I’m a new team lead for Domestics and I’m ready to quit! When I accepted the position and even during my training at another store it was NOT made clear to me that pushing truck freight was my responsibility. The upcoming workload of sales planners and transitions in Home Innovation and Hearth and Hand for Christmas is over 120 hours and I have no help! My DBOs are always pushing truck freight and they’re not giving me enough people. Style has 15 people throughout the day and no one is buying any clothes! I only started 6 weeks ago and I shouldn’t be this frustrated!
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2014
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You really think TLs don't have to push the truck? Hahahahah.
No but seriously, you should be getting hours for those set. You need to plan and delegate those hours, set ahead if you can. During slow days, push hard on setting sales planner. Get with your presentation team on transitions. VML should be responsible for home flat. (at least at my store)
No but seriously, you should be getting hours for those set. You need to plan and delegate those hours, set ahead if you can. During slow days, push hard on setting sales planner. Get with your presentation team on transitions. VML should be responsible for home flat. (at least at my store)
You are not necessarily responsible for pushing freight, but you are responsible for making sure the freight is pushed i.e. pushing some yourself to come clean.
Also, have you asked for help? Do you have any presentation experts or a VM that can help with the sets? Or can your inbound team help with your freight so you and your DBOs can set? What did your ETL and SD say when you went to them??
Also, have you asked for help? Do you have any presentation experts or a VM that can help with the sets? Or can your inbound team help with your freight so you and your DBOs can set? What did your ETL and SD say when you went to them??
Unleashed Dog
Food Dog
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- Jul 22, 2020
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At my store our GM TL in charge of those departments was struggling initially too by the time I started. I noticed the issue and started partnering with them (I’m a Closing TL). We sat down and started organizing and planning out their workload. I also suggested they’d start partnering with the VM, and eventually that partnership started to flourish really well too. Our main issue was really the GM-ETL just leaving this GM TL to their own devices without any guidance. Because of this, the GM TL also started to partner with our SD and that relationship got rolling nicely too. Their department got much better with their team finishing most of their push. But due to issues still lingering with the GM-ETL, the problem hasn’t been fully corrected.
A lot of it falls on having a solid and proactive GM-ETL and the GM TL’s cementing good partnerships with either other TL’s or TM’s. A good one with the VM is key to your specific role though.
A lot of it falls on having a solid and proactive GM-ETL and the GM TL’s cementing good partnerships with either other TL’s or TM’s. A good one with the VM is key to your specific role though.
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I’m sorry but that won’t be possible since those hours are not scheduled under plano workload. Vm can do it .
I asked the VM for help and she said she could only offer feedback and advice but yet she’s always moving around clothes in Style. I have done hundreds of sets and holiday transitions and these things take weeks if not months to plan. Why am I walking into this as a new TL and new to Target working backwards? Half of the fixtures are missing and no one knows where they are.
If I would have known pushing truck freight was my primary responsibility I would have never accepted or even applied for the position. I’ve lead many trucks before and it’s always a lose-lose situation. Bullseye Playground get ones 1 person for 5-8 hours and I get one person for all of Bedding and Bath! I don’t want to just quit because it’s unprofessional and I do love Target but I don’t think I have any options.
If I would have known pushing truck freight was my primary responsibility I would have never accepted or even applied for the position. I’ve lead many trucks before and it’s always a lose-lose situation. Bullseye Playground get ones 1 person for 5-8 hours and I get one person for all of Bedding and Bath! I don’t want to just quit because it’s unprofessional and I do love Target but I don’t think I have any options.
Okay, not to be rude, but it sounds like you've already made up your mind about quitting. It's your life, you do what is right for you. HOWEVER, there are a lot of people here that can give some great advice to get through this rough patch, as well as set yourself up for success for next time if you would like.
I have owned those departments as well, and this will happen to you every 5-6 weeks with the HI flat and H&H setting, and getting 40 SPLs that drop all at once. Just a fair warning that eventually you will need to get this figured out, because this IS NOT a one time occurrence for your area. This will be your life every other month due to the seasonal nature of your departments, so you have to be able to figure out how to get through that workload.
I have owned those departments as well, and this will happen to you every 5-6 weeks with the HI flat and H&H setting, and getting 40 SPLs that drop all at once. Just a fair warning that eventually you will need to get this figured out, because this IS NOT a one time occurrence for your area. This will be your life every other month due to the seasonal nature of your departments, so you have to be able to figure out how to get through that workload.
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- Jun 8, 2011
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- 33,851
Partner with your etl & get organized. Try to figure to out.
We have to push truck too. Effective communication is the key to get help that you need.
We have to push truck too. Effective communication is the key to get help that you need.
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- Sep 27, 2018
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I get the impression that you were under the assumption that leadership doesn’t work. If so, quit. Leadership in my store works harder than tm’s because they work alongside in addition to planning in advance. My team gets breaks, I don’t. If you are willing to work then do your job by directing your team and pitching in also.
NONE of us get ALL the work done in the time given, ever. As leaders however, we are given the authority to prioritize, plan, shift gears And find work-arounds. Get done what you can, be able to explain what didn’t get done On time AND your plan to get it done.
keep In mind - the more behind you are - the more time you will WASTE. Ex: a SPL isn’t set yet - the merch comes in - must be backstocked AND later pulled And pushed. If that same endcap was already set, then the merch Could directly be pushed saving the backstock and pull time. An example of prioritizing and planning to be efficient.
we share tm‘s also - Bullsye is set ahead - great - help us in electronics. Bath has light freight, help set the checklanes so that next week that DBO can help you push when freight is heavier.
you can quit bitching To us about how it is for you because it is that way for all of us. Your choice is to quit or do your planning.
Are you pushing freight because your team isn’t being productive enough or because you didn’t plan For the workload ?
YOU are responsible for fixing BOTH problems.
NONE of us get ALL the work done in the time given, ever. As leaders however, we are given the authority to prioritize, plan, shift gears And find work-arounds. Get done what you can, be able to explain what didn’t get done On time AND your plan to get it done.
keep In mind - the more behind you are - the more time you will WASTE. Ex: a SPL isn’t set yet - the merch comes in - must be backstocked AND later pulled And pushed. If that same endcap was already set, then the merch Could directly be pushed saving the backstock and pull time. An example of prioritizing and planning to be efficient.
we share tm‘s also - Bullsye is set ahead - great - help us in electronics. Bath has light freight, help set the checklanes so that next week that DBO can help you push when freight is heavier.
you can quit bitching To us about how it is for you because it is that way for all of us. Your choice is to quit or do your planning.
Are you pushing freight because your team isn’t being productive enough or because you didn’t plan For the workload ?
YOU are responsible for fixing BOTH problems.
- Joined
- May 13, 2015
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- 145
Unfortunately for you those departments are probably the worst in GM. Our Home/Domestics departments constantly have rollover freight.
It is a miracle if those areas come clean a few days a week and that is with a good amount of help from inbound tms. I've heard the same thing from most other stores in our district. Just accept that freight issue and carry on. Yes there are days you will need to push to keep it somewhat manageable but it shouldn't take up all of your shift daily.
Are you communicating with your peers in GM? A lot of times they can offer personal assistance or TMs to help out with freight or setting SPLs. Our VM isn't good for much but she does handle the Home flat sets and merchandising. We just handle the pushing and backstocking of the product.
For the SPLs as others have said, you need to start working 2 weeks ahead to be able to keep up. Communicate with the GMTL who owns presentation and see which days they can spare some help because nobody can get all those SPLs set on their own, unless of course that is all you do everyday for 2 weeks , and I have been there and done that but that was premodernization shot, the good ole days as I like to call them.
If you stick it out and keep trying with a little support you will get there. Spot is not a sprint it is definitely a marathon for those who are fine with living in the land of disappointment and know how to leave that at their store and not take it home.
It is a miracle if those areas come clean a few days a week and that is with a good amount of help from inbound tms. I've heard the same thing from most other stores in our district. Just accept that freight issue and carry on. Yes there are days you will need to push to keep it somewhat manageable but it shouldn't take up all of your shift daily.
Are you communicating with your peers in GM? A lot of times they can offer personal assistance or TMs to help out with freight or setting SPLs. Our VM isn't good for much but she does handle the Home flat sets and merchandising. We just handle the pushing and backstocking of the product.
For the SPLs as others have said, you need to start working 2 weeks ahead to be able to keep up. Communicate with the GMTL who owns presentation and see which days they can spare some help because nobody can get all those SPLs set on their own, unless of course that is all you do everyday for 2 weeks , and I have been there and done that but that was premodernization shot, the good ole days as I like to call them.
If you stick it out and keep trying with a little support you will get there. Spot is not a sprint it is definitely a marathon for those who are fine with living in the land of disappointment and know how to leave that at their store and not take it home.
happygoth
reshop till I drop
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- Apr 17, 2019
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Until you can get your team on the same page and get into a routine as far as planning and executing tasks, you will definitely be frustrated. I've always found that the first few of months of being in a new leadership position are the hardest. Good luck!
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2014
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- 337
I'm saying domestic transition in general. VM never does hardlines except for home flat/Hearth and Hand.
How do you set ahead with SPLs? I agree that it would be ideal to have the product come in off the truck and go to the endcap. But If I don't have the product yet I don't want to set something that is going to sit empty. For example, my peanut/pretzel/candy corn endcap was mostly empty because we had sold out of all out candy corn, which was half the endcap. I looked ahead to set the next one and it was stuffing and gravy. At that point we had zero stuffing in the store.
Would you still set ahead and leave the new one empty instead of flexing something different over the candy corn? Or what piece of this am I missing?
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- Sep 11, 2020
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- 67
15 in style!! how? are you exaggerating? Our store is lucky to have 3 in the morning 3 at night, usually working with 2 though, Style team has been broken apart between Cart Wiper and fulfillment since March. We are practically begging for more payroll for the last month, it has been eye opening for our SD recently, we have not finished style truck but 2 or 3 time the last 2 weeks and are not able to have the team members accomplish a VM for all the holiday Merch we are receiving, so it's been falling on the lap of Style Leads to get any pog/vm's going, but it has been difficult to start let alone finish. Between hiring seasonal this month and trucks everyday with double some days, this will be the most stressful holiday and probably the worst in terms of keeping brand in STYLE. Our GM TL is trying their best, but inbound part is dragging it all down lately, so unorganized with unload and the trailer in never done before 10am, they are still throwing until after 11am most days, it's crazy!!!
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- Nov 27, 2015
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- 526
Generally we want to set high instock SPL first, then hold off the very low stock (<60%) SPL the week of set.
Maybe the only time I would try to set low instock SPL early (after setting the high in stock SPL) is when the endcaps is already blown out. I'll put the correct # of shelves, then flex something bulky so it's faster to set later.
If I feel the endcaps looks too light I'd flex something similar, but keep it brand and store tie/label everything.
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Unleashed Dog
Food Dog
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- Jul 22, 2020
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- 82
Being in a leadership position at Target requires one to be very proactive and plan ahead. Really. A lot of planning is involved. I’ve found myself having to fix a lot of problems because the GM-ETL hasn’t been very good at efficiency or general planning. If your ETL is failing you, of course report the issue to HR and/or the SD, and consult with them about what you can do. That’s the approach my team and I have been taking. And like I mentioned, it did help the GM TL a lot, despite not solving the whole issue because a lot is under a failing ETL’s control.
I just got moved to be the tl for fulfillment, toys, sporting goods, infant hardlines, and checklanes. It takes a lot of partnering to get through my workload every week. Since your so new ill give you the benefit of the doubt but this job is anything but easy, but if your having problems work with your etl and see what can be done. In my store my bath tm only works 4 hour shifts but because we planned it out she has set everything herself already. Same thing with our beds tm she works the truck unload first and she has her sets nearly done herself too.
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We have status meetings as team leads every week to ensure we are going over our numbers, have the proper amount of team members, and all that. Not to mention we have been planning out hiring new team members for 4th quarter for months now. So yes we are responsible for hiring new team members. However, OP being a new team lead with little experience i would expect OPs etl to help with this process. Perhaps he has a new etl too cant be sure. But as a team lead our job is to find solutions to make sure all workload is dome, truck push , 1for1s, salesplanners, revisions, whatever else, it comes down to the leader.
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- Jun 11, 2011
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- 2,674
Some regions eliminated the pog team and didn’t bring it back when it was an option a few months ago. 😢
IWishIKnew
This was supposed to be a seasonal job...
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- Dec 9, 2017
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- 2,567
The freight coming into my store for home & domestics these days is unreal. Welcome to the start of Q4. You will have more fucking pillows than you know what to do with and in a couple weeks you'll wonder where they all went and will be scrambling to find stuff to put in their place. This is the worst time of year to be in domestics/home (except maybe back to college). C'est la vie.
Slow down. Take a breath. Work with your ETLs and SD to prioritize and do what you can. My store borrows heavily from flex to push freight, despite having overnight hours, to give you an idea of how underwater we are. The freight is just ludicrous and everyone knows that everyone is doing their best and we just get out what we can, keep the floor full as best we can. It's all you can do, really.
Domestics/home can take forever to push, as it takes so fucking long to de-trash one lamp wrapped in 8 layers of tape, cardboard, styrofoam, more cardboard and more tape. Most TMs hate repacks but I'll take them over normal boxes any day because a plastic bag around each item is so much easier to deal with than all the fucking tape, cardboard & styrofoam. They also tend to be large & bulky items, so backstocking can be tricky, often involves the Wave and backrooms are taken up with pallets of transition, so...
Yeah. Patience. Persistence. Priorities. Do what you can. If your leadership doesn't suck, they've been through this dog & pony show before and won't hold it against you that you can't come clean on freight every day.
ClosingQueen
Overnight Inbound TL
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2019
- Messages
- 72
You can also status with your Closing Team Lead for help. I always check in with my GM TL or ETL to see if there's anything we can help with. My closing experts will push truck, do reshop, zone, audit, price change, support flex, change out endcaps, pretty much anything the store needs. I've pushed many flats of domestic repacks over the last year and a half that I've been a Closing Leader. Take a deep breath and ask for help. We are all on the same team.
Good Luck!
Good Luck!
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2017
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- 1,232
I set ahead but flex in something easy to move (big and bulky, like chips or cereal or water.) So the tags are there and the shelves are right. I flip the tags until the product comes in.
My experience is also that 6 weeks in to any new job is the worst time where you know all the stuff that needs doing but can't quite get iit done.
