Archived No wonder the stock is dropping, Target practices is DUMB and WASTE TIME all the time

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More and more, I think those people in the corporate don't know what the hell they are doing. They don't work in the stores, so I think they are ignorant. They just command us what to do, but little do they realize so much of Target does is a WASTE OF TIME!


1) Revision with dividers/pushers hours WAY lower than it supposed to be. Example: I would get a 30+ labels change Rev in either Medicine, Hair or Skincare aisle with the need to re-adjust pretty much ALL the dividers/pushers when you move. Adjacency Calendars says it takes only 1.7 hours to do. Hell no, it actually takes 4-6 hours to do! Nobody can remotely get that done in 1.7 hours.

Cause of the problem? It seems that when the corporate idiots design these Revs, they forget that all the dividers/pushers move actually takes a long time!

So, when you talking about hours forecast with this being totally off, that's definitely problem! I had this problem from the beginning. It seems Revisions is getting harder but this problem is forever ignored. Ugh!


2) Multiple locations - I don't mind if there is a lot of one product, but often than not, especially in Video Games, multiple locations are of products that are really low stock. New release games should be on the front endcaps, nothing else, like games that came out long time already. And, this lead to people flex (see #4)

3) Aisle FULL of signs and bubbles - Is this really necessary to put a bubble of $3.99 over the price of SAME price, $3.99? Isn't this really redundant, a colossal waste of time? I've seen aisles scared the hell out of me because all you see when you look in the aisle are signs signs signs everywhere! All they say is it's NEW or Buy 4 get 1 free or something. I mean, really? EVERY product need a freaking sign?

Really what other store does this?

4) FLEXING Target seems to encourage putting stuff in the wrong place, and this is pissing me off the most behind unreasonable hours (#1). Flexing works if you know what you are doing, but many Target employees don't know what they are doing! You tell them to flex if there are empty spots, they will create HELL! Overstocking! Stuff flexed ALL in the wrong places! *sigh* I even got many co-workers confess that they hate doing it, it is a waste of time, but asked by their superiors to do it. :/

5) Overstocking (basically an extension to the Flexing point). Again, it seems it's what Target encourages. What do you think overstocking accomplish? TOO MUCH clearance, obviously.

6) No keys left in the baler - For the concern of minors using the baler, Target severely limits us adults from operating the baler as needed. We have to either leave the trash all over the floor/cart/tubs/flats or waste time call a manager to put keys in the baler!

7) Schedule nobody on the sales floor - While using us Planogram and the Flow teams to assist guests. Sure, we can help the guests, but that means we are delaying on getting our planogram done on time, pushing the frate on time everytime we help guests, that's if we even are familiar with these products like the sales floors TMs do. I don't know if is that wise to cut sales floor team members and use Plano/Flow to be the guest's go to help.


Target is basically doing the stock dropping by these stupid, waste of time practices that I am sure has direct impact on work performance and customer satisfaction.

:wacko:
 
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6) Call a BRTM. I don't mind if you leave it in the floor, but at least have the decency to de-trash/flatten first.

7) At my store, you guys never have to go for backups, so be grateful for that.
 
On overstocking & flexing, that's how spot makes $$ while waiting for new product to comes it.

The op list got bigger since last year's posting:

A lot of things at Targets seems to waste time, and work hour that don't need on a daily basis.

Here is 2 of the worst ones I dread daily.

1) Multiple locations of the same item that is not enough in stock already. (Best example: LP1 and LP2 endcaps in Video Games. Most times you pull from the home location and that empties out the home location because there is only 1-3 in there.)

2) Target is the only store that I see waste time with all these yellow bubbles that makes a neat looking shelves look like retarded mess. What other stores do this?
 
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Everything you say is on point....

But the part about the baler i disagree with, its not about minors using it, its about dumb asses not knowing how to use it and end up hurting themselves. At first i would have thought the same thing, but ive actually witnessed someone almost lose their finger on that thing. Some vendor thought it would be a great idea to stick his trash in between the gaps of the baler as it was crushing, well his finger got stuck in between the trash he was putting in, and the part of the baler that lowers, and it was right their at the crushing point, luckily i was right there to flip the off switch before he lost his finger. Yes, using the baler takes some common sense, but unfortunately no everyone was gifted with that.
 
I thought everyone had to be certified to use the baler? At that point it's not common sense, you've literally been told how to operate the machine. Plus, you know, that picture of the hand getting it's fingers severed and all.
 
Pissing me off when I see trash by the baler when I'm (BRDayside) always in the backroom all afternoon. I have a walkie and keys and yet they still leave trash. Even the receiver have keys and s/he's 10 seconds away from the baler.
 
I disagree with #3 about signs, signs help sell stuff even if it is the same price (as advertised anyone?) Signs get the guest's attention and without them on every product in a line they wouldn't know of the sale or promotion. My store is an overnight flow so thank goodness I don't work with those loud asses.
 
I disagree with #3 about signs, signs help sell stuff even if it is the same price (as advertised anyone?) Signs get the guest's attention and without them on every product in a line they wouldn't know of the sale or promotion. My store is an overnight flow so thank goodness I don't work with those loud asses.

Signs can do that because they stand out. However when everything has a sign then the effect is lost. Target used to know this and high up visits would point out "sign pollution" when to many signs were in one area ruining the drawing effect of only a few signs. Much like zoning, staffing the stores, decent pay and benefits and good morale this is one more thing HQ has forgotten about.
 
Stuff like this will happen when a store stops having dedicated personnel to handle stocking, pricing, signage, etc. When I worked for Sears 10 years ago, we had two ladies who did all our price signage. There were very few errors and things were done correctly. Coming to Taget and seeing the disorganization really dismayed me. Everyone seems to have at least two jobs and none get done properly. Only the team supervisors seem to get stuff done, the sales staff don't really worry too much. Multitasking is one thing, but it is getting ridiculous.
 
The signs are really terrible. There's too many of them and they end up in the floor anyway. As advertised signs just piss off the guest, "How is this a sale? It's the same price!?"
I don't understand why they don't just send us 7x11s for some items, instead of sending individual 3x5s. For example, instead of having a flipping sign for every dove bath soap that's on sale, why can't we have a 7x11 that says "SALE: Dove bars 5.99 - reg 8.99"

The understaffed stores is the worst. I've seen guests leave our store because they have no one to help them. I was covering electronics the other night and i had two guests waiting to unlock something. I was helping someone else and I told them to wait. I asked for backup but of course there was no one on the floor, everyone was on a lane. So when I finished my guest, the other two were already gone.

I don't understand how we're expected to drive sales, if there is no one available to help out guests or fill the floor.
 
The signs are really terrible. There's too many of them and they end up in the floor anyway. As advertised signs just piss off the guest, "How is this a sale? It's the same price!?"
I don't understand why they don't just send us 7x11s for some items, instead of sending individual 3x5s. For example, instead of having a flipping sign for every dove bath soap that's on sale, why can't we have a 7x11 that says "SALE: Dove bars 5.99 - reg 8.99"

The understaffed stores is the worst. I've seen guests leave our store because they have no one to help them. I was covering electronics the other night and i had two guests waiting to unlock something. I was helping someone else and I told them to wait. I asked for backup but of course there was no one on the floor, everyone was on a lane. So when I finished my guest, the other two were already gone.

I don't understand how we're expected to drive sales, if there is no one available to help out guests or fill the floor.

As I'm not too well versed in signage procedures that's another story for another time, HOWEVER...

The understaffing.

Yeah.

In a world in which everyone would SEEM to be an informed consumer ( another story for another time ) and 98% of the population seems to have some kind of smartphone or other with which to reseach products, scan items, etc., et.c, etc., you'd think this wouldn't be such an issue...

However, we do still live in a world in which customers do need ( or sometimes "think" they "need" ) assistance, items need to be picked up off the floor, straightened, etc, in order to present a "brand " store, and so on...

target seems bent on doing (or trying to accomplish ) all this with half the staff ina fraction of the time, at a wage that is easily 1/4 to 1/2 what it should be...

Sorry. rant over.

Sundays really are something else for me...
 
I don't understand why they don't just send us 7x11s for some items, instead of sending individual 3x5s. For example, instead of having a flipping sign for every dove bath soap that's on sale, why can't we have a 7x11 that says "SALE: Dove bars 5.99 - reg 8.99"

YES. Ad takedown in HBA and market is the worst because of this. The only problem with a 7x11 is that the sign holders ALWAYS get knocked down because guests want the product behind them.
 
1) Agreed. Forecasted hours are usually really off for plano, but a store under good leadership should be able to get Plano the hours they need in order to finish.

2) Again, agreed. But, again, this is a problem that could be fixed by the store. If items are being scanned properly for instocks and there's no shortage of the product at the DC level, stores should have plenty of product to distribute amongst multiple locations.

3) There's a method to their madness..I know it seems like the as advertised bubbles are redundant, but from a guest perspective they shout value. A redundant sign draws more attention to a product than no sign at all. HQ actually holds virtual visits to stores via TVS cameras to ensure that all the crazy signage is actually bringing guest traffic through certain aisles.

4) Yes, this is annoying, but if best practices are followed flexing helps make stores look more impressionable, thus driving sales. Again, I don't think this is an issue that corporate has much control over. They've given store leaders all the tools and resources they need in order to execute proper, effective flexing practices.

5) In the store, on the floor. If it fits and it looks presentable, then stock it. The more product we have on the floor, the less time we spend pulling it from the BR when it gets low. Corporate would rather have too much product in a store than too little. And in most situations we still break a profit off of clearance.

6) Really? You'd rather have keys left in the bailer for untrained TMs to use? TMs who are properly trained to use the bailer should have no problems checking out a set of keys to use throughout the day. If you aren't bailer trained and have a tub of trash to throw, then leave it there for someone who IS bailer trained. LOD's throw trash at the end of their shifts, so they can take care of it for you. So in a sense things work in your favor, because you don't need to waste time throwing your trash. It's illegal in most states for powered equipment to be unregulated.

7) Be a global team member. During your interview you agreed to a statement made by the interviewer which basically said you understood that even though you might be offered one position, you were going to be expected to complete tasks within others (Backup cashiering, stocking, guest assistance, etc.). It is within your core roles to offer exceptional, FFF guest service regardless of what task you are working on.



Out of all of these, corporate really only has control over planogram forecasted hours and signing. So, yes, I agree that plano hours could be researched more in order to give stores enough time to complete workloads. For signing, there's a reason why we get all of the signs that we do. If an entire aisle is on sale then 7x11s should be utilized, otherwise HQ signage serves an important purpose in driving profitable sales.

Every other issue brought up is owned by the store/district/group level.

Sales and public perception affect our stock price, and multiple locations, signing, and overstocking all boost our sales when executed correctly by stores.
 
6) Really? You'd rather have keys left in the bailer for untrained TMs to use? TMs who are properly trained to use the bailer should have no problems checking out a set of keys to use throughout the day. If you aren't bailer trained and have a tub of trash to throw, then leave it there for someone who IS bailer trained. LOD's throw trash at the end of their shifts, so they can take care of it for you. So in a sense things work in your favor, because you don't need to waste time throwing your trash. It's illegal in most states for powered equipment to be unregulated.

I would love it if my LODs did trash. If you're going to leave trash, at least make the effort to walkie someone with keys or let someone know its back there if no one is available. Too often do I walk into receiving at 6am with three cages full of trash.
 
Look for e-paper signs soon, perhaps next year. With the current technology it was deemed more cost effective than back-lit and led.
 
I agree multiple locations are getting out of hand.....when a guest wants a movie and the shelf is empty, they assume we are out of it...then we tell them, no we may not be out, check the OTHER 3 places where the movie is. DUMB!

More and more, I think those people in the corporate don't know what the hell they are doing. They don't work in the stores, so I think they are ignorant. They just command us what to do, but little do they realize so much of Target does is a WASTE OF TIME!


1) Revision with dividers/pushers hours WAY lower than it supposed to be. Example: I would get a 30+ labels change Rev in either Medicine, Hair or Skincare aisle with the need to re-adjust pretty much ALL the dividers/pushers when you move. Adjacency Calendars says it takes only 1.7 hours to do. Hell no, it actually takes 4-6 hours to do! Nobody can remotely get that done in 1.7 hours.

Cause of the problem? It seems that when the corporate idiots design these Revs, they forget that all the dividers/pushers move actually takes a long time!

So, when you talking about hours forecast with this being totally off, that's definitely problem! I had this problem from the beginning. It seems Revisions is getting harder but this problem is forever ignored. Ugh!


2) Multiple locations - I don't mind if there is a lot of one product, but often than not, especially in Video Games, multiple locations are of products that are really low stock. New release games should be on the front endcaps, nothing else, like games that came out long time already. And, this lead to people flex (see #4)

3) Aisle FULL of signs and bubbles - Is this really necessary to put a bubble of $3.99 over the price of SAME price, $3.99? Isn't this really redundant, a colossal waste of time? I've seen aisles scared the hell out of me because all you see when you look in the aisle are signs signs signs everywhere! All they say is it's NEW or Buy 4 get 1 free or something. I mean, really? EVERY product need a freaking sign?

Really what other store does this?

4) FLEXING Target seems to encourage putting stuff in the wrong place, and this is pissing me off the most behind unreasonable hours (#1). Flexing works if you know what you are doing, but many Target employees don't know what they are doing! You tell them to flex if there are empty spots, they will create HELL! Overstocking! Stuff flexed ALL in the wrong places! *sigh* I even got many co-workers confess that they hate doing it, it is a waste of time, but asked by their superiors to do it. :/

5) Overstocking (basically an extension to the Flexing point). Again, it seems it's what Target encourages. What do you think overstocking accomplish? TOO MUCH clearance, obviously.

6) No keys left in the baler - For the concern of minors using the baler, Target severely limits us adults from operating the baler as needed. We have to either leave the trash all over the floor/cart/tubs/flats or waste time call a manager to put keys in the baler!

7) Schedule nobody on the sales floor - While using us Planogram and the Flow teams to assist guests. Sure, we can help the guests, but that means we are delaying on getting our planogram done on time, pushing the frate on time everytime we help guests, that's if we even are familiar with these products like the sales floors TMs do. I don't know if is that wise to cut sales floor team members and use Plano/Flow to be the guest's go to help.


Target is basically doing the stock dropping by these stupid, waste of time practices that I am sure has direct impact on work performance and customer satisfaction.

:wacko:
 
I'm okay with flexing as long as it's done right. If an aisle is mpg, flex the ncf as much as you can, but don't flex the active. We're getting sent product to continue to fill that aisle to planogram. Someone at my store flexed the same toilet paper across the back wall when all the other TPs and paper towels are still tied there.
 
6) Really? You'd rather have keys left in the bailer for untrained TMs to use? TMs who are properly trained to use the bailer should have no problems checking out a set of keys to use throughout the day. If you aren't bailer trained and have a tub of trash to throw, then leave it there for someone who IS bailer trained. LOD's throw trash at the end of their shifts, so they can take care of it for you. So in a sense things work in your favor, because you don't need to waste time throwing your trash. It's illegal in most states for powered equipment to be unregulated.
Okay, I have a question about the baler....I thought it was just for cardboard??? We have 1, maybe 2 (not sure if our TL is trained to use the baler) people in the pharmacy who know how to use the baler, but we were told that we HAVE to break down our boxes and put them in the baler....on a couple of occasions, it's been closed so we've just left them with the rest of the pharmacy garbage next to it. Quite honestly, the thing scares the crap out of me because 1/2 the time, it's closed when I go in there and I was shown how to open it, put the torn down boxes in, and close it again (the rest of our garbage stays in the cart nearby and I have no clue what they do with it). I've heard some horror stories and I'm terrified the damn thing is going to rip a hand off so I toss the cardboard in one-handed while holding the gate open with the other, which is no easy feat when we've got a TON of cardboard!!! Is this a safety issue???
 
Balers may differ, but it should only work when the key is turned and the gate is down. It's good practice to flatten the boxes so that more can be put in without the baler having to be operated.
 
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