Archived The future of target

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So decided to make this thread after reading a guest comment today.

The short version of the comment:

Former employee who has noticed a downward slide. Dress code not polos and khakis anymore, store less staffed, feels like a glorified walmart, never gets a CIHYFS as much as they used to. etc.

Now. I wish I could defend this, but honestly, Target IS a glorified walmart. It seems like the only direction they(we) are going is more towards what walmart is. I have only been with the company 2 years and I have noticed expectations for employees are higher, staffing has gone down, and overall it just feels like a worse place to work and more stressful. Anyone else have any thoughts on this. I have to get to sleep so im gonna leave this short.
 
I highly doubt that one.... Best buy, Sears, Jcpenney would go bye bye before we would go out of business. Target will be around for awhile!
 
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I don't see Target going out of business anytime soon either.

My store still requires red and khaki. I usually wear polos unless I am wearing one of my Target tshirts.
 
I think too many people fail to look at the big picture sometimes. Sure we have less team members on the floor than we use to have, but we have put processes in place that should make us more efficient. The way pulls are generated, the information you can get from a PDA, the information available at the scanners etc. The drawback is that it is like a house of cards. If you don't have the basics in place all of the rest will not work the way it should. But there is a limit to how low you can go with scheduling and still maintain they type of atmosphere you claim to have. 3 sales floor people can only be 3 places at once and too often it is on the checklanes. Also all stores are not the same and that is the biggest thing that Target has to realize. Our traffic, our demographics and the available workforce all play a part in how we are able to run.There are stores that would benefit from doing research at night due to their traffic patterns. 4am Super Targets are not just really big PFresh and should not be treated as such. Target will be here for awhile. They will continue to evolve and their team members need to be willing to evolve too. And really bad ideas (MSA's?!)will go away.
 
I don't know about other stores, but I know that not ONE cashier in my store smiles. It really aggitates me. If you're a cashier, you're suppose to smile, greet, and be the end to a pleasant shopping experience. I wanted to be hired on as cashier, but because I had experience elsewhere they put me elsewhere. And I think some of those non smiling cashiers would be better in my spot. I don't care if I lose pay.
 
I don't know about other stores, but I know that not ONE cashier in my store smiles. It really aggitates me. If you're a cashier, you're suppose to smile, greet, and be the end to a pleasant shopping experience. I wanted to be hired on as cashier, but because I had experience elsewhere they put me elsewhere. And I think some of those non smiling cashiers would be better in my spot. I don't care if I lose pay.

The thing this ties in with the post about fewer team members being more effective.
We have been FFF and F'd right up to the edge.
They have worked their very hardest to figure out how to get the most from the least.
And all of this came from a model straight out of the Wal-mart play book so while our stores may not look like them we have taken their game to heart.
 
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As far as I am concerned Target=Walmart anymore. I have very little respect for Target as a business or a employer and the first chance I get I will leave.
 
I just wish we could adopt their logistics processes. I highly doubt walmart goes in the same circles as we do.
 
I think too many people fail to look at the big picture sometimes. Sure we have less team members on the floor than we use to have, but we have put processes in place that should make us more efficient. The way pulls are generated, the information you can get from a PDA, the information available at the scanners etc. The drawback is that it is like a house of cards. If you don't have the basics in place all of the rest will not work the way it should. But there is a limit to how low you can go with scheduling and still maintain they type of atmosphere you claim to have. 3 sales floor people can only be 3 places at once and too often it is on the checklanes. Also all stores are not the same and that is the biggest thing that Target has to realize. Our traffic, our demographics and the available workforce all play a part in how we are able to run.There are stores that would benefit from doing research at night due to their traffic patterns. 4am Super Targets are not just really big PFresh and should not be treated as such. Target will be here for awhile. They will continue to evolve and their team members need to be willing to evolve too. And really bad ideas (MSA's?!)will go away.


I agree with you on this. The problem with the processes is that you have people who think they're smarter than the system, so they try to run things their own way. I'm not sure what's worse, a long-term veteran who understands the ins and outs of the system and tries to run it like the old days, or the newb who still has a lot to learn.

Frankly, I think Target wants people that they can mold to fit their ideals (Fast, fun, friendly, and young) company. It's easier to take somebody from the outside and spoon-feed them the "way things should be" versus the one who knows the way things really are.

It irks me when we have peak sales periods (hello, BTS) and they don't have the staffing in place to deal with the traffic in the store, empty aisles, plenty of product in the back, and key people are not scheduled for the rush, and the ones who are there, don't know what to do or don't care.
 
I really think staffing is what is making Target (at least ours) look like like a pos. Target won't be going away anytime soon, that's for sure, but when you have a store that is understaffed it completely tanks all of guest perception. One person covering hardlines? Not going to cut it. 3 cashiers to close? or for lunch rush? not working. if they would get their staffing levels back in order things would almost certainly fix themselves. all of those "emergencies" that ETLs call an all hands on deck for? those dropping service scores? more people on the floor would help. i remember back when i was in hardlines we would be able to actually zone our departments and finish our reshop. now i come in on any given morning and the store looks a mess and there are anywhere from 12-20 carts leftover all the time. we also had a cafe team back then so that was a non-issue. just that alone would clean up the store and smooth out stocking - getting you a cleaner push off the truck - coming clean for instocks to scan - less items languishing in the BR and coming out in the PC pulls - better zone and smoother flow for planogram, etc. oh yeah, and because the store looks neat and is fully stocked, you'll sell more. oh, and because your hardlines team isn't going nuts with a line full of cafs, 20 endcaps to set, 5 carts of reshop and a zone like a battlefield, they can actually you know....help guests and provide guest service without worrying about all the tasks they've had put on them that day.
 
The post above by grey dot nailed it. Target thinks they can minimize staffing and just somehow power their way through the difficulties it creates. That is a fantasy. They need to stare at the hard reality of what a sales floor with no TMs on it looks like. What it is like to shop on a trashed, empty sales floor, with one overworked employee trying to hold everything together. Then they get berated at the huddle for call boxes and backup, etc.
 
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