Archived Tips for coaching FLOW team members on sense of urgency.

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Well the common core roles for Be your best self says be fast, fun, and friendly and ask your TL for ways to improve speed, etc so then use that as the basis for the coaching conversation. My HR and STL tells us to give "total performance coaching" so discuss all of their opportunities (attendance, FFF culture, loafing, etc) in one coaching convo if possible so that you have to do less of the convos a/b individual issues. Their sense of urgency has to be affecting something else thats measurable.
 
Sometimes you can't expect a TM to go as fast as you, especially if they're new.

I'm along into my 2nd month working at Target on the Flow Team and only had one day of training with one of the oldest (and slowest) TM, he's about 60 yrs old and I don't know why my ETL made me train with him because he's a grouchy old man that isn't really informative and would tell me a "general idea" of things instead of explaining things to me more accurately and efficiently. Everytime I asked him a question, he'd say he can't really explain cuz he's in a rush to get his work done. I had to learn everything basically on my own by trial and error, where other TM's would come over and let me know what I did wrong. A month passed and I gradually got better with pushing items at their right location, so now I was focused on trying to do it faster like everyone else. I wouldn't say I'm the slowest TM, but I'm also not speedy fast like our TL and ETL. But they expect me to be, and today I think I got a coaching from the ETL because I wasn't as fast as her. I was unfortunately stuck in a very heavy isle at market alone pushing by myself, while other isles had 2 people in it, so my ETL came over to help me push and was much faster than me and told me I was going much too slow. Obviously I'm not going to be as fast as you who's had much more experience and knowing where the hell everything goes without taking a moment to look...

I'm starting to really hate this job and want to switch to another area, either that, or quit Target altogether lol. We've already had 2 people quit within this month, both new and an old TM who's worked here for 7 years. Now I know what other people were talking about when they said "Expect more, Pay less." Target, especially the Flow position, is a miserable work environment. :girl_think:
 
New people get the most scrutiny because they can be molded easier and are certainly easier to term for performance. Just work on a personal goal of 30 seconds a box and move quickly at all times.
 
Sometimes you can't expect a TM to go as fast as you, especially if they're new.

I'm along into my 2nd month working at Target on the Flow Team and only had one day of training with one of the oldest (and slowest) TM, he's about 60 yrs old and I don't know why my ETL made me train with him because he's a grouchy old man that isn't really informative and would tell me a "general idea" of things instead of explaining things to me more accurately and efficiently. Everytime I asked him a question, he'd say he can't really explain cuz he's in a rush to get his work done. I had to learn everything basically on my own by trial and error, where other TM's would come over and let me know what I did wrong. A month passed and I gradually got better with pushing items at their right location, so now I was focused on trying to do it faster like everyone else. I wouldn't say I'm the slowest TM, but I'm also not speedy fast like our TL and ETL. But they expect me to be, and today I think I got a coaching from the ETL because I wasn't as fast as her. I was unfortunately stuck in a very heavy isle at market alone pushing by myself, while other isles had 2 people in it, so my ETL came over to help me push and was much faster than me and told me I was going much too slow. Obviously I'm not going to be as fast as you who's had much more experience and knowing where the hell everything goes without taking a moment to look...

I'm starting to really hate this job and want to switch to another area, either that, or quit Target altogether lol. We've already had 2 people quit within this month, both new and an old TM who's worked here for 7 years. Now I know what other people were talking about when they said "Expect more, Pay less." Target, especially the Flow position, is a miserable work environment. :girl_think:

I don't want to sound rude or anything, but it's not brain surgery. The locations are on the label and all you have to do is open the box, check the dates if you're in an area with rotation, fill the spot, front the shelf, check for a second location, pull a dot and break down the box. I worked flow for many years and could never figure out why someone would have to search the aisle to see where an item goes. Even now when I am asked to help out on flow I finish my aisles before the people that do it on a regular basis. I just shake my head. (Oh yeah - I'm one of those old people - you know, the ones that have a good work ethic and don't find it cruel and unusual to have to do the job that I accepted in the way that I am expected to do it.)
 
Another issue that not mentioned is, that some folks are unable to read written words on boxes. So I try to help those folks by using numbers or product colors. Also, show them how to look for other locations. Patience and encouragement goes along way in my book.
 
I worked around the store and Flow is probably the chillest position next to instocks. You got the whole day to yourself. If all you do is push it's not so bad. It's better than getting inside the truck or doing the line during heavy truck days. Hell even getting stuck in a department by yourself sucks.
 
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