Archived The End of an Era

[Makeshift TPS]

Being as general and nonspecific as possible to avoid information leaks, does anyone else thing AP will recover from the recent changes? The company has been chipping away our resources and positions for a while, but nothing quite like this. Those poor bastards who have been with the company for years, many of whom just got finished moving their families from the last integration to stay with the company, the burden of their work piled onto others who already have so much to deal with. I stayed silent about the previous changes in the hopes that the pendulum would swing back, but this really disturbs me. Hell, I wanted to become an investigator but the apparent volatility of their positions is ridiculous. Boosters and fraud artists are going to be having a field day when this crap gets out.

What happened? Did the company determine the cost was too high to justify our services? Do they realize what we do to benefit the company's shortage in the long term? Do they care? Is it about image?

Considered staying with the company after I finished my degree, even after a lot of the cooler positions were eliminated; but now, guess ill just hop ship to my local PD instead.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Ae017 has happened to Ap.

 

[garbage]

Regional AP leader instructed all TPSs to be at the doors at least 90% of their shift. Stores without an APS, conceal what you want. No one is going to stop you now.

 

[signingminion]

Being as general and nonspecific as possible to avoid information leaks, does anyone else thing AP will recover from the recent changes? The company has been chipping away our resources and positions for a while, but nothing quite like this. Those poor bastards who have been with the company for years, many of whom just got finished moving their families from the last integration to stay with the company, the burden of their work piled onto others who already have so much to deal with. I stayed silent about the previous changes in the hopes that the pendulum would swing back, but this really disturbs me. Hell, I wanted to become an investigator but the apparent volatility of their positions is ridiculous. Boosters and fraud artists are going to be having a field day when this crap gets out.

What happened? Did the company determine the cost was too high to justify our services? Do they realize what we do to benefit the company's shortage in the long term? Do they care? Is it about image?

Considered staying with the company after I finished my degree, even after a lot of the cooler positions were eliminated; but now, guess ill just hop ship to my local PD instead.

I've thought of finishing my degree in forensics with the intent to jump to the investigation center, but doesn't seem worth it. Nor does anyone want to chat about it or whether it would be possible.

 

[HardlinesGuy]

I had considered moving to an IC Tech position after I got my degree as a gateway into law enforcement but that's not happening anymore. I honestly don't even know what to say in regard to these changes other than "I can't believe they think this is a good idea."

Shortage rates are about to skyrocket, and we'll be the ones they blame. Good luck, everyone. We're all in this together.

 

[DannyDawg]

I had considered moving to an IC Tech position after I got my degree as a gateway into law enforcement but that's not happening anymore. I honestly don't even know what to say in regard to these changes other than "I can't believe they think this is a good idea."

Shortage rates are about to skyrocket, and we'll be the ones they blame. Good luck, everyone. We're all in this together.

Did they announce any more changes today?

 

[BullseyeBabe]

I'm so sorry about this. Why don't they care about all the money they're losing? I'm not trying to derail your topic but the amount of money "lose" every day at the front lanes and at guest service makes me wonder if they care at all. It feels like I spend every shift changing prices and doing "returns." There seems to be a steady stream of guests that have grandmothers who give expensive high value gifts to their sketchy relatives. The grandmothers always use cash and never have receipts. We also have push outs way too often. Every time our AP guy tried to set limits he was thwarted. He gave up and quit a while ago. I'm worried and frustrated.

 

[Makeshift TPS]

I'm so sorry about this. Why don't they care about all the money they're losing? I'm not trying to derail your topic but the amount of money "lose" every day at the front lanes and at guest service makes me wonder if they care at all. It feels like I spend every shift changing prices and doing "returns." There seems to be a steady stream of guests that have grandmothers who give expensive high value gifts to their sketchy relatives. The grandmothers always use cash and never have receipts. We also have push outs way too often. Every time our AP guy tried to set limits he was thwarted. He gave up and quit a while ago. I'm worried and frustrated.

That's regulated by the STL and ETL-GE. Back in the good ole days AP functioned as a separate entity and could do its job without being total subject to store rule, now we fall under the jurisdiction of the STL and not even the APBP can supercede an STL decision or directive. STLs care primarily about sales, because that's what's keeping them employed. They could care less how much runs out the doors because at the end of the day AP will be the one's getting hit with the blame for shortage, for better or worse. That's why you're forced to blindly accept every coupon, return, and price match (for the most part) tossed your way. It doesn't help that the corporation sets ridiculous sales goals with threats of position and hour cuts if they aren't met.

 

[HardlinesGuy]

Did they announce any more changes today?

Not to my knowledge, but the changes they have made and what others are reportedly being told be leadership just makes me think that we won't even exist in s few years time.

 

[Makeshift TPS]

I've thought of finishing my degree in forensics with the intent to jump to the investigation center, but doesn't seem worth it. Nor does anyone want to chat about it or whether it would be possible.

I doubt our forensic labs will still be open by the end of this fiscal year. With everything else they've slashed i'm honestly surprised they kept the labs. It's not like we have special investigations teams to use them anymore anyway. Ffs, every cop i've talked to has the utmost praise for Target AP because of how ridiculously efficient we are at doing what we do. Every booster we caught where I work has always said something along the lines of "They warned me about Target, should've listened". AP was notorious, but now we're slowly fading into obscurity.

 

[TGT411]

Which recent changes are you referring to? Losing/moving Investigators sucks, but having one APBP in every district with mostly hourly AP leaders mirrors how most other retailers structure their AP departments and it works. Yeah, Target AP used to be robust and frankly pretty badass but to me it seems like things are moving more in the right direction than they were just a few years ago. Hell, just the other day all our ETL-APs were informed that they must be in plainclothes to ensure a total AP focus on their non-LOD days. I haven't seen a high-level directive anything like that since the old days.

 

[Makeshift TPS]

I'd get into it, believe me, but I'm not sure what we should post on an open forum. Of course some disgruntlement APTM will probably get fired in the next week and write a detailed dissertation about the intricate workings of AP and post it to reddit out of spite sometime in the next few weeks anyway.

 

[HRZone]

Some advise for my AP friends. You guys are doing a difficult job with a handicap, your job translates well to PD and Security positions.

If you guys can do all you that you do with these limited resources you will excel in your careers with your ability to do more with less.

 

[Frontlanegirl]

That's regulated by the STL and ETL-GE. Back in the good ole days AP functioned as a separate entity and could do its job without being total subject to store rule, now we fall under the jurisdiction of the STL and not even the APBP can supercede an STL decision or directive. STLs care primarily about sales, because that's what's keeping them employed. They could care less how much runs out the doors because at the end of the day AP will be the one's getting hit with the blame for shortage, for better or worse. That's why you're forced to blindly accept every coupon, return, and price match (for the most part) tossed your way. It doesn't help that the corporation sets ridiculous sales goals with threats of position and hour cuts if they aren't met.

I kept getting hit at the SD today with "returns" using fraudulent receipts. Has to impact sales with these returns and wait until a guest tries doing a return using a card look up to find out the item has been "returned" by someone else using their receipt.

 

[EagleEye]

That's regulated by the STL and ETL-GE. Back in the good ole days AP functioned as a separate entity and could do its job without being total subject to store rule, now we fall under the jurisdiction of the STL and not even the APBP can supercede an STL decision or directive. STLs care primarily about sales, because that's what's keeping them employed. They could care less how much runs out the doors because at the end of the day AP will be the one's getting hit with the blame for shortage, for better or worse. That's why you're forced to blindly accept every coupon, return, and price match (for the most part) tossed your way. It doesn't help that the corporation sets ridiculous sales goals with threats of position and hour cuts if they aren't met.

You must come from a terrible district because mine is not even close to how you describe. STLs are told to let AP do their jobs and APBPs will partner with the DTLs to make sure that's happening. You also have to realize that shortage numbers affect other leader's reviews as well...

AP owns theft shortage, other leaders own operational shortage. It's been sent out in every single region level visit recap I've seen. I think there is a clear and consistent message that is being communicated and if there are one or two STLs that won't get with the program, I guarantee you they will be gone soon.

High theft markets are keeping extra investigators and each market also gets an investigator. Add that to one APBP per district and I think we are fine in terms of organized crime investigation. Keep in mind the number of APBPs is literally doubling. They get to spend more time in stores helping catch boosters (as my APBP put it) if needed and are generally more available to assist with cases.

In terms of TPS at the door 90% of the time. You can blame the many bad TPS for causing concern at a group level. TPSs in my district getting boosted left and right while they sit in the office and try to find the kid stealing a phone case.

 

[signingminion]

Some advise for my AP friends. You guys are doing a difficult job with a handicap, your job translates well to PD and Security positions.

If you guys can do all you that you do with these limited resources you will excel in your careers with your ability to do more with less.

Just don't be surprised if private security pays shit. My husband has been an account manager for a decade, he's got one raise in all that time. He makes $13 and change. The part time on call guys make $15 but never last more than a month.

 

[garbage]

In terms of TPS at the door 90% of the time. You can blame the many bad TPS for causing concern at a group level. TPSs in my district getting boosted left and right while they sit in the office and try to find the kid stealing a phone case.

That's cause your never gonna hire a great AP guy, if the position consists of not being able to app, having to wear a blue looking shirt, and standing at the door. Of course Target is only able to recruit shitty people.

Target needs to advertise the position as a GREETER so they can hire people who actually want to greet. I don't want to do that fucking shit. If I was told that when during interviews, I would have taken the job from fucking Walmart.

 

[Rock Lobster]

Which recent changes are you referring to? Losing/moving Investigators sucks, but having one APBP in every district with mostly hourly AP leaders mirrors how most other retailers structure their AP departments and it works. Yeah, Target AP used to be robust and frankly pretty badass but to me it seems like things are moving more in the right direction than they were just a few years ago. Hell, just the other day all our ETL-APs were informed that they must be in plainclothes to ensure a total AP focus on their non-LOD days. I haven't seen a high-level directive anything like that since the old days.

I agree that the changes I have heard are for the better. An APTL is FAR more efficient within the AP world compared to an ETL-AP. The money saved on salary (heck we had almost all PG13 ETLs as AP in my district!) from othe ETL cuts to bring back an APBP per district is far more beneficial. The last step IMO that they need to do is to untie the AP payroll from stores. DXXX gets 500 hours of TPS payroll and 100 of APS payroll and the APBP decides where and when this payroll gets spent. Once that step is completed I think AP will be pretty set up (outside of an evaluation of tech... TCM is pretty absurd to be honest).

 

[HardlinesGuy]

I agree that the APTL change and the dedicated APBP changes are a step in the right direction but aside from that, I think we're only looking at negatives here.

 

[On6]

I'll be honest. I stopped caring awhile ago. I treat this as a paycheck and nothing more. Don't take anything personal. It's just a job. Show up, do what your asked to do, and let the leadership live with the results.

In my time with AP I've literally seen one person let go for performance issues and that was a APTL who didn't fit well anyway. As a TPS you don't have to speak to the results. That's the job of the ETL/TL. So if they want you to stand at the doors all day then fine.

 

[HRZone]

I'll be honest. I stopped caring awhile ago. I treat this as a paycheck and nothing more. Don't take anything personal. It's just a job. Show up, do what your asked to do, and let the leadership live with the results.

In my time with AP I've literally seen one person let go for performance issues and that was a APTL who didn't fit well anyway. As a TPS you don't have to speak to the results. That's the job of the ETL/TL. So if they want you to stand at the doors all day then fine.

And that right there is the problem. When the corporation causes their employees to be apathetic.

 

[garbage]

So if they want you to stand at the doors all day then fine.

It's just tough when your job went from helping catch thieves to "Hello, welcome to Target. What can I help you find?" Even when you were basically the one that helped train your APS and ETL.

 

[anathema]

I didn't envy TPS' before the door time demands were high, I do even less now.

I expect at least the large markets to persevere, not sure about outlier stores. Being the only AP, in a world of restrictions, having more and more taken from you, would make me quit.

 

[HardlinesGuy]

I didn't envy TPS' before the door time demands were high, I do even less now.

I expect at least the large markets to persevere, not sure about outlier stores. Being the only AP, in a world of restrictions, having more and more taken from you, would make me quit.

Don't tempt me, now! We're already feeling the pain at my store.

 

[Bullseyerc]

I don't know about your guys store but at my store today we had multiple apps and they were very hands on both the TPS and APS.