Archived Team Member Becoming Team Lead?

[diamond92]

Hey guys. So I've been working as a sales floor team member for a year now and just graduated with my master's degree. I've been stressed out about the job-search process and have decided that maybe pursuing a higher position at Target would be a good idea for the time being. With my pay not being that high and hours being cut, I really need to make some moves that will benefit me.

I was wondering if any of you guys here have gone through this process (regular team member turning into team lead)? I talked to an ETL and they said that I can start getting mentored by the team leads at my store whenever I'm working. They said they'd put a good word in for me, but that right now my store is not hiring for the position. I have to look into seeing if nearby Targets are hiring.

Is pay hourly or salary for team leads? Do you feel that moving up was a good idea or has it just made your Target experience more stressful? I would love any advice from you guys. Thanks.

 

[Tired Grunt]

TM/TL/SrTl are all hourly. ETL and above are salaried. The stress level really depends on the team you work with and the store you're in. You really need great support if you want to get things done. But it's fine if you just want a job in the mean time, as you continue to search for jobs more fitting for your degree.

 

[Him]

I can speak from personal experience and yes it is very possible for tm's to become a tl within your own store. I will not "sugarcoat" it and I hope what I share with you will not discourage you. I cosign with tired grunt in saying it truly is the team that makes or breaks you and what drives your results. TL's and ETL's can "mentor" you all they can, but your success or failure is on you. My suggestion is before you make the transition from tm-TL, cross train in as many workcenters as your mind capacity can handle. That way any workcenters within your store that a TL, quits, transfer or gets promoted, you will already be familiar with said workcenter and can "slip" right in. Also, word Will absolutely spread to everyone within your store that you are interested and heavily pursing getting promoted, hence a lot of jealousy from your coworkers and people you might not even know will try to discourage you. My advice is just ignore it and do what's best for you and your family!! With that being said, the "stress" will happen. You will definitely have "eyes" on you in whatever you say, do, react/non-react. It is what I see honestly is becoming a leader by trial by fire, so to speak. Anyway, I wish you the absolute best and will try to answer any other questions or concerns you might have!!

 

[Kartman]

Target? Take your degree and become a Navy Officer...

 

[jadzia]

If you're actually set on staying with Target, why not try applying for ETL at a different store? Most ETLs only have a bachelor's.

 

[diamond92]

If you're actually set on staying with Target, why not try applying for ETL at a different store? Most ETLs only have a bachelor's.

I became a regular team member right after getting my bachelor's degree (I needed a flexible part-time job while I finished my master's degree, and Target was the job I ended up at). I think there were upper-level positions open when I first applied, but I never had a retail job before and figured that retail experience would be necessary in combination with a degree (obviously that's not the case but I didn't know at the time). I would much rather be an ETL, but I wanted to talk to someone higher up at my store before making any decisions. I brought up becoming an ETL, but the person I talked to kind of ignored that and kept talking about me being developed into a team lead instead...

 

[diamond92]

I can speak from personal experience and yes it is very possible for tm's to become a tl within your own store. I will not "sugarcoat" it and I hope what I share with you will not discourage you. I cosign with tired grunt in saying it truly is the team that makes or breaks you and what drives your results. TL's and ETL's can "mentor" you all they can, but your success or failure is on you. My suggestion is before you make the transition from tm-TL, cross train in as many workcenters as your mind capacity can handle. That way any workcenters within your store that a TL, quits, transfer or gets promoted, you will already be familiar with said workcenter and can "slip" right in. Also, word Will absolutely spread to everyone within your store that you are interested and heavily pursing getting promoted, hence a lot of jealousy from your coworkers and people you might not even know will try to discourage you. My advice is just ignore it and do what's best for you and your family!! With that being said, the "stress" will happen. You will definitely have "eyes" on you in whatever you say, do, react/non-react. It is what I see honestly is becoming a leader by trial by fire, so to speak. Anyway, I wish you the absolute best and will try to answer any other questions or concerns you might have!!

After working at Target for a year, I would say the sales floor team is pretty decent, which is good if I do get promoted. So what are the duties of a team lead? To my understanding, it's to keep track of everyone's progress, figure out who needs help with their zone and/or reshop and switch people around accordingly so that everything gets done , announce when reshop needs to be picked up from guest service, keep track of everyone's breaks, help out with the zones and reshop on busy days, send out the email at the end of the night, and lock up. Anything else that I'm forgetting?

 

[aspiringETL]

After working at Target for a year, I would say the sales floor team is pretty decent, which is good if I do get promoted. So what are the duties of a team lead? To my understanding, it's to keep track of everyone's progress, figure out who needs help with their zone and/or reshop and switch people around accordingly so that everything gets done , announce when reshop needs to be picked up from guest service, keep track of everyone's breaks, help out with the zones and reshop on busy days, send out the email at the end of the night, and lock up. Anything else that I'm forgetting?

Act as LOD sometimes, be responsible for having TM's get shit done, know how to do everything in the store in case you need to help with receiving or do GSA/TL type work or whatever. Other than that you got it

 

[snoboy8999]

You have two degrees. Look for a recruiter on Linkedin for your area if you don't already know them and send them a message. There's no reason you can't be an ETL.

 

[jadzia]

After working at Target for a year, I would say the sales floor team is pretty decent, which is good if I do get promoted. So what are the duties of a team lead? To my understanding, it's to keep track of everyone's progress, figure out who needs help with their zone and/or reshop and switch people around accordingly so that everything gets done , announce when reshop needs to be picked up from guest service, keep track of everyone's breaks, help out with the zones and reshop on busy days, send out the email at the end of the night, and lock up. Anything else that I'm forgetting?

Depending on your store you'll also be responsible for everything happening in your area. So if you're a SFTL that means following up with the PPTL on any transitions, SPLs, revisions, etc that are being done in your department(s) weekly. If you're going to be working with consumables then developing relationships with vendors and having set routines for your PAs and Market TMs. If you're a Softlines TL making sure all POGs and adjacencies get set on time (partnering with the VML if necessary), the list goes on and on...

I do still think you should go for ETL though.