Archived POG team woes.

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jul 18, 2012
Messages
42
I recently moved to a new store to join their POG team and help try to lead the team toward becoming successful. Over the last few weeks our POG work load (an overnight team) seems to be becoming more overstretched with the amount of work we are being given compared to the amount of hours we have to accomplish the nightly workload.

The team is frustrated with our TL which has resulted in the team being frustrated with each other. Another TM and myself overheard our TL having a conversation with a second TL and her saying, "My team is falling apart." Which is pretty spot on accurate. We currently have six POG TM's to accomplish anywhere from 55-75 hours of work per night (we just had the big lawn and patio set this week on top of the domestics transition).

This current schedule week only two of our TM's can do the Weekly Ad set on Saturday because the rest of us are currently sitting 4+ hours into OT if we continue working the hours we are scheduled and then some because we are rarely, if ever, out on time.

There's unrest in the team where certain TM's have been talking a lot of smack about each other behind each others backs but won't say anything to anyone's face. There is also currently two TM's who leave before the rest of us are done which hurts those of us who end up having to stay even later every day.

Now, I have no problem with getting my 40 every week - but I'd like to try and come up with some solutions to help put the team back together and get us on the right track toward being successful. Our TM's have gone to our ETL-LOG and he is on the same page with us about our TL not making smart, strategic decisions in how much work we are being given vs. how many TM's we have on any given night. It has started to have negative impacts on not only Flow but also our dayside HL peers.

Is anyone else's POG team going through similar experiences right now? Does anyone have some tips or advice? I'm feeling rather disheartened by all of the issues occurring in my store and on my team and welcome any advice some fellow seasoned POG TM's might have.
 
Im a pog tl and I am experiencing kind of the same thing. I dont get nearly enough hours to complete the work and they rely on the sat truck being canceled to try and get everything finished.. im currently sitting on 12 domestic pogs and 11 rev's from last week and we have had to work in rear all week. Out of 300+ hours this week i got 160. My team is really frustrated because they dont like not being able to finish our work even though I keep telling them its not their fault. I partner with my Etl and STL and give them daily updates.

If your TL is not doing their job that makes things even worse for you. Whenever I have issues with my tm's not being happy I try to figure out why and deal with it. for instance if another tm is not pulling their weight etc. I think the biggest thing is to try and get the team to understand that as long as they are giving their 100%, that's all they can do. I get frustrated that im pulled in 100 directions but I say to myself, i work for target ill do my job, make sure everyone is informed, cover my butt and do whatever they want me to do.

do you know why the team members are complaining about the others? is it just because some are leaving on time while others stay to get things done? I dont let any of my team stay past 15 minute their scheduled time. I give them a 45 minute warning about cleaning up and a 30 minute warning.. everyone is pretty good about it now.

Your Tl needs to make sure shes having conversations where she wont be overheard also. that's a sure fire way to kill morale.

I ordered a bunch of t-shirts, target dogs, cups, pens etc (from old tipp) and give them to my team once in a while also to cheer them up.

You probably wont be able to do anything about the hours things.
Are you being given enough hours to get things done? for instance this week the adjacency cal. says 312 hours but I was only given 168. That was the STL's decision. if he doesn't give the hours then you just have to prioritize and really plan.

How open is your tl to suggestions? I dont really take suggestions about setting priority from my team (because they don't really care and I usually do a good job) but if you think something should be done differently can you suggest it without your tl getting mad? If ll else fails you should go talk to an etl you can talk to.
 
The biggest issue regarding the TM's talking behind each others backs all started with one particular TM having an attitude the night we did the transition from valentine's into easter in mini. She got frustrated that most of us on the team made the decision to dig in and only be responsible for the pog's we had been given so we could finish the workload efficiently and quickly. The one TM decided to get huffy because no one would help her as we all had 3 or more full aisle POG's to do ourselves. This has now resulted into all the TM's being angry at each other. Our TL has tried to step in and stop the smack talking when she hears it but it hasn't done a whole lot of good. I think at this point we just need to sit the team down during our fifteen and talk out our issues with each other. I've been trying to encourage the TM's to stop using me as the middle man and just go to the person they have a problem with but that hasn't seemed to do any good.

Three of us stay a minimum of an hour past schedule daily while the other two leave when their POG's are done because they feel they don't need to help the rest of us. Most days the three of us who stay are there 2 hours past schedule. We are consistently given 15+ hours of POG's each per night to get done inside of 6-7 hours. And we aren't even doing our own pulls or backstock anymore. We are still having to merch out the marked clearance to endcaps and clearance aisles and that does eat away at our setting and pushing time. Flow doesn't push our pulls for us.

We also have a TM who has very blatant substance abuse issues and comes to work nightly under the influence. I'm not sure if our TL has been doing anything about it or not but this TM is dragging our team down in terms of productivity and things being completed in a timely manner. I love the TM to death - she's wonderful - and I can relate on the substance issues as I've had my struggles but am thankfully in recovery. I just don't even know how to begin to approach this one.

I've been wanting to sit and have a talk with my TL but when I've tried to make suggestions in the past such as using the red plastic carts to move freight from pallets into the aisle to push as it reduces steps and time needed to complete the work (strategy I was taught at my old, more successful, consistently green and a minimum of 1 week ahead on POG's at all times store) she has shut me down every time.
 
sounds like you guys do things differently. We all work together on pogs.. if its a full aisle anyways we double team it. for instance whenever someone goes to get fixtures we always get what everyone needs, we always print each others labels etc. normally i have so many people who don't understand setting that they cant work alone. I agree with you that everyone needs to sit down and hash it out and if people arent comfortable doing that in a group , having one on one talks with everyone. i would be afraid of someone bring up the girl with the substance abuse problem.
however, regarding the substance abuse I would go to HR. Its serious, can be dangerous and they can help her find help if she wants. its hard to know what to do. in the past i would go to my hr and ask them how to handle it, most times they are in the dark and have no clue.
I cant believe that people just leave. it doesn't seem very team-like to me and that's why I make sure we start clean up at the same time. everyone pitches in.
it sucks that your tl wont listen. I am a huge fan of saving steps. how do they push now? pallet or flat at the end of the aisle and everyone grab a box?
I wish we were an overnight store. we would get so much more done.. I have one tm that sets but mostly pulls for me. Whenever we are almost ready to push ill send him back and he pulls while we push.
 
I am the PTL and if our workload is 312 hours that's what we get. Our problem is pogs taking longer to set then forcast. This week we are setting Haircare. 10 hour pogs. All of the liner and dividers need changed. It is taking us 8 hours just to do 3 sections. We are a 4 am store. Next week we go to 6am. My team is really stressed. Trying to keep them positive and wishing I had a solution. My Etl team can be supportive but until them spend a full day on Presentation it's had for them to know what we go through. Any thoughts?
 
first off i am MEGA jealous you get the right amount of hours.. we dont even get close.
As for morale that's tough.... I have tshirts that ive order from sap, target stuffed dogs, i got permission to give out free drink or lunch coupons for target cafe, i make brownies or buy doughnuts. I make sure to thank my team and keep things light, we also listen to music before the store opens which always keeps up the cheer.
You should look at SAP and see what kind of recognition stuff there is, I got target pens, cups, lunch bags etc.
My etl had to spend monday and tuesday this week working with us and he has a much better understanding of how it works. I dont know how long your been a PTL but I can rely on my experience from the past years and my etls have learned to trust me.
We are starting our HBA (haircare) reset tomorrow and am looking forward to it.. i was allowed to add hours this week because we were so far behind and I have some AWESOME TM's wth me tomorrow its going to be a fun time.
 
I have worked Presentation for 5 of the 7 years I have worked for Target. I have been a presentation tl For 2yrs. My Stl was to work with us but has yet to.Are store is only 2 years old. I am looking into getting things on sap for my team and as you do I bring in snacks for them and we listen to music in the am. We had a good productive day today. Trying to stay positive and have faith that it will get better.
 
Question for anyone who already started setting haircare. Were those small cosmetic shelves suppose to be switched out with the new shelves that came in? The aisle with "nexxus shampoo","bed head", and "its a 10" products. I know every stores not the same but I know someone has to have a similar setup. Because someone on my pog team set the aisle and I have signing that does not fit into the sign holder that is built on the cosmetic shelf. I scanned one of the two big boxes of sign holders and it scanned to that aisle but only on one section.The new sign holders fit in the new shelves,and the signing fits in the new sign holder. So it was a bit confusing. My PTL was not here today so I couldnt ask her.
 
Last edited:
Question for anyone who already started setting haircare. Were those small cosmetic shelves suppose to be switched out with the new shelves that came in? The aisle with "nexxus shampoo","bed head", and "its a 10" products. I know every stores not the same but I know someone has to have a similar setup. Because someone on my pog team set the aisle and I have signing that does not fit into the sign holder that is built on the cosmetic shelf. I scanned one of the two big boxes of sign holders and it scanned to that aisle but only on one section.The new sign holders fit in the new shelves,and the signing fits in the new sign holder. So it was a bit confusing. My PTL was not here today so I couldnt ask her.

My store did the reset and they did use the new shelves and all the black liners and other whatnot. Easier to actually scan for in-stocks.
 
Yes we had cosmetic shelves as well and they changed. Much easier for in stocks agreed. Anyone else looking forward to the new cosmetic fixtures?. Any comments from anyone who has already set them?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top