Archived What was your team lead training experience like?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Feb 19, 2017
Messages
88
I'm curios to know if maybe i just got a bad trainer, or if this is an overall issue, but i'm a tm moving up to tl and i understand why they'd schedule 2 weeks of training for someone who was new to the system, but honestly once i got past most of the computer training, and minor details, most of it has been grunt work for the store im training at now.

The first day was rough as hell, my trainer tried to train me from scratch, he never offered up any information unless i asked and i learned pretty quickly that i had to be pretty specific, which was hard because i wasn't too sure what areas i needed to focus on. The guy is completely winging it, i feel like i have to keep initiating work for me to do just to keep busy or else he'll literally just leave me alone. At one point i could of gone home and he probably wouldn't of even noticed, and its been absolutely exhausting. Whats worst is that he only has half the answers for my questions and doesn't know who to talk to to get any answers, which results in my having to reach out to his SD or my own leadership team for answers.

The worst part is that he keeps using me to supplement his workload since they keep falling behind. I'm not against helping them get ahead since technically he is taking time out of his day to help me, but i'm also there to learn how to be a lead, not just to help him hit his daily goals.

Luckily i'm getting moved to another store to finish off my training soon, but this has been a completely lackadaisical experience so far. Most of what i learned i could of learned in house instead of driving 50 mins out one way. At this point i just feel like an overpaid tm. I've been a trainer at my own store for awhile now and i make more of an effort to train seasonal tms then my trainer has training me to "lead".

Post up your experiences, what was your training like? What advice would you give?
 
Last edited:
lol. Wasn’t sent to another store. 2 ETLs I’m close with trained me in very different ways. One was very ‘do this, I’ll remind you this, I’m right here if you need anything so ask lots of questions’ and the other was very hands off, but available if needed, would let me forget something before asking if I did it etc. Both of them were great, and I knew the important stuff within a couple weeks. You’ll be learning things for your first 6 months as you go, though. Don’t stress, you have 6 months of ‘being new’ where you’ll get away with a lot. Congrats on the promotion!
 
Bring up your concerns to your trainer.

If that doesn’t work, talk to your store.

Cover your ass so when you come back and they are like Why aren’t you... or did f you learn... You have some sort of record.

I would never go out for training and just be some other stores grunt and keep my mouth shut about it.
 
I'm curios to know if maybe i just got a bad trainer, or if this is an overall issue, but i'm a tm moving up to tl and i understand why they'd schedule 2 weeks of training for someone who was new to the system, but honestly once i got past most of the computer training, and minor details, most of it has been grunt work for the store im training at now.

The first day was rough as hell, my trainer tried to train me from scratch, he never offered up any information unless i asked and i learned pretty quickly that i had to be pretty specific, which was hard because i wasn't too sure what areas i needed to focus on. The guy is completely winging it, i feel like i have to keep initiating work for me to do just to keep busy or else he'll literally just leave me alone. At one point i could of gone home and he probably wouldn't of even noticed, and its been absolutely exhausting. Whats worst is that he only has half the answers for my questions and doesn't know who to talk to to get any answers, which results in my having to reach out to his SD or my own leadership team for answers.

The worst part is that he keeps using me to supplement his workload since they keep falling behind. I'm not against helping them get ahead since technically he is taking time out of his day to help me, but i'm also there to learn how to be a lead, not just to help him hit his daily goals.

Luckily i'm getting moved to another store to finish off my training soon, but this has been a completely lackadaisical experience so far. Most of what i learned i could of learned in house instead of driving 50 mins out one way. At this point i just feel like an overpaid tm. I've been a trainer at my own store for awhile now and i make more of an effort to train seasonal tms then my trainer has training me to "lead".

Post up your experiences, what was your training like? What advice would you give?
Well well well, you think someone can teach you how to be a leader, to lead?
🤦‍♂️, you either are a leader or you ain’t. 😳
 
I had a similar issue. When I was training to be a Small Format TL I went from 18 years in one store doing pretty much everything (both as a leader and a TM), so there wasn't much I didn't know going into it, even the person who was my assigned trainer kind of scoffed because she didn't feel like, other than LOD tasks, there was much I needed to know.

What I wished was different was I should have spent more time at a small format store. My primary training store was a low volume Pfresh store (I come from high volume PF) so in general there processes were different from what a Small Format store is like. While the time I spent was certainly value added (i.e. learning some LOD tactics, safe and secure, etc) but I really didn't get anything out of the training time until I spent time in another Small Format store.
 
There is a difference between being a natural leader and a being a good leader.
A natural leader understands their role instinctually, can inspire loyalty in their people and works well under pressure.
A good leader takes on mentors who understand the system better than they do, constantly try to learn new things to improve their skills as a leader and seek out all information concerning the job.
The two are not mutually exclusive.
 
Had the same issue with training for a new role. Asked to the questions I needed but spent most of my time just pushing freight which I could have done at my store. I'd suggest partnering with your peers for questions on leadership such as coaching. Most questions about your work center can be found on Workbench with a little bit of exploring. Honestly, you'll pick things up as you go along, but if you still feel uncomfortable it's best to ask your SD/HR for more training elsewhere
 
I was sent to train at a low volume store, even though I was promoted at a high volume one, because they thought they'd have more time to train me.

I showed up at 7am, only to find out the SrTL training me wasn't in for another hour, so I sat in the breakroom watching Fox News with some senior citizens I'm not sure even worked there.
At 8:30, the SrTL showed up, and I had to sit with them in a store specific meeting for over an hour.
After that, we hit the floor and met the team... that was already completely finished with everything they had to do for the day, including a super zone, because of how painfully low volume the store was. I watched the TL lead the team or do tasks for exactly 0 minutes. I asked the SrTL some questions about how to deal with things at my store, and their answer was "your team is just going to have to get better, like mine!" despite the fact that this store had made about $700 before noon, and back at my store my team had probably been backing up the lanes non-stop since they got there, and doing a "smart huddle" working 20 RTS carts when they weren't.
After about 20 minutes talking with this SrTL, we were all called over to PTM the seasonal department, and the SrTL vanished after about 8 minutes, while they honest to god expected the TL trainee from another store to lead a section of their team in the project.

I faked a Dr's appointment, went back to my store, and spent the rest of the day researching things on Workbench and the internet.
 
Back in ‘the day’ when I was new to Target my store was also new. We had experienced leaders and were all well trained and confident we were following Best Practice in all we did. Fast forward through 7 positions - never again did ANY ONE of those trainers fully train me well. I always felt like free labor for the training store and a lack of give a shit from the trainers.
In my time, I have myself trained many both new to Target and new to Role TL. I have always tried my best to equip them with answers to as many situations as possible. Yes, they do help, after all, the work DOES have to get done and if i’m Really spending time training you properly then I will get behind so pitch in to help us finish.
DavidJorJared, please let your HR know that that particular trainer shouldn’t be used again. I hope there is a better trainer in your district for the next TL. Maybe it can be you someday.
 
ughhh....i knew the moment i posted this i knew you'd come in to troll, ive gone through a lot of threads on here and i swear your name always pops up to troll....
Yea, I like to read, and share, in my down time. What makes me a TROLL ? That sounds BAD , is it ?

Oh, I had to edit cause I thought you meant ME, but I see you meant ‘Humble’.
Nevermind. But I still don’t get the whole TROLL thing 🤔
 
When I first promoted from TM to TL I too was sent to another store for training, weren’t you ?
Or did I miss the sarcastic font ? I can be Too literal to understand .
Nope! My STL does not believe in training, especially sending anyone to another store to train.
To be fair, I did get GSA training, but most of that was the basics of front end because I was coming from the salesfloor. But from GSA to TL I got nothing :/
 
ughhh....i knew the moment i posted this i knew you'd come in to troll, ive gone through a lot of threads on here and i swear your name always pops up to troll....


If someone is annoying you, just put them on ignore.

I would be much happier if the entire world worked that way.
 
ughhh....i knew the moment i posted this i knew you'd come in to troll, ive gone through a lot of threads on here and i swear your name always pops up to troll....
My bad, what I meant to say was, you are right. TL training is a joke. Most people don’t know what they are doing. Obviously you have the right to have significant input in your training.
My post wasn’t meant to be mean or directed at you, it was a broad statement on leadership.
I think you’ll do great, You display a common trait amongst most Target TLs : the inability to accept and understand dissent*.
 
Last edited:
For me it was different, since I was new to the company I thought my training was particular fantastic. I was not ever seen as a grunt to do the trainers work, they were mostly focused on teaching me everything I needed to know about Target and their processes. I never cared to be taught “how to lead”, since primarily I was a keyed manager at my previous job. Secondly, everyone’s leadership style is different and has no bearing on mine.
 
I just transitioned to closing Team lead a month and half ago. I was GSTL/Starbucks before that, both of which I got minimal training for. GS I knew quite a bit about though. I got three days of training for closing. And not even decent training because it was at my store. I wanted to go to a store that was in op model last year, but apparently that wasn’t an option. I would have loved to see some examples of what my job actually should entail.
 
I was used as a supplemental TM for the 2 weeks I had training. They taught me how to receive the truck on the zebra. That was the only new thing I learned. Oh, and how to tell truck progress by panels.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top