Archived New TM advice needed

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My first day was today. I was put on inbound. 6:30-11. So I helped w the line (?) sorting boxes from the conveyor belt. First off it was so hot I couldn’t breath. Second some of the boxes were way too heavy for me to lift to the top shelf of the cart. I started feeling like a panic attack was coming on so I asked to help out on the floor stocking. Which was so much better. Until we had to do some backstock which seemed like a cruel joke. There is NO room for all the carts that need to go thru there! And it seems so unorganized. There’s trash everywhere.
My orientation was yesterday and I was SO excited to start!! I’m not excited today.
What is your advice? I don’t want to give up so I’m going back tomorrow, same shift.
Will they let you change areas/teams if you feel the one you were assigned isn’t a good fit?
Thank you so much for any help! I REALLY want this to work out!!
 
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One guy in particular was throwing F bombs loudly and seemingly on purpose. The ETL was just on the other side of the area. I’m sure he could hear all the language.
Foul language on the job is unprofessional and should not be tolerated. The guys on my backroom team didn’t use foul language, they were professional and had more respect for themselves and others to do that. They also were very kind and helpful to other TMs and would go out of their way to make new TMs comfortable. This attitude did not have to reinforced by leadership, the backroom TMs were just that way on their own. Says a lot about what great guys they were and how lucky we were to have them. In your case, the ETL needs to speak to the team. If they are swearing like pirates, don’t think the guests on the other side of those thin swinging doors aren’t hearing it, too. If the ETL doesn’t take care of it on his own, one complaint from an irate guest should do the trick...🙄
 
Foul language on the job is unprofessional and should not be tolerated. The guys on my backroom team didn’t use foul language, they were professional and had more respect for themselves and others to do that. They also were very kind and helpful to other TMs and would go out of their way to make new TMs comfortable. This attitude did not have to reinforced by leadership, the backroom TMs were just that way on their own. Says a lot about what great guys they were and how lucky we were to have them. In your case, the ETL needs to speak to the team. If they are swearing like pirates, don’t think the guests on the other side of those thin swinging doors aren’t hearing it, too. If the ETL doesn’t take care of it on his own, one complaint from an irate guest should do the trick...🙄
Welcoming a new TM seemed to be the last thing they wanted to do. One guy showed me how to locate where the boxes go and that was that. Then they seemed to ignore me.
During orientation all the people in the office area were extremely friendly. The video they showed us showed a team working together to help one another and help guests, make the store a great place to work. Well that is definitely not the reality in this store. At least in the back. It was such a let down. I wanted to be part of a team that cared and wanted to make a difference instead it’s a team of slackers that don’t seem to care at all. It’s such a let down.
 
Speak up! I mean that generally. We don't usually get help we don't ask for.
Re: foul language. If you don't feel comfortable saying something directly to your TMs about language, talk to HR or your TL. I probably have a reputation at my store for being "language police," and just say "language please" and that seems to quiet things down. There was one time I got push-back from a certain person (who I'm glad is no longer there), so I took it to HR.
Re: the temperature - yeah, the back room stinks for climate control. But you should have fans running to circulate the air. We have fans mounted above the line and they help. Be sure to keep hydrated.
Re: heavy boxes. Don't be shy about asking for help. We have 2 women & 3 men on the line plus a man throwing inside the truck. I can't lift the really heavy boxes by myself either. Some of the boxes are heavy and bulky enough that even the guys need a hand. A worker's comp claim for an injured back or whatever is expensive for the company and that's why safety is pushed so hard.
Re: disorganization and trash everywhere in the back. You might have been in the middle of it on a bad day. I've seen dozens of vehicles in our back room piled high with product, and sometimes with lots of trash too. Most of the time though it's not so awful. This is a tough time of year to keep the back clean & tidy because there's just so much stuff coming in on every truck.
Hang in there. It gets better.
 
Speak up! I mean that generally. We don't usually get help we don't ask for.
Re: foul language. If you don't feel comfortable saying something directly to your TMs about language, talk to HR or your TL. I probably have a reputation at my store for being "language police," and just say "language please" and that seems to quiet things down. There was one time I got push-back from a certain person (who I'm glad is no longer there), so I took it to HR.
Re: the temperature - yeah, the back room stinks for climate control. But you should have fans running to circulate the air. We have fans mounted above the line and they help. Be sure to keep hydrated.
Re: heavy boxes. Don't be shy about asking for help. We have 2 women & 3 men on the line plus a man throwing inside the truck. I can't lift the really heavy boxes by myself either. Some of the boxes are heavy and bulky enough that even the guys need a hand. A worker's comp claim for an injured back or whatever is expensive for the company and that's why safety is pushed so hard.
Re: disorganization and trash everywhere in the back. You might have been in the middle of it on a bad day. I've seen dozens of vehicles in our back room piled high with product, and sometimes with lots of trash too. Most of the time though it's not so awful. This is a tough time of year to keep the back clean & tidy because there's just so much stuff coming in on every truck.
Hang in there. It gets better.
Thank you. There were no fans at all. Ha. I really don’t want to look bad being I’m one of the newbies. I really just want to do my job and do it good. I had high expectations and I just feel really let down. The entire store is a mess. Do they not have people to walk around and pick up things the guests lay down in wrong areas?? Anyone to face the merchandise?? Fix fixtures that are falling apart??
 
Girl my advice to you is take some vitamins! My first day I realized all the physical labor involved in this job and I wasn’t prepared physically. So I got myself some of those OLLY superfood for women vitamins along with the stress vitamins. They help so much!! I also started eating kale as much as possible to help me with my energy and vitality. Trust me you’ll feel so much better after taking vitamins and more prepared to go into work
 
I was seasonal.... first day I was thrown in the fixture room to clean it up and “organize” it . How do you organize basically a dumpster of twisted metal and plastic with bare hands!
Yikes! Well, you succeeded and, in fact thrived.
 
Everyone in my store uses curse words in the backroom. Never on salesfloor unless it slips. I admittedly think it's a bad habit to bring to work but it's kind of a store wide thing for us. Even our ETL AP and LOG curse when in the backroom. We all love our jobs though, it's usually either sarcastic cursing or just a slip of the tongue when talking about "fucking backstock" or "that piece of shit crown" lol
 
Girl my advice to you is take some vitamins! My first day I realized all the physical labor involved in this job and I wasn’t prepared physically. So I got myself some of those OLLY superfood for women vitamins along with the stress vitamins. They help so much!! I also started eating kale as much as possible to help me with my energy and vitality. Trust me you’ll feel so much better after taking vitamins and more prepared to go into work
Yes! Make sure you're eating enough too!!

As for the broken fixtures, befriend the PMT. Whenever you notice a broken fixture/equipment, you can just let them know. Technically, you're supposed to put in a work order on Workbench, or tell your TL about the broken fixture and they should put in the work order. But unless your PMT is an ass, he generally won't mind coming over to fix something unless he's in the middle of something he can't walk away from. Especially if it's something that could be dangerous (loose wires, tilting gondola, etc). Try not to make a habit of "shoulder tapping" them like that though.

Speak to HR about the language, definitely.

The backroom is going to suck for a while. Just keep calm. If you can't get a vehicle all the way to the aisle you need to backstock in, you may have to make multiple trips between the vehicle and the aisle. If leadership comments on it, just tell them that you couldn't get the vehicle to the aisle. That's the only way you could backstock your items.

If you're not sure about something, ask questions. Some TMs on inbound used to give newbies hell about "not learning" because they had to ask questions and or TL finally had to tell everyone that NO ONE HERE STOPS LEARNING. EVER. You can always ask questions.

And all TMs are supposed to pick up strays left by guests. There are stray bins at Guest Service, unless the department they belong to are closer, then take it back to the department.
 
The entire store is a mess. Do they not have people to walk around and pick up things the guests lay down in wrong areas?? Anyone to face the merchandise?? Fix fixtures that are falling apart??
Well, yeah, this is an issue. I once let an 8-pack of Gatorade sit on an HBA front end cap just to see how long it stayed there before someone finally re-shopped it. (Usually, I'd take it to where we collect the re-shop, but this was an experiment.) Took most of a week.
We used to have TMs work closing shifts and they zoned their area/s, picked up the strays, and fixed minor fixture issues (a broken fast-back or a missing peg) and make note of major ones. But that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. I work truck, and I've been told that the latest new thing is to zone and audit my area after finishing push. Um, yeah, we have so much time to do all that. And last priority is to take care of my own back stock - which I suppose is why the back stock I left during the shift before today's was still exactly where I left it. Your store isn't the only one that's a mess.
 
And all TMs are supposed to pick up strays left by guests. There are stray bins at Guest Service, unless the department they belong to are closer, then take it back to the department.
No one has ever told me this. But it would make sense.
 
I was actually told by a GSTL that I was *NOT* to pick up strays or help with ad take-down while out reshopping. Specifically, "I need you to do your job, not the salesfloor TM's jobs."
It depends on what workstation you are. Salesfloor is supposed to pick up strays and put them back. I believe flow is supposed to pick them up, but not run them back to their spot unless it's right there. We usually set them on our vehicle until we get to the backroom. We used to have a stray bin in the backroom, but I don't know what flow team does with strays once they're done with a vehicle.
 
Depends on what it is. I left a large jar candle where I found it a couple days ago because I was afraid I'd bump it off my u-boat and break it. But I almost always pick up strays I find while doing push, and I'll put it back where it belongs if it's really close by. I know my area well and it's just as fast to re-shop it than to take it up to GS for the re-shop cart. And I do take down expired ad signs I find - it's not like it takes more than a couple seconds. But I don't go looking for them except when I'm putting up new ad.
 
Ok everyone things are MUCH better. I have a hard time w change in my life and anxiety doesn’t help at all! So I tend to freak out at the beginning of new things. 😖
Now that I know some people and know a few things I feel so much more comfortable.
Thanks everyone for your encouragement!
 
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