spend all day pulling/pushing and feel nervous if I have to step away to check emails or look at the upcoming POGs because there is still truck to push and it usually doesn’t get completed before the next delivery. My peers (TL’s) in the store also seem less stressed because they have DBO’s that do all of the pushing/pulling. I’m starting to feel a little like an overpaid DBO who has to take the heat when the workload doesn’t get done more so than a “leader”. Every previous management position I have been in has been very hands on too, like very hands on, but this is by far the most ground-level work I have had to do on a daily basis and still be expected to lead/manage.

 

[Djlittlebuddy]

By the way I’m not trying to sound like I don’t appreciate the feedback. I’m really just trying to paint a pretty clear picture of what is going on to see if anybody in a similar situation is out there and has figured out how to make it all work. I’m sure there is a way, I just feel really stressed out right now and really need this job to work out for my family. I’ve always worked 60+ hours a week in companies that have incredibly high turnover rates and really want Target to work out. I want to be one of those leads that has been here for decades (hopefully an ETL/SD by then) and walks around stress-free because they have a strong team and can manage their workload.

 

[Djlittlebuddy]

Also I am still really nervous about being certified by the Starbucks DM tomorrow as I don’t even know what to expect or what kind of things he expects me to know… I’m guessing I need to know all of Starbucks policies and procedures? I’m guessing I need to know how to make any drink and recite the recipe at the drop of a hat?

 

[Elohseeyou]

Food and Beverage is hard-mode. Plain and simple. Don’t feel bad. But It may get worse before it gets better if you don’t have a good team in place. Building a strong team is the only thing that is going to make it better (but you probably already know that). Get rid of people who don’t measure up—and pretty quick. You will never make any headway if you don’t boot poor-performers quickly.

Don’t sweat Starbucks. You should not be spending a lot of time over there, unless your team is broken. Do not stress over the drinks. I know nothing about drinks, and I’m certified. I just make sure I install people who want to do the job and are passionate about it. Get a master barista trained up. Have them be your point-person to train the team.

The big overwhelming thing with Starbucks is the literature they throw at you. Piles of books, with stuff you will never remember, with slogans that are forgettable. If you sift through it, Target and Starbucks want/go about their service the same way, but Starbucks says it differently.

 

[Elohseeyou]

As far as the Starbucks DM, just show engagement. Don’t get on their bad side. If they give feedback, act on it immediately. Ask questions. Don’t appear like you don’t know anything, but don’t pretend to know everything either.

Certification was more like gauging your commitment to the business. You don’t make drinks for it. Most of the questions you can kinda bullshit. You mainly talk through the worksheet you filled out.

 

[Djlittlebuddy]

Worksheet....?
I didn’t do a worksheet…

And I totally agree with getting rid of a poor performer, especially one that has given up and is toxic, but… It seems like with Target you need to have a dozen documented conversations before you can even consider letting someone go. Is that accurate? No other department wants this individual - I got stuck with him.

I really appreciate the advice everyone has given me, keep it coming

 

[Elohseeyou]

Sorry, by worksheet I mean those activity books. Leader ops? Should be like 3 of them but I forget the names off the top of my head.

Target in the past paralyzed itself by overemphasizing HR stuff. It placated grumpy people/poor performers. Modernization did away with that. If you have someone that sucks, get rid of them. There is no payroll for 10 coachings. Otherwise, it’s on your ass for not moving fast enough and impeding the process. In general, 3-4 performance coachings should be good enough to move to a cca. But you always want to partner with your hr just to cover your bases.

 

[happygoth]

Sorry, by worksheet I mean those activity books. Leader ops? Should be like 3 of them but I forget the names off the top of my head.

Target in the past paralyzed itself by overemphasizing HR stuff. It placated grumpy people/poor performers. Modernization did away with that. If you have someone that sucks, get rid of them. There is no payroll for 10 coachings. Otherwise, it’s on your ass for not moving fast enough and impeding the process. In general, 3-4 performance coachings should be good enough to move to a cca. But you always want to partner with your hr just to cover your bases.

If only...!

 

[Planosss]

By reading the subsequent posts on this thread, I just realized, ASANTS. I don’t think our suggestions are going to help you, you are better off talking about your issues/concerns to someone in your store (etl/sd/peers)

 

[kimimpossible]

By reading the subsequent posts on this thread, I just realized, ASANTS. I don’t think our suggestions are going to help you, you are better off talking about your issues/concerns to someone in your store (etl/sd/peers)

Planoss is probably right.
However, my store sounds about your sizes but we are pfresh.
Food & Beverage is a beast.
My big things was to have your team take ownership. One thing that is glaring to me in your messages is your toxic team member. They are not pulling their weight. Has this always been the case? If so, there needs to documentation. You need a team who can do their job and have urgency in doing it.
I had my DBOs in place. I took care of all pricing and sales planners/POGs. Time management and planning our big for those. In our training, I was told I was hands off of push. I will jump in when our GM truck/C&S is massive.
Also suggest the one mid shift in Starbucks a week. It gives 8 hours to your Consumables team and you get the training you need. I spent one day a week over there for a couple months. After awhile, I started doing two hours a day, sometimes I would be over there sometimes I would need that time in Market. I always was able to get my 8 hours.

Like it has already been said, get one thing at a time caught up and partner with the resources you have.