Archived Vibe Walks?

[redandkhaki]

i love power hour! I think it's so much fun and i look forward to it every day. I know that's probably weird but as a gstl I don't get to leave the front much but during power hour when i'm TLOD i have a gsa cover so I can. The way we do it is the LOD announces it about an hour before hand so that breaks can be covered ahead of time or plan to have them afterwards. ALL ETL's come out in the hour before hand and help get caught up on pulls, abandon, or help cover breaks, so that once that hour hits we are prepared to only be spending time helping guests. We have a couple of days that our peak hour is from 5-6 and ETL's have to stay until 6pm those days.

Wow... Your ETLs actually work on the floor? It takes near-disaster to get any but one of our ETLs to actually visibly do anything. It sounds like your store does this the right way (even if I don't like the idea of a "power hour").

After spending time here i know this isn't the norm but all of my ETL's work on the floor all the time. It's pretty rare if they're not out helping doing something. We had the flu go around our store last year and pretty much the entire flow team was down for about two weeks. The ETL's came in and threw the truck and worked freight to get it done. Most of the ETL's were working 16 hour days and not one complained. Our STL is pretty firm on if they ask us to do something they better be right beside us doing it with us. Our STL is old school though.

 

[XploitedFlow]

One of the questions on these guest surveys should be, were you annoyed at how many times you were asked CIHYFS, its obnoxious.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Is anyone else's store forbidding all team members to take their lunches or breaks during this "power hour"? We were told absolutely no one is allowed to be on break or at the TSC or in the backroom at that time. So much for getting a break every two hours in an 8 hour shift. If your lunch or break falls during that hour you can't go. Also now EVERYONE goes at the same time before that hour starts and it leaves very little coverage on the floor. It would make more sense to stagger lunches and breaks so that everyone is not gone at the same time.

We are doing this to. Breaks are a nightmare for Salesfloor.

 

[Zanumas]

We aren't allowed to call it Power Hour anymore for some reason. Our STL gets angry if we do. Anyways, we do it from 1p-2p every day. Still expected to get the same amount of work done with an hour less per day though!

 

[sher]

Is anyone else's store forbidding all team members to take their lunches or breaks during this "power hour"? We were told absolutely no one is allowed to be on break or at the TSC or in the backroom at that time. So much for getting a break every two hours in an 8 hour shift. If your lunch or break falls during that hour you can't go. Also now EVERYONE goes at the same time before that hour starts and it leaves very little coverage on the floor. It would make more sense to stagger lunches and breaks so that everyone is not gone at the same time.

We never take our breaks according to the break schedule that's posted (and sometimes that thing doesn't even predict the amount of breaks correctly) but the last time I worked a shift during a "peak hour," a gstl wrote a break schedule for softlines and scheduled all of our breaks so ridiculously and wrote in all caps "take all breaks on time". Wasn't until the hour started that I realized she'd scheduled around that hour.

Guests hate this, though. ETLs and the STL are the only ones who seem to be gung-ho about this thing (or maybe they're great pretenders) and the guests definitely scoff when you ask them because with so many of us in the store on Tuesday at 1:30, there's more of us than there are guests so they get asked multiple times. I honestly think walmart's approach on having a greeter is a better idea… but I think improvements can be made on that idea. One person greets and asks if you need help finding anything when you walk in. If you do need help, they point you in the direction and/or walkie someone to meet you. Everyone on the floor leaves you alone until you ask for help, but when you ask, they're all friendly.

Being constantly asked just reeks of "we're desperate to make sales. Please give me the chance to manipulate you into buying extra stuff. Please." or "I'm pretending to be friendly so I don't lose my job." When I worked at Macy's with daily sales goals, all the people who were really into meeting their goals were always offering to help people in that annoying manner. But I don't think anyone who shops at Macy's doesn't realize that there's a sales goal/commission going on.

 

[nolongerspecial]

Ours has been shifted to evenings and later in the day on weekends because it was such a nightmare with coordinating lunches, etc.

 

[sambr]

i enjoy working at target and something do kind of suck like red cards but the people that work in my store are nice and take a lot on and get it done plus sell red cards and create the vibe in are store which is a pretty great thing i think. i work my butt off when i go to work i take peoples shifts i give my all. and i like to cuz i enjoy working their if you dont like working at target why work their why bother. BUTT what do i know im just a freshed face shit shoveler any how...

 

[sher]

You can like something and still find problems with some aspects of it. I typically don't dislike working at Target. I dislike some aspects of it, though. I actually really enjoy helping guests (the nicer, more respectful ones) but they don't enjoy the vibe walks, either and they and their happiness with their shopping experiences are the most important aspects to Target's profits.

To answer your question (there's no ? but I think you were asking) about why anyone would work at target if they don't enjoy it, bills. I have bills and it makes 0 sense to leave a job that pays them without replacing said job first.

 

[mrknownothing]

i enjoy working at target and something do kind of suck like red cards but the people that work in my store are nice and take a lot on and get it done plus sell red cards and create the vibe in are store which is a pretty great thing i think. i work my butt off when i go to work i take peoples shifts i give my all. and i like to cuz i enjoy working their if you dont like working at target why work their why bother. BUTT what do i know im just a freshed face shit shoveler any how...

You're not a fresh faced shit shoveler. It's good that you enjoy your job. Your co-workers probably enjoy working with you, and guests appreciate your attitude along with your willingness to help them.

That said, there are several members here who worked for Target when the company's team culture was very different from how it is today. Many things have changed for the worse (see: payroll, going to extremes for Red Cards, etc.), but that doesn't necessarily mean that we hate Target altogether. And as Sher said, we have bills to pay. In some areas, jobs outside of retail and fast food are few and far between, so we can't just quit because we don't like the job.

 

[lifewithtarget]

Our store just started this. As soon as I heard my LOD saying it over the walkie while I was zoning A, I just groaned and my mind just went "Are we really doing this?".

Now, I realize that everyone has to do it, but it was a Saturday, it was busy, A was a mess, and no LOD was near me; therefore I continued my zone and asked CIHYFS to people who would walk through my isle. I get that it's something the Sales Floor has to do, but we were down two closers and I was only here till 7, so you best believe I am going to try and get as much done for the closing LOD, versus scattering through the store and vibing with guests. As if we haven't tortured them enough?

My LOD sounded so preppy when in huddle she exclaimed "I knew there were deals on baby stuff on the Cartwheel app, so I went over there and showed guests!" Cool.. would you like a plaque for that? Guess what I was doing? Not wasting the guests time or the time I could be spending I don't know.. actually working! I came to work, not flag people down to come look at a app on my phone. Give me a break, this is probably one of the worst ideas yet -sigh

 

[BackroomDayside]

Is anyone else's store forbidding all team members to take their lunches or breaks during this "power hour"? We were told absolutely no one is allowed to be on break or at the TSC or in the backroom at that time. So much for getting a break every two hours in an 8 hour shift. If your lunch or break falls during that hour you can't go. Also now EVERYONE goes at the same time before that hour starts and it leaves very little coverage on the floor. It would make more sense to stagger lunches and breaks so that everyone is not gone at the same time.

Too bad I'd go on compliance if I didn't take my lunch during Power hour Funny how that works out. Oh and gotta love always being overtime, so I always have to take longer lunches too.

But the TL's and ETL's don't even do power hour only the sales floor does, they just walk through the stockroom looking at shit for no reason.

 

[doxie71]

The only ones who participate in power hour at our store are the TLs and the ETLs. And I feel like it only happens when our STL is there...

 

[StackerMistress]

Yesterday, I walked in during the middle of our "power hour," to the LOD announcing over the walkie that she had "added $37 to guest's baskets!" I cringed so hard I think my face turned inside-out. Why in the world would you announce something like that???

 

[mrknownothing]

Yesterday, I walked in during the middle of our "power hour," to the LOD announcing over the walkie that she had "added $37 to guest's baskets!" I cringed so hard I think my face turned inside-out. Why in the world would you announce something like that???

Somehow, that doesn't sound very brand. I feel like that would give guests a bad vibe - like we're a bunch of greedy [redacted]s who are trying to extract every last penny from them........oh wait...

 

[sher]

Yup. I feel that way about the redcard announcements as well. Especially considering 90% of the people getting them don't have walkies.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

I do go for clearance with guests & say nothing on the walkie..does add to the basket.

 

[Softlines Owns My Soul]

This sounds ridiculous. So you've got a skeleton crew out there so let's have them all not work for an entire hour, that will help things. Also, we'll concentrate our guest service into one hour so a) the guests that are there for it are harassed by 10 TMs and it becomes a negative in the end and b) TMs are very worried that due to this and being short staffed there's no way they'll get their tasks done so they pretty much ignore guests as much as they can for the rest of their shift, never say CIHYFS and only help if they're approached by a guest. Some vibe.

Here's an idea if you really need to do this power hour. Have one or two TMs do it, maybe just one. They walk around the main racetrack of the store and ask guests if they need help. This will allow these TMs to learn more about where things are in different departments and guests won't be harassed, they'll be helped...and other TMs won't have to worry about doing this power hour. In fact, it will less likely they'll be pulled away to help a guest.

I always thought it was a good idea to have this - someone to walk the racetrack and ask guests if they can help them find something. Just one TM, just dedicated to that. Call them a "Guest Service Specialist." Let's say they would work 10:30 AM - 6:30 PM or something like that, whatever the peak hours are. I think it would help a lot and it wouldn't cost much.

 

[lovecats]

This sounds ridiculous. So you've got a skeleton crew out there so let's have them all not work for an entire hour, that will help things. Also, we'll concentrate our guest service into one hour so a) the guests that are there for it are harassed by 10 TMs and it becomes a negative in the end and b) TMs are very worried that due to this and being short staffed there's no way they'll get their tasks done so they pretty much ignore guests as much as they can for the rest of their shift, never say CIHYFS and only help if they're approached by a guest. Some vibe.

Here's an idea if you really need to do this power hour. Have one or two TMs do it, maybe just one. They walk around the main racetrack of the store and ask guests if they need help. This will allow these TMs to learn more about where things are in different departments and guests won't be harassed, they'll be helped...and other TMs won't have to worry about doing this power hour. In fact, it will less likely they'll be pulled away to help a guest.

I always thought it was a good idea to have this - someone to walk the racetrack and ask guests if they can help them find something. Just one TM, just dedicated to that. Call them a "Guest Service Specialist." Let's say they would work 10:30 AM - 6:30 PM or something like that, whatever the peak hours are. I think it would help a lot and it wouldn't cost much.

That makes so much sense but it'll never happen. Because it makes so much sense.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

I tell my team, I will walk the floor & ask every guest, cihyfs & give them a coupon too for 15 to 30 mins. But, one problem. There maybe no guests in the store at all.

 

[brazzlebub]

My store recently started doing the "Power Hour". Since I work mostly on pretty much anything front end, and since I don't care that much about Target itself, I never knew what they meant when they announced that power hour was coming up. Now that I know what this is, it's another one of the many idiotic things Target does. Like someone above said, I could understand designating one person to do this, but not the entire team.

It doesn't help that my store is insanely understaffed when it comes to cashiers and we have to constantly call for backup. And it's not just calling for one or two people for backup. It's more like three or four. It's only made worse by the fact that we're practically bleeding cashiers. We've lost two in the past month and another two are leaving within the next few weeks. It might be three if I decide to leave as well. And our ETL-HR doesn't seem interested in hiring anymore cashiers, but he's hiring a ton of sales floor people.

 

[Softlines Owns My Soul]

This sounds ridiculous. So you've got a skeleton crew out there so let's have them all not work for an entire hour, that will help things. Also, we'll concentrate our guest service into one hour so a) the guests that are there for it are harassed by 10 TMs and it becomes a negative in the end and b) TMs are very worried that due to this and being short staffed there's no way they'll get their tasks done so they pretty much ignore guests as much as they can for the rest of their shift, never say CIHYFS and only help if they're approached by a guest. Some vibe.

Here's an idea if you really need to do this power hour. Have one or two TMs do it, maybe just one. They walk around the main racetrack of the store and ask guests if they need help. This will allow these TMs to learn more about where things are in different departments and guests won't be harassed, they'll be helped...and other TMs won't have to worry about doing this power hour. In fact, it will less likely they'll be pulled away to help a guest.

I always thought it was a good idea to have this - someone to walk the racetrack and ask guests if they can help them find something. Just one TM, just dedicated to that. Call them a "Guest Service Specialist." Let's say they would work 10:30 AM - 6:30 PM or something like that, whatever the peak hours are. I think it would help a lot and it wouldn't cost much.

That makes so much sense but it'll never happen. Because it makes so much sense.

They could also do all the call buttons as well (they'd just have to partner with whoever has the keys for different departments if necessary, probably wouldn't want them to have the jewelry, electronics, and cosmetic keys at the same time).

If the store isn't busy, have them zone.

 

[cihyfthedoor]

It's called the midday vibe at our store and it happens right after the standard lunch hour. Luckily, backroom is exempt because we have more important sh!t to do. CAFs are timed, and even on good days it takes ½ hour to do them.

Back in the day it used to be that for 5 minutes at the top of every hour everyone on the floor had to go around asking CIHYFS. Makes a lot more sense than doing it for one single hour. What about all the other guests for the other 14 hours that we are open? Neither is perfect, but at least with the 5 minute version you get people throughout the whole day.

When I saw the Vibe Walk title, at first I thought we were talking about that horrible packet we have to do every 2 weeks. Better than a business walk, but still.

 

[sher]

I think if we were fully-staffed so that a TM isn't hard to find when a guest needs help, everything (in all depts.) that should be on the floor is there or not far away, and the store is neat/well-zoned people would be more in the shopping mood whether we offered to help them or not.

I just hope all those people that are snapping because they've been asked 3 times are making complaints. I want them to complain so hard that target tells us to stfu through our whole shift lol. I exaggerated a little.

 

[salesfloor10]

It's called the midday vibe at our store and it happens right after the standard lunch hour. Luckily, backroom is exempt because we have more important sh!t to do. CAFs are timed, and even on good days it takes � hour to do them.

Back in the day it used to be that for 5 minutes at the top of every hour everyone on the floor had to go around asking CIHYFS. Makes a lot more sense than doing it for one single hour. What about all the other guests for the other 14 hours that we are open? Neither is perfect, but at least with the 5 minute version you get people throughout the whole day.

When I saw the Vibe Walk title, at first I thought we were talking about that horrible packet we have to do every 2 weeks. Better than a business walk, but still.

I wish we approached it as five minutes at the top of each hour.

"Make sure you don't pencil whip that vibe walk"
Yeah right! I finished last week's today!!

 

[RedDog]

You know back in the day before the company started becoming Walmart with higher prices we used to have people in every department. You would have a Team Leads for every department, backed by specialists and team members and great guest service was a given. No lines, clean stores with perfect zones all day. Team members would go out of their way to make sure guests were satisfied and happy and buying lots of stuff. Shelves were full and morale was high. That is how Target made its name a became the place to shop. Everything that Walmart was not , Target was and Walmart began to feel the heat. Now Target and Walmart are hard to tell apart while every year Target falls down further. It really used to be a great place to work and shop. Sad to see.