Archived Reviews are a JOKE!

[PlanoMan]

Reviews are nothing but a huge waste of time! They are such a joke! Sorry to anyone in HR, but its true!

I will start off by saying I have yet to receive mine this year, and still waiting for last years! I was on STD and never received a review or raise!

Just to be clear I am not a "bum"! I have been with target almost 10 years and have been a TL. I have written reviews and have sat in while discussing what everyone should get.

There is NO science behind it, and no method of actually determining if the rating that you are given is "fair and deserved"... By that i mean there is no structure or even table to go off of. Your rating is detetmined by how you are perceived! A well liked person will always get a better score than a person who is not as well liked, regardless of how they stack up and compare! Perception plays a "huge" role.

Example: I currently work on presentation. Team member A is very outgoing. He is extremely personable and very well liked. Team member B is quiet and reserved. They keep to themselves and is not as well known because of this. Currently there is NO method to determine which team member actually does a better job. There is no method to compare the amount of work done (other than memory) or which team member does a better job.

Raises are fickle in that they must all fall within the budget given from above. An outstanding TM could easily get "shafted" because his/her raise would put the store over budget. Essentially you are given an amount that the store can afford regardless of how hard you work.

Without any true method to compare Team member A will likely get a better review than deserved while Team member B will likely get a lower score tgan they deserve. A well liked person is akways perceived as doing a better job than they actually do just because they are liked.

I am sure many will disagree, and that is your right! Its simple pshychology though! Think about someone you like compared to someone whom you dont know as well. You will find more reasons to say good things about the job they do regardless of how they truly compare!

 

[The Mule]

I beg to differ. I can separate the amount I like someone against how much work I know they accomplish. My old store had a few members that I loved to hang around with outside of work, great bunch of people, but some of them were definitely performing under the rest of the team. Conversely, there was also a member on the Price Change team who would always drive me nuts with their inter-personal skills, but they always managed to run a clean and efficient work center. As far as the well liked earning more than the introvert, that can reflect on how they handle guests as well at times as the outgoing TM is likely to engage the guest more and drive sales.

We're not machines, performance isn't black and white at times and everyone adapts and changes differently. There will ALWAYS be some degree of subjective reasoning in a person's review, both at Target or otherwise.

 

[PDAsnob]

OP's second point is completely true. A TM or TL can work their butt off all year but if it isn't within the budget/your store isn't completely green then they wont get the raise they deserve.

 

[PlanoMan]

True, performance is not black or white! Thats why when you have enough room for "X" amount left in raises to distribute amongst 2 people you will side with the person that is more liked. You will find more things to say positively about them. We do this without even thinking!

Im not saying by any means EVERYONE is grouped into this reasoning but more saying that without any true bar of measurement on an individual level we all rely on past memory.

You will remember the "bad" things twice as much as the good!
A person with high anxiety might not interact well with guests or communicate as much via walkie, but does the best job at zoning, coming in when asked and doing go-backs will suffer! Anxiety is a disability that many people suffer yet we often see the bad in people rather than the good!

Like i said there is no true bar to measure an individuals work! Why should a team leaders score be determined by the overall store score? Yes there are 20 points or so of extras you can add on but truly how much say does a team leader have? You could be the best team lead on the face of the earth but if the store score was a 60, the max score you could get is an 80...or an EX! Say the STL was horrible and the morning ETL and team was far behind in their work thus bringing the score way down. Why should that efffect a SL TL or HL TL? Did they have any say in whom the ETL's or STL are? Afterall they effect the store with their decisions!