Archived Red Cards making me see RED!

[Tevawatt92]

I was off for a few days, returned to learn that several team members / cashiers were let go because
they didn't meet the red card minimum statistics.

I can't even believe this - they were great employees.

How does something like this happen?

They had no control over whether or not a guest wanted a red card or not.

Makes me very sad.

 

[commiecorvus]

How much of this is Spot going to do before they realize that they're cutting off their nose to spite their face?

 

[tface23]

Ugh! This is my fear at my store. It hasn't happened yet, but the pressure to get Red Cards is so high, and its ridiculous!

I recently got a GSTL job, so I've been doing a lot of shadowing (and very little training, long story) with the current GSTLs. Frankly, I'm not excited about the job because of Red Cards.

Our store has something like a 30% rate of customers who ALREADY HAVE red cards, but this isn't taken into consideration when calculating cashiers red card rates.

For example, I got into a bit of a back and forth with one of the GSTLs the other day because she was saying that a new cashier has "no excuse" for not having a single red card out of 700 transactions. "Each cashier should get 1 every 100 transactions!"

No! That's insane.. if 30 of those transactions statistically already have a red card, how many, really, out of the other 70 are actually eligible customers?

Maybe they forgot theirs at home. Maybe they are buying a pack of gum. Maybe they are using their moms/husbands/grandma's card today. Maybe they don't have a check on them.

/rant.

Basically, I think the pressure is much too unreasonable, and I fully expect this so become more and more of an issue in the future because of the unrealistic expectations of management.

 

[GlobalJ]

This bothers me. Especially if you're asking every single guest. I asked every single guest one night I was cashiering but wasn't successful. They still got on my case for not physically getting the cards. "Ask the guest twice" they say. No. There comes a point where it becomes harassment. And harassment loses you business. If they ever tried to coach/term me for not getting redcards but I was asking (as the job requires) I'd take them to court. Period.

 

[RedDog]

How much of this is Spot going to do before they realize that they're cutting off their nose to spite their face?

At this point does it suprise you? This company is on a downward spiral and has been for some time. It is a clear example of poor leadership and it starts at the top. They literaly have no idea what to do. Target has become a good example of how to do everything wrong. It is almost like they are not capable doing anything right anymore. I just feel sorry for the people still stuck trying to do a good job and being underminded by Targets clueless senior leadership.

 

[Tevawatt92]

Thanks for the feedback / I agree 100% with all of your follow-up responses.

I'm still in shock, these were GOOD PEOPLE. Some had been there for years. If I knew anyone wanting an entry level / cashier type job, I would tell them NEVER work at Target / they will just get fired, sooner or later, for something totally out of their control.

 

[greatteam]

We actually just got news today that the conversion goal is going to be officially raised to 3.0 in November.

It makes a whole ton of sense. We failed with Canada, so we need to make our assets look better to the stockholders. Raising our RedCards/accts receivable makes it appear that we have more assets than we actually have. It's the lazy man's way to make a "profit". Well, that and cutting hours...which...well...yeah...

 

[eleuthreophile]

How the hell can they fire someone for that?

 

[nib]

This is why it's so important for employees to UNIONIZE! As a LARGE GROUP, management is NEVER going to get rid of EVERYONE (which is the ONLY way they WONT listen to a Union) and with a Union, it's IMPOSSIBLE to get fired without MANY second and third chances to improve your performance. Since Target does NOT allow Unions, your ONLY choice to fight this is going UP the ladder, TL, ETL, STL ETLHR, Employee Relations, the Let Us Know Program, ERDR (Employee Relations District Resource, DTL (District Team Leader), or call the TMSC for any suggestions or advice they might have

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Because they are doing it at some so stores.

 

[nib]

It's not an acceptable thing to do unless EVERYONE has been made aware in advance of the minimum required performance standards and that the employees are given chances to improve their performance to average. That being said, during the first 90 days (unfortunately) employment is particularly vulnerable to termination for less serious offenses, including performance. Hopefully someday soon we will have government legislation that gives employees protection from date of hire, but until then, do the best you can, make sure you are comparing your performance with others in your same job role, and ask for as much assistance as you can possible get from your co-workers, Team Leads, and HR =)

 

[eleuthreophile]

We actually just got news today that the conversion goal is going to be officially raised to 3.0 in November.

That's not official yet? Our goal's been 3.0 since maybe February.

 

[researchr]

They are trying to get rid of long term employees who make more than minimum wage and replace them with newbies who will make only minimum. Stupid...

 

[redandkhaki]

They can't coach based on conversion scores so these people weren't actually fired just based on their score. When i coach someone for redcards it's because they aren't asking and aren't following their core roles in engaging the guest in conversation, etc. For example, I have a cashier who has a terrible conversion score but yet she is a great cashier, talks to every guest, asks every guest about the redcard, explains the benefits but she just doesn't get them. I don't coach her ever about it because she's doing what she's suppose to. Then i have a cashier who has a great conversion score because she works at the service desk for about half of her shifts but she never asks a single guest about the card. I have coached her 5 times in the last 3 months and told her that the next time i would have to move it to a corrective action. She's still not asking and she will be moved to a CA.
Also, for any new GSTL's coming on you must get excited for redcards and you must hold your team accountable or you will not be able to meet a green score. Does it suck? Is it hard? SURE IS! but if you aren't going to lead your team and aren't going to hold them accountable you have no business in accepting a GSTL position. Our goal has been 3.5 since january and we aren't quite there but we are getting there. For the past two months since we started really holding cashiers accountable and changing the way we were doing things our score has gone up. Our YTD score is still low and still red but we have consistently been above a 2.7 for the past two months and it's only going up. I'm excited to see where we get for the end of this year and hope we can be above a 3.0 and start next year off right!

 

[Tevawatt92]

They are trying to get rid of long term employees who make more than minimum wage and replace them with newbies who will make only minimum. Stupid...

This thought did cross my mind as part of the reason. So sad. These people were excellent employees.

 

[Rock Lobster]

They are trying to get rid of long term employees who make more than minimum wage and replace them with newbies who will make only minimum. Stupid...

This thought did cross my mind as part of the reason. So sad. These people were excellent employees.

That does not cross a leader's mind when they decide to go down this route! The only person in the store who really cares about payroll by dollars is the STL and tons of stores do not struggle in staying green on this metric... If a store was not making payroll dollars but they are making payroll hours there is something weird going on with that store (I want to work there, they are paying pretty well)...

No HRBP in their right mind would approve the termination of a cashier without the correct documentation! This means plenty of coachings around observable behaviors (you can't say they aren't getting enough REDcards, but you can say that they aren't asking enough or not in the right way)... which would lead to a CA based off of performance behaviors (same observable qualities that the TM has not improved upon), and then a FW for the same thing, and then finally processing a termination! These TMs who were termed would have not been asking or not taken any feedback and implemented throughout that entire process!

 

[commiecorvus]

How much of this is Spot going to do before they realize that they're cutting off their nose to spite their face?

At this point does it suprise you? This company is on a downward spiral and has been for some time. It is a clear example of poor leadership and it starts at the top. They literaly have no idea what to do. Target has become a good example of how to do everything wrong. It is almost like they are not capable doing anything right anymore. I just feel sorry for the people still stuck trying to do a good job and being underminded by Targets clueless senior leadership.

Yea, that was pretty much a rhetorical question.
And for the well intentioned folks who have explained that nobody would be fired without a careful process of coachings, poor performance and final notices;
I'm sorry but it's way to easy for unscrupulous TLs and ETLs to make those processes purely a rubber stamp that only takes a matter of a month or so if they have decided they want a certain TM gone.
I speak from experience.
Spot needs Red Cards right now in a big way and will do anything to get them even if it means gutting its staff of people who who are compliant in every other way.

 

[buliSBI]

Welcome to

 

[TeamRed]

I heard they were doing this at other stores as well wow that's just not right not right at all! I feel bad for employees that have no back-up plan have to pay rent and Target says bye-bye I mean they will get unemployment jobs can be hard to come by in this economy.

 

[brazzlebub]

This makes me worried. I'm a great cashier, but I just suck at getting RedCards. Most of the time, the most I can do is get people to really consider signing up for one. I'm just really horrible at closing the deal. And I'm sure those same customers come back the next time and sign up with a cashier who seems to get a million per shift. I've also noticed twice that a GSTL has stood near my checklane for a while. One time, it almost seemed like one GSTL was recording me. I don't know if it's them trying to see if I don't ask or if it's some sort of performance review since my first 90 days are coming to a close. Either way, it makes me feel a bit uncomfortable. It doesn't help that the most recently hired GSTL constantly tries to make me feel like an idiot. He asks me things like "Do you know all about the RedCard?" or "Are you familiar with it?". Yes, I know all about the precious RedCard. I've been here for three months and have even sold some.

And don't get me started on his break schedules. Most GSTLs make the break schedule by dividing up a cashier's shift into equal parts. This GSTL just makes it whatever. One time I was scheduled for 5.5 hours and I didn't get my break until the last hour of my shift. My break was about two hours late. The genius also failed to pay attention to others' breaks as two other people go when I finally had my break. Man, he's an idiot. Right now, I'm doing everything I can to get off of cashiering and away from that particular GSTL. Guest service, sales floor, cart attendant, anything but cashiering.

 

[buliSBI]

This makes me worried. I'm a great cashier, but I just suck at getting RedCards. Most of the time, the most I can do is get people to really consider signing up for one. I'm just really horrible at closing the deal. And I'm sure those same customers come back the next time and sign up with a cashier who seems to get a million per shift. I've also noticed twice that a GSTL has stood near my checklane for a while. One time, it almost seemed like one GSTL was recording me. I don't know if it's them trying to see if I don't ask or if it's some sort of performance review since my first 90 days are coming to a close. Either way, it makes me feel a bit uncomfortable. It doesn't help that the most recently hired GSTL constantly tries to make me feel like an idiot. He asks me things like "Do you know all about the RedCard?" or "Are you familiar with it?". Yes, I know all about the precious RedCard. I've been here for three months and have even sold some.

And don't get me started on his break schedules. Most GSTLs make the break schedule by dividing up a cashier's shift into equal parts. This GSTL just makes it whatever. One time I was scheduled for 5.5 hours and I didn't get my break until the last hour of my shift. My break was about two hours late. The genius also failed to pay attention to others' breaks as two other people go when I finally had my break. Man, he's an idiot. Right now, I'm doing everything I can to get off of cashiering and away from that particular GSTL. Guest service, sales floor, cart attendant, anything but cashiering.

Best thing to do is mention the red card to all guests. You may have push it just a little.

But remind the GSA/GSTL 30min or 1hr after a missed break. 30min until compliance for lunches. If they keep forgetting, document it and mention it to your ETL or another GSTL.

 

[Backroom81]

Yea, that was pretty much a rhetorical question.
And for the well intentioned folks who have explained that nobody would be fired without a careful process of coachings, poor performance and final notices;
I'm sorry but it's way to easy for unscrupulous TLs and ETLs to make those processes purely a rubber stamp that only takes a matter of a month or so if they have decided they want a certain TM gone.
I speak from experience.

It's still a pain in the ass process though. Sometimes, I miss the days when I could just simply gut the hours of underperformers.