Setting up for failure situation/ also racial favoritism

[TheLycan]

Sooooo at the store I am currently working at ive been there for awhile and had left for a year. I recently returned and have noticed alot of difference in the racial aspect of the work environment.
Before I had left for a year I KID YOU NOT I witnessed a upper position woman supervisor (fancy work title position whatever it was) say "Not enough black people work here"
and so i was appalled by hearing such a comment like ok???
So now that I am back and currently working a set schedule for the store. I am very much one of the highly experienced workers in all aspects due to 10+ yrs in retail. Despite having that experience I have NEVER experienced what I am about to post, not that I am being prejudice or anything BUT i do feel that prejudism is being used against anyone that is NOT black and anyone who isnt black is being set up for failure and I am among quite a few workers who feel the same.
SO i have seen some of said workers sleeping in the break room, loafing around, being goofs and not efficient at all, breaking ALL SORTS of rules including safety, dresscode, tardiness, no calls no shows, stealing company time, etc.... and they are getting away with it. but if you are NOT black you get pulled aside and told off.
whats the deal for such a situation like this? its the workers who follow the rules who getting thrown under the bus.
I was deliberately put in a area where I am not exactly the greatest and it was my first time too and within 2 hours pulled into the office for "not being fast enough"
meanwhile the other loafers around just have it their way.
I dont plan on staying with this said store long enough i am pursuing an educational course and will gladly up and leave after i finish.
its disgusting if u ask me how they are being prejudice here. Seeing them gather everyone in a huddle and enforcing some new rule about not using carts but they forget to leave out the detail that the rules exclude anyone thats black.
pardon this talk but thats the sad reality of whats going on here at this store. its like.... very contridictive. NEVER in my amount of years doing retail have I experienced a situation like this.

 

[60SecondsRemaining]

What is the problem here? Diversity is a good thing. This whole thread sounds like a Conservative bitch session.

Diversity is a great thing. It's also backed up by research that diverse workforces produce better results.

But I don't feel we should be treating people differently (good or bad) because of the color of their skin.

If it were a true effort to implement fair diverse hiring practices, I'm in. I'm on board. 100%. But it isn't. It's a farce. It's just pandering to folks so they feel good and buy more.

Where would their money be better spent? On a "diversity symposium" with guest speakers, or in their local community supporting education and fighting inequality.

I'm not against diversity, very much the opposite. But I don't think Target (or any company) will truly give a shit until they get called out on their Facebook fantasy life picture of perfection.

 

[60SecondsRemaining]

Please explain in what ways it is a farce. What specifically have you seen or heard that makes you feel this way? What do you mean by Facebook fantasy life?

In the simplest way I think I would equate it to "Talking the talk but not walking the walk".

Companies are quick to espouse things like pride and diversity all over their public social media and to their customers. But they tackle the problem the wrong way.

When you institute metric driven policy to force diversity (x% diverse per store etc) then the chain breaks in the middle. The focus is the number, not the actual result. Managers will just work to achieve the metric instead of truly understanding the value of it. It's not a durable solution. It only changes things as long as people focus on the metric. Once the metric is gone, so is your so called diversity.

Global corporations are not stupid. They know this. But they don't care because the point of these policies isn't to actually become more diverse, it's to generate the smallest and cheapest paper trail possible so they can then plaster it all over social media and court the shareholders and the public to support them - thus driving people and money into their doors.

If they truly cared about diversity they would be spending money to educate employees and educate communities about diversity trying to make actual positive change.

 

[Sparkle5]

Don't you think that training is a way of trying to educate employees? I don't believe it is a retail company's job to educate the community, but Target's diversity and anti-discrimination and harassment training is pretty extensive. Whether TMs actually choose to pay attention to it and learn is a different story, of course, and it would be more effective if we had in-person workshops (like we did a few years ago), but people would be rolling their eyes and bitching about that as well.

Paying attention to a computer screen isn't going to change any one in real life. Interacting in real life will. Those in person trainings sound perfect. Huddle s on an actual regular basis are a pathway. Diversity among and within work centers is a pathway. So far at our store all the whites work at night and all the others work dayside. GServices is diverse/Aka appearances. It s been a slow evolve apparently due to the LACK of effort by leadership to acknowledge anyone but their own like skined workers....work there.

 

[60SecondsRemaining]

Don't you think that training is a way of trying to educate employees? I don't believe it is a retail company's job to educate the community, but Target's diversity and anti-discrimination and harassment training is pretty extensive. Whether TMs actually choose to pay attention to it and learn is a different story, of course, and it would be more effective if we had in-person workshops (like we did a few years ago), but people would be rolling their eyes and bitching about that as well.

I think the training is a box checker much like the rest of the effort.

How many TMs do you think get a yearly "you need to do your diversityt training because your name is on the naughty list"

I wholeheartedly believe it is an organizations role to act on behalf of the best interests of the communities they serve. They have the money, they have the connections, if not them than who?

 

[redeye58]

Juneteenth Is Not a Legal Holiday In Most States:

Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee included funding for a state Juneteenth holiday in his proposed budget this year. The paid holiday proposal died in the GOP-controlled legislature after state Sen. Joey Hensley, a Republican, said in a February committee hearing that he had asked well over a hundred people in his district what Juneteenth is, and only two of them knew.
“I just think it’s putting the cart before the horse to make a holiday people don’t know about. We need to educate people first and then make a holiday if we need to,” Hensley said.

Yet whenever people of color try to educate others about their history they're shut down with accusations of promoting Critical Race Theory.

 

[commiecorvus]

Juneteenth Is Not a Legal Holiday In Most States:

Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee included funding for a state Juneteenth holiday in his proposed budget this year. The paid holiday proposal died in the GOP-controlled legislature after state Sen. Joey Hensley, a Republican, said in a February committee hearing that he had asked well over a hundred people in his district what Juneteenth is, and only two of them knew.
“I just think it’s putting the cart before the horse to make a holiday people don’t know about. We need to educate people first and then make a holiday if we need to,” Hensley said.

Yet whenever people of color try to educate others about their history they're shut down with accusations of promoting Critical Race Theory.

Yeah, my governor is an asshole and wouldn't make it a state holiday.
And we have a couple of local school boards trying to keep it from even being mentioned in school.
Fucking bigots.

 

[commiecorvus]

the revolution will not be televised

Love that song.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

are you a closing expert?
Did you get Proper training? Color shouldn’t be the issue. We are supposed to use carts.

 

[Targetking]

Are u kidding me??? like seriously? that explains alot.

thats a lawsuit waiting to happen.

 

[commiecorvus]

Sooooo at the store I am currently working at ive been there for awhile and had left for a year. I recently returned and have noticed alot of difference in the racial aspect of the work environment.
Before I had left for a year I KID YOU NOT I witnessed a upper position woman supervisor (fancy work title position whatever it was) say "Not enough black people work here"
and so i was appalled by hearing such a comment like ok???
So now that I am back and currently working a set schedule for the store. I am very much one of the highly experienced workers in all aspects due to 10+ yrs in retail. Despite having that experience I have NEVER experienced what I am about to post, not that I am being prejudice or anything BUT i do feel that prejudism is being used against anyone that is NOT black and anyone who isnt black is being set up for failure and I am among quite a few workers who feel the same.
SO i have seen some of said workers sleeping in the break room, loafing around, being goofs and not efficient at all, breaking ALL SORTS of rules including safety, dresscode, tardiness, no calls no shows, stealing company time, etc.... and they are getting away with it. but if you are NOT black you get pulled aside and told off.
whats the deal for such a situation like this? its the workers who follow the rules who getting thrown under the bus.
I was deliberately put in a area where I am not exactly the greatest and it was my first time too and within 2 hours pulled into the office for "not being fast enough"
meanwhile the other loafers around just have it their way.
I dont plan on staying with this said store long enough i am pursuing an educational course and will gladly up and leave after i finish.
its disgusting if u ask me how they are being prejudice here. Seeing them gather everyone in a huddle and enforcing some new rule about not using carts but they forget to leave out the detail that the rules exclude anyone thats black.
pardon this talk but thats the sad reality of whats going on here at this store. its like.... very contridictive. NEVER in my amount of years doing retail have I experienced a situation like this.

So, you seem like a nice young person but I'm sure I'm going to regret this but WTF.
/me drops the needle on Vouden-Ascend and cranks up the volume, and pours a Guinness.
"You want one? This might take a bit."

So you were at the store for a while, left and recently came back, right?
But there seems to be something different about the place now?
A racial element you say?
You even heard one of the TLs or ETLs say something on the side about there not being enough black employees.
You don't mention what the context of the conversation was so we really don't know if that meant for their being able to find dates or put together a decent basketball team but whatever.
But you have noticed a number of people goofing off.
And you seem to think that the black people get away with it while the white people don't.
And this disgusts you especially when new rules about not using carts are made but the rules exclude... anyone who is black.
And you are absolutely convinced that is exactly what is going on in your store. 100%.
And it might be, I'm not there.

However, I also see you work overnight which is a pretty small window into the store as a whole.
You may be seeing a situation that is happening on one team, which while I grant you is bad, isn't indicative of the store as a whole.
How much of the store do you see overall?
When I was a signing ninja, I was all over the place from one end to the other morning to late afternoon.
I got to see all aspects of what was going on and I realized that a lot of my perspective from the days when I worked flow was pretty damned tiny.

You getting assigned to an area you aren't good at isn't a conspiracy, it means you got the short end of the stick.
I have big fat hands, with tremors from nerve damage, and getting assigned anything in makeup was a horror for me.
I dropped more than I shelved.
I hated it more than anything but I worked it when I got assigned and tried to come up with ways of doing it better.

As to the people fucking off, sleeping, etc.
About half the flow crew were Hispanic and worked 3 or 4 jobs to pay the stupidly high rents in NJ.
Some of the them would fall asleep on break and we would have to go find them in the corners of the steel to wake them up.
Nobody worked harder but they were literally killing themselves to survive.
You might want to take some of that into consideration as well.

We had a former gang member who left suddenly without telling anyone because his kid got sick.
When they said they were going to fire him he laughed, "I jumped out of the 18th Street Set, so I could be with my kids. You got nothing to say to me."
I tried to explain to the HR lady that she needed to stop treating the TM like children since many of them had seen shit that she had no idea of.
That might have been part of the reason she decided to get rid of me what she took over as boss.

I'm not trying to say that you didn't have the experiences you say you did.
Like I said, I wasn't there.
However, I suspect that if you take a wider look you might find some interesting things in the corners that you didn't realize were there.

Soundtrack to read this by.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

There are a few problems though.
I am not the only 1 who feels this way.
The context of that said quote regarding not enough black people was exactly that... "there are not enough black people working here"

I guess it's easy to dismiss these claims as it is hard to believe something like this can happen.
Just know that it's just not justifiable for what I've seen and currently experiencing.
The logic I am seeing at this store is very very poor. It is what it is, I dont plan on staying in my state within the next yr I'm planning on leaving. These miserable prejudice people can keep their store and do as they want. I just find it amusing and annoying to say the least. Asses hanging out, favoritism with well... again ykno wat I mean.
I'm a very very open minded person and see alot from different angles so trust me I wouldnt be posting this here otherwise. I've done this field for 10 plus yrs and it's the first time I am seeing such a situation, hence why I thought I'd seek some insight. It really is pathetic to be honest.
Anyhow jus wonder if anyones had similar stories.

Document all events & talk to your sd about your concerns.

 

[IhateOPmodel]

I have been told by ETLs that we are to hire all people of color if they apply at my store, unless they present huge red flags during the interview process. I work in a store that is only 1% diverse and in an area that is less than 15% diverse.

 

[KirbyKirbs]

I really think we need a more diverse CEO.... Target could really use the touch of a black woman. I'm being serious. I'm not a fan of Brian's Target. Everything is blah.....beige housewares, boring artwork, prairie dresses, and street walker clothes.

 

[can't touch this]

CEOs aren’t people

 

[REDcardJJ]

I do see their point about performative diversity but since getting a corporation to make any serious substantial change in a system that makes it money is really unlikely, I'll take this for now.
We just have to keep pushing.
Or have the revolution.

the revolution will not be televised

 

[happygoth]

Diversity is a great thing. It's also backed up by research that diverse workforces produce better results.

But I don't feel we should be treating people differently (good or bad) because of the color of their skin.

If it were a true effort to implement fair diverse hiring practices, I'm in. I'm on board. 100%. But it isn't. It's a farce. It's just pandering to folks so they feel good and buy more.

Where would their money be better spent? On a "diversity symposium" with guest speakers, or in their local community supporting education and fighting inequality.

I'm not against diversity, very much the opposite. But I don't think Target (or any company) will truly give a shit until they get called out on their Facebook fantasy life picture of perfection.

Please explain in what ways it is a farce. What specifically have you seen or heard that makes you feel this way? What do you mean by Facebook fantasy life?

 

[Yetive]

the revolution will not be televised

Start the revolution without me.

 

[happygoth]

In the simplest way I think I would equate it to "Talking the talk but not walking the walk".

Companies are quick to espouse things like pride and diversity all over their public social media and to their customers. But they tackle the problem the wrong way.

When you institute metric driven policy to force diversity (x% diverse per store etc) then the chain breaks in the middle. The focus is the number, not the actual result. Managers will just work to achieve the metric instead of truly understanding the value of it. It's not a durable solution. It only changes things as long as people focus on the metric. Once the metric is gone, so is your so called diversity.

Global corporations are not stupid. They know this. But they don't care because the point of these policies isn't to actually become more diverse, it's to generate the smallest and cheapest paper trail possible so they can then plaster it all over social media and court the shareholders and the public to support them - thus driving people and money into their doors.

If they truly cared about diversity they would be spending money to educate employees and educate communities about diversity trying to make actual positive change.

Don't you think that training is a way of trying to educate employees? I don't believe it is a retail company's job to educate the community, but Target's diversity and anti-discrimination and harassment training is pretty extensive. Whether TMs actually choose to pay attention to it and learn is a different story, of course, and it would be more effective if we had in-person workshops (like we did a few years ago), but people would be rolling their eyes and bitching about that as well.

 

[happygoth]

I really think we need a more diverse CEO.... Target could really use the touch of a black woman. I'm being serious. I'm not a fan of Brian's Target. Everything is blah.....beige housewares, boring artwork, prairie dresses, and street walker clothes.

I like a lot of our home decor, but holy hell most of our dresses are hideous. There are some cute-ish Wild Fable ones but you have to be a twig to wear them.

 

[GRC]

Is it really surprising? It's what almost every big company is doing now. Diversity for the sake of diversity, fighting racism with more racism.