When does the job start to get sh#tty

Joined
Mar 25, 2021
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I've been recently hired to do fulfillment and GM but I'm honestly having so much fun doing so. It has been my third day and I have already closed opened, audited, pushed 1v1, organized a shelf to promote soon to be discontinued product. My leaders seem to be really chill and they have told me many times they like me around. So when does this job start to be a pain just like all the horror stories I have read?
 
Usually things go downhill after a management change, when the store is drowning in drama, or when corporate decides to put a new system in place that generally works less well than the last one, particularly when the primary objective of the new system is to cut hours and quadruple workload. Takes all the fun right out of it.
 
When your hours start to drop. When leaders start picking on you for every little thing. Certain things that pissed me off where oh your zone is not perfectly on the diamonds it not zoned right even though it looked good according to the guests. Or the same leader came over one day while I was in produce and started to pick on the way I culled and proceeded to follow me and point out rotting produce was fine and I was culling too much. Well the joke was on her ass as many guests were coming up and saying that produce department was best it ever looked while I was working there and that I was very helpful. It made me feel so much better. The same leader was also the one that fucking lied to me too. When you start looking for another job and praying that it won't be shitty. That's when it will be shitty.
 
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I really enjoyed Target, yes, even through modernization, until a change in group leadership lead to a change in DSD/SD/ETL leadership at my store that completely shifted the work environment. I got performance conversations for being "too nice" to TMs my ETL wanted me to performance out. All I was doing was treating them with respect and empathy, which I do with everyone regardless of their work performance. The day I was asked to remove the Target dog on my desk (the little stuffed ones they used to give out to people) because they said it was seen as unprofessional and untidy was the day my soul died and I knew it was no longer allowed to have fun or any sort of personality at work. I asked to transfer to a different store and workcenter, thankfully it was approved, and things got much better. Truly ASANTS, but from your brief summary it sounds like yours may be a good one (for now.) It's all about finding the right fit, which I think could be said of any job honestly.
 
Mine was about a month in, when the leaders picked on me for everything including things that happened on my days off, I had yet to meet my TL, and my ETL got moved to overnights so I never saw him. I started in May last year so the pandemic craziness was pretty high at that point.
 
Honestly, I have my area down to a science, so unless there’s a very off day like an ultra late delivery or surge supporting OPU or the lanes beyond the norm, it’s a-okay. But, when other people call out or decide they just wanna coast because they’re off tomorrow (or whatever reason,) the wheels fall off the bus because we are all interconnected.
 
It doesn’t have to be shitty, and it’s not for the most part. This site is comprised of mostly dissatisfied TMs; some are justified in their disdain for the company because they’ve been legitimately wronged- and others have a massive chip on their shoulder because they think they deserve more than the agreed price of their labor.

Good for you if your digging the gig. Times will get tough when the company gets greedy and cuts hours at the worst times, that’s retail though. Keep your head up.
 
others have a massive chip on their shoulder because they think they deserve more than the agreed price of their labor.
That's a bit unfair if you consider how little $15 gets you in America, and how hard we work for it. And "agreed price of their labor" is disingenuous considering Target's competitive wage and the job market. Without getting into the weeds too much, people have a good reason for feeling underpaid, whether you agree with it or not. That doesn't usually mean they "have a massive chip on their shoulder." It means they are smart to where profits go and feel exploited, which tends to make a difficult job feel shitty.
 
Usually things go downhill after a management change, when the store is drowning in drama, or when corporate decides to put a new system in place that generally works less well than the last one, particularly when the primary objective of the new system is to cut hours and quadruple workload. Takes all the fun right out of it.
Leadership breakdown. Getting called to do 3 different tasks in 1 hour. Plan much ? 20 year Vet promoted to ETL doesn't know how to use the walkie system discreetly...do all the guests need to hear ," Team, who left boxes in the back room on aisle 29?", or, "Team, whoever left boxes in Toys please come clean it up"...dont they know who s been pushing toys ?? Are the boxes marked "toys" ? Eeesh!! And/or Leadership ignores tm s with rage issues because we are short staffed because everyone quits because of the Teflon tm with rage issues.
 
That's a bit unfair if you consider how little $15 gets you in America, and how hard we work for it. And "agreed price of their labor" is disingenuous considering Target's competitive wage and the job market. Without getting into the weeds too much, people have a good reason for feeling underpaid, whether you agree with it or not. That doesn't usually mean they "have a massive chip on their shoulder." It means they are smart to where profits go and feel exploited, which tends to make a difficult job feel shitty.
Sadly, you've pinned down the issue pretty well. Prices charged for basic necessities of life -- rent, household utilities, health care and insurance, property taxes (if you own a house), groceries -- have increased at a faster rate than the overall statistical CPI. Also, it's more expensive to live in some areas of the USA: in those places (Western Washington State comes to mind), $15/hour has the actual purchasing power equivalent of earning $11/hour in places like Oklahoma City, Fort Wayne, Lubbock or El Paso.

This would not be such a big issue if Target was a company with a strong "promote-from-within" system. People could start in those entry-level positions and work their way up to better-paying jobs with greater responsibility. However, Target's business model is heavily focused on innovation and style-consciousness and as such it leads them towards external hires including those recruited from university/college campuses. It also would not be such a big issue if there were better upward mobility in our economy generally for entry-level workers (but that topic something for an Off-Topic discussion since it touches on politics, business and society in general).

Target has a lot of strengths as a workplace and working environment. Unfortunately, sooner or later you may end up in a situation -- common to most workplaces, not just Target -- where you no longer feel particularly appreciated at work.
 
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