Archived So it's come to this...

[TeeBee]

Apparently my DTL has sent down the mandate that there MUST be an ETL or LOD at the front lanes at ALL times driving REDcards. I came in to work with one of the Sr’s having a meltdown b/c she was gonna have to be up front all night. So the gist of it is DTL wants the leaders…namely the execs to take a more active role in driving red cards and getting the RC conversion up. More than the usual shout out on the walkie ‘hey front end team where are we sitting with red cards?’ ‘Oh come on guys we’re better than this’. All while sitting on their asses at TSC… So to that end I get where he is coming from and it will be nice to see the ones who think that all I do is stand around really see what one of my shifts is really like. And please know that I am very aware that our ETLs have a crap ton of work to do, so this is about as popular with them as it is with me. But there are a lot of leaders in the building who refuse to support the FE team all. I actually had someone say to me recently "well at least you get to just stand around and watch..." We came dangerously close to needing KY to retrieve my LPDA. *sigh* This should be interesting. Oh, and I give it a week at best two.

 

[mrknownothing]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA no.

 

[Bosch]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA no.

I can't say it better than this.

 

[commiecorvus]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA no.

DITTO..

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

It's a true fact in my district. At least, one etl at front end all times. Waste of payroll & resources, spot!

 

[spoilers]

wait is this nation-wide or in a few certain areas? A certain ETL was having an absolute fit and hiding in the backroom when I left work today lol

 

[neversaynever]

There was a funky pow-wow going on when I left today....

The STL already had been up there while the GSTL was on a register, and the mid LOD on one most of the 3 hours before that.

Wait, that wasn't what you meant huh? LOL! (She did get 2 RCs though)

My ETL-GE has never been up front since she started with us.....

 

[redeye58]

We came dangerously close to needing KY to retrieve my LPDA. *sigh* This should be interesting. Oh, and I give it a week at best two.

Need degreaser?
I gots room in my walk-in.

 

[Retail Girl]

There are times when it would be handy...like when I'm having to jump on lanes or when I'm at guest services covering a break and someone else at a register needs help. But there are other times when the last thing I want is an ETL breathing down my neck watching us all. There is no way someone can (or should) stand up there staring at the cashiers all day/night making sure they are asking each and every guest. They can come on occasion if they want...when we are busy up front and need their support would be a good time to do this...but to do it all the time will drive guests and TMs out of the store. Let the GSA/GSTL do their job.

 

[EagleEye]

My STL is always the first to respond to backup if he's not on a call...it's either amazing or sad. Amazing that he is willing to spend as much time at the lanes as we need, but sad in the fact that no one has grasped his example and respond quicker..

 

[Retail Girl]

Or sad that he has nothing better to do. I mean, doing it every now and then is fine, but eventually you need to do your own job and delegate the things that others can do to the others.

 

[neversaynever]

I don't know that I've ever seen mine on a register, but he is out there running things so everyone else can jump on if needed. In thinking about it, in the ETL area I've only seen HR jump on.

But overall we have decent support up front.... But having them breath down my neck won't change things.

 

[commiecorvus]

And off topic @TeeBee great avatar.

 

[pellinore]

Actually, I think that having an ETL up front will help out because...
1) they will see what it is like asking about RC.
2) they'll get a better understanding of things when they are on a register, have 6 people in lines and have to explain what a RC is.
3) if ETLs have to be up front then that means that they WILL BE held accountable for RC and conversion rates.
4) ETLs need to be reminded that cashiering isn't always fun and easy.
5) ETLs will have to talk to guests.
6) Let ETLs be the ones who ask guests about RCs before the guest gets in line to check-out.

I do agree that it will probably feel like we are being watched....but having the ETLs engaged up front means that corporate is expecting an increase in RC conversions.....and when the increase doesn't happen, it will now be the ETLs responsibility to explain why...or come up with better ideas for selling RCs.
So, take it in stride and let us see what happens......and hope that RC conversion rates don't keep getting higher and higher.

 

[BullseyeBabe]

They're doing this at my store too. One good thing about it is now they know we're asking and asking and asking...

 

[The Dude Abides]

This would be literally impossible at my store since there are vast periods of time when the LOD is the only person in the store that is an ETL or Sr. TL.

 

[pellinore]

This would be literally impossible at my store since there are vast periods of time when the LOD is the only person in the store that is an ETL or Sr. TL.

Well....looks like corporate will need to find hours for those ETLs.....oh, and hire more ETLs!

You suppose they'll cut hours on the sales floor.....electronics....front end.......or.....wait.....what about the photo lab???

 

[pellinore]

I'm being sarcastic about the photo lab......at the moment we don't even have a specific person to go over there to make sure we've got supplies or pictures for guests to pick-up!

 

[The Dude Abides]

We don't even have a photo lab. Just a shitty kodak picture kiosk that breaks down about three times a day.

 

[pellinore]

You know, one of the things that management has been talking about is how our RCs compare to other stores. Specifically they are looking at Kohl's stores. My store has a penetration level of nearly 25%....which is not bad.....that means that 1 in 4 guests use a RC when shopping at my store.
Well, Kohl's penetration level shows that SEVEN of every TEN customers use a Kohl's card when they shop. That means that 70% (yes, 70%) of all customers shop with their card.
The question becomes....What can we do to get RC usage up to this same level? Looks like this is a start for Target to catch up to the competition.

According to " Consumer Reports" magazine the national store chain that has THE BEST store savings program is Target. The second best is Kohl's.
So, if Target has the best over-all program, why can't we get more people to us the Target RC? Seems to me that corporate might be looking for ideas to help "fix" this huge gap of RC users and Kohl's card users.

I hope that they come up with more ideas than just having an ETL up at the front lanes.

 

[TeeBee]

There are times when it would be handy...like when I'm having to jump on lanes or when I'm at guest services covering a break and someone else at a register needs help. But there are other times when the last thing I want is an ETL breathing down my neck watching us all. There is no way someone can (or should) stand up there staring at the cashiers all day/night making sure they are asking each and every guest. They can come on occasion if they want...when we are busy up front and need their support would be a good time to do this...but to do it all the time will drive guests and TMs out of the store. Let the GSA/GSTL do their job.

There are definitely times when it would be nice to have the additional support. It never fails, as soon as I have to hop on a lane that is when 3 top lights come on. And God forbid I have to go to the service desk...for some reason the cashiers will NOT hit the button for back up. So then it would be great. But like you said Retail Girl sometimes the absolute last thing I want is an ETL hovering. One of my ETLs is nothing but a distraction when she isn't flirting with one of my cart attendants or keeping sales floor team members from doing their job....she is terrifying the cashiers and pissing off guests. But anyways, when I heard this was happening I was borderline insulted. What exactly are they supposed to do that we GSTL/GSA's haven't been doing? I mean I get that the DTL wants them to be more hands on; but how much more hands on can we be without shaking cashiers and smacking guests?

 

[neversaynever]

We apparently got a new DTL while I was gone. Kinda bummed, I liked ours.

Our new one might be from the same area as the new ETL-GE, which I can't see going well. Things are totally different in our area of the state....

I'm on the fence this morning how this might end up... Guess I will see in a few hours what we are doing!

 

[neversaynever]

Oh and to me, the difference between kohls and target is that people are buying things the need vs things they want/extras. Not everyone want to charge their toilet paper... But they will use their kohls card to buy a new outfit for some occasion.

We are promoting that the pharmacy is #1, why don't we have signs about being the best store savings program? (I find that difficult to believe, best on what criteria?). Can we not advertise it? Can't we print blurbs to put on receipts/coupons? Have an area on the POS screen that show the potential savings?

 

[oath2order]

Have an area on the POS screen that show the potential savings?

HOW IS THIS NOT A THING ALREADY. Just make this show up on the RedCard prompt screen. GOD that would be so useful.

If Target wants to get more RedCards, get better savings. An extra 5% off with your RedCard if you purchase a Target brand item.

 

[Retail Girl]

The thing with the prompts is that by the time we get to it, I've already asked the guest. So I would have to ask the guest again, which I am not likely to do.