NKG Rant...

[NKG]

I have a background (decade) in customer service and being an SETL. I was told I wasn't "compassionate" to be an SETL so I was told to take Consumables. It's the hardest job in the store and I'm literally every day getting in trouble for something random. I really didn't get training and I have been told that you can't train leadership style. I have leadership skills otherwise wouldnt have promoted in every job I had. I like working for Target but I'm tired of everything. I don't want to be performance out but I don't give up easy. I just don't know what to do anymore. The whole coronavirus pandemic isn't helping me.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Dust off your resume. You can take the leap like rock lobster did.

 

[SigningLady]

I agree with @Hardlinesmaster Don't let Spot run you into the ground. I just lost my favorite TL because of this same thing. Her leadership style did not mesh well with modernization's new expectations so she bounced out before they could write her up/fire her. She gave it her best shot over the last year but the stress was too much and she is much happier now.

What I told her when she left: you didn't leave your job, your job left you. The TL role has changed from a job where you do to a job where you delegate, from where you were a leader to where you are now a boss. And while that may seem like small differences or simply semantics, how it affects you and your team is huge.

Don't let the man get you down, @NKG
You deserve better!

 

[Far from newbie]

I have had my ups and downs during my ‘o so many years at Target. Most of the time I have absolutely loved it. I take every change as a fresh opportunity. I love to take charge, make decisions and be left alone. The few times times I have been frustrated have been when I was being micro-managed or if my decisions were questioned.
Each time I get annoyed/complain on this site responses have told me to ‘find other opportunities’, ’there is life after Target’, ‘dust off your resume’, ‘no one is forcing you to stay’, ‘so and so couldn’t take it anymore’, etc.....Well, being stubborn and not a quitter I dug my heels in and tried it their way and soldiered on. Lo and behold, things got better again.
If it’s certain leadership that is nagging at you I look to the 18month date and hope they are transferred - I have lost count of the number of STL’s/ETL‘s I’ve outlasted. If it’s a tm causing the friction, well, that’s even easier than 18 months if you diligently document.
Since you are new to consumables you may be receiving more feedback than you’re used to - that may feel like you are being performanced out but it may also be that you are being improved. I have told tm‘s not every conversation is bad, there are times we are truly trying to help improve someone. Listen to each thing you are being told and try to ask questions and maybe try things their way.
Hope you stick it out - bad time to be looking for a job. Target has lost too many good people Already.

Think of this : This is a hard time for consumables - maybe you were the strongest person in your store to take it on. It could have been a compliment.

 

[Planosss]

I have had my ups and downs during my ‘o so many years at Target. Most of the time I have absolutely loved it. I take every change as a fresh opportunity. I love to take charge, make decisions and be left alone. The few times times I have been frustrated have been when I was being micro-managed or if my decisions were questioned.
Each time I get annoyed/complain on this site responses have told me to ‘find other opportunities’, ’there is life after Target’, ‘dust off your resume’, ‘no one is forcing you to stay’, ‘so and so couldn’t take it anymore’, etc.....Well, being stubborn and not a quitter I dug my heels in and tried it their way and soldiered on. Lo and behold, things got better again.
If it’s certain leadership that is nagging at you I look to the 18month date and hope they are transferred - I have lost count of the number of STL’s/ETL‘s I’ve outlasted. If it’s a tm causing the friction, well, that’s even easier than 18 months if you diligently document.
Since you are new to consumables you may be receiving more feedback than you’re used to - that may feel like you are being performanced out but it may also be that you are being improved. I have told tm‘s not every conversation is bad, there are times we are truly trying to help improve someone. Listen to each thing you are being told and try to ask questions and maybe try things their way.
Hope you stick it out - bad time to be looking for a job. Target has lost too many good people Already.

Think of this : This is a hard time for consumables - maybe you were the strongest person in your store to take it on. It could have been a compliment.

OP has been in consumables for a year or more.

 

[Far from newbie]

OP has been in consumables for a year or more.

Oh, missed that.
If you’re not meeting expectations after a year then I think I would request another area. Say you gave it a try and it’s not for you.
I don’t recommend going back to the front end though. You can get burnt out. Also, it’s not really the same as it was when we were there Anyway.
i still stand by : “this too shall pass”. Whatever is going on.....could change.

 

[happygoth]

I like your outlook @Far from newbie

I'm only a part-time TM with Spot, but when I was leadership at my old company I had my ups and downs, and yes the downs were usually caused by upper management. Like you, I saw SO MANY store managers and district managers come and go, and when I got frustrated I reminded myself that it would not last forever.

With bad team members, I had more control. I would document and eventually they would quit or get let go. Not all management is evil, and TMs have to understand that a certain level of performance is part of the job. It's not harassment to expect your employees to work, and work hard.

 

[Black Sheep 214]

Sounds like it’s time to look for another job, although that may not be possible during the pandemic. Not being harsh, but just giving you the best advice I have from my experience. If you have the type of supervisior who micromanages, thinks their way is the only way, won’t tell you what their specific expectations are, but whatever you are doing never meets them, blames you for whatever goes wrong but takes the credit for whatever goes right, and has submarined you to the rest of management, essentially poisoning the well against you, moving on may be the only choice you have. ASANTS, but at my store once they start finding fault with a leader their fate is sealed, and the first CCA is the beginning of the end. No one wants to be performanced out, but Spot holds all the cards, and there’s not much you can do except plan your departure on your own timeline instead of waiting for the hammer to drop.
Sometimes it is possible to wait out a supervisor and sometimes it isn’t, depending on a lot of factors, but primarily on how far into being performanced out the person is. Leaders can stay in a store a lot longer than 18 months, but it doesn’t take that long to be performanced out. I left two years ago. ETL She Who Must Be Obeyed, who was planning my departure, is still there, having now lost a total of five TLs. And her current victim is quitting soon.
I doubt that they will actually fire you during the pandemic, because they need you, but you never know. It’s sad that Spot is generally so poor at training, yet so willing to hold people accountable for problems that are caused by that lack of training, so poor at setting and communicating realistic standards, yet so willing to hold leaders accountable when eight hours of workload is not perfectly completed in four hours. It is also a shame that years of dependable service mean nothing compared to the opinion of one supervisor, but that’s Spot. Good luck to you!