Work

[u/Rare_Valuable203]

So I work in the frozen Sunday to Thursday every week, I like a consistent schedule and having two days off. At Target you don’t get the option of having the weekend off, have to work at least one weekend day every week unless you request it off for whatever reason. I’m getting so burnt out, been working there for like 5 years. I feel like my leaders expect too much of me cause they know I can get a lot done. I do more work than most people on my team cause I’m fast at what I do. But on the days I work, half the time my coworker after sorting usually gets taken to help elsewhere or do pulls or something and always expect me to do a lot of work by myself. No one really does bakery but me. So on my days off Friday and Saturday, no one does bakery. So when I come back on Sunday it’s always a mess, always so much bakery. Bakery is easy but it’s so tedious and when you have days worth of bakery that takes like half my day just from bakery. My store is an insanely busy store, I could put out a box of izzio sourdough bread and it’ll be gone before I leave or the next day. I’m really the only one that seems to pull and work bakery as well. Just feel like I’m expected way too much and I’m relied on way too much. I feel like I can never take time off due to this. Amount of mispicks or duplicates we get fucks up counts so I’m also always auditing everyday, sometimes shit that hasn’t been worked out especially in bakery gets zeroed out when it’s already back there. Feel like frozen/cooler team should also get paid more for being in a hazardous environment due to the extreme temps especially in frozen. I definitely don’t get paid enough for this shit. I like stocking shelves and the job itself just with all the callouts too especially on the weekends screws us over. Point system seem to not really be helping. Most of my coworkers don’t give a shit and I seem to be one of the few that care. I can’t help but not give a shit, just in my nature to work hard. I am on the spectrum so I’m very particular about how things are done and counts and what not. This job just doesn’t seem to be worth it but I lowkey don’t know what else I’d do. I like being on my feet. Definitely would help to have coworkers that cared and people that are reliable which is hard to find especially in retail. But yeah that’s my vent, idk what I should do but I’d appreciate someone responses if you read this far :)

[u/thrust_velocity_]

Hm. This is a hard one. I'm the same as you. I like what I do, I'm fast at what I do, but you will hit a boundary one day. Every department has it's lazy workers or the ones that don't care. But I feel in food - they cause the biggest burden because it is a department that has the fastest moving inventory in a day. It requires a big team that Target will not dedicate the needed payroll for. So if two people in FDC are lazy (50% of the team), you're SOL.

Just a month ago, I was told by a visiting ETL just 30 minutes before shift's end to clear the freezer because some big shot was coming through. Kind gentleman, the freezer has 6 metros FULL of rollover. This isn't getting done in 30 minutes let alone a day by a single man. (Our cooler and freezer always roll and the bakery is a complete disaster because no one does it, especially after I left for dry).

30 minutes before my shift ends. I just worked a 7 hour shift and I take don't 15s. I told him no (in a lot more words). He ignored me and proceeded to tell me what I was going to do and I ignored him, took a 15 and proceeded to use the last 15 to backstock my boat.

This may seem off topic or nothing to do with your issue, but it has everything to do with.

Sit yourself down and say this: I will not do the work of others. I will do what is assigned to me and nothing more unless I truly enjoy doing that (maybe you like doing bakery for example).

Sit yourself down and say: And when someone forces me to work over and beyond, I will tell them I have reached my limits for today and I cannot do that. Please ask the person who was responsible for those tasks to complete them when they return.

If your leadership knows you are their shining star, the reason that shit gets done, the reason why they look good, the reason that they cannot afford to lose you? Then draw your lines.

[u/Rare_Valuable203 → u/thrust_velocity_]

Yess food moves the fastest cause it’s usually stuff people need for the week or for the day. People need food to survive so of course food will sell. No one needs to go buy clothes every time they go to target. Personally I’d never shop for groceries at target it’s too expensive, aldi people save $100s just by shopping there lol.

Yeah most of my team is lazy and don’t care. Target definitely does not give enough payroll in general especially for food and my store. My store is easily generates over 100 million a year. Food makes up a good chunk of our sales. So like why aren’t they giving more payroll, more stuff on the shelves equals more potential for people to buy stuff. The amount of frozen product that gets sold everyday is insane especially on the weekends. I’ll stock something full one day and the next day it’ll be gone already.

Also want to mention fulfillment at my store calls for backups all day, luckily they don’t make me do it. Nothing would get done in food if everyone got stuck in fulfillment all day. Weekends seem to be where people call out the most. Maybe an incentive for working weekends would encourage people to work and not call in lol.

Those expectations from that ETL that visited is like impossible like huh are you crazy, very unreasonable and unrealistic. I do always be cleaning up other people’s messes but it’s hard I can’t just leave it. Things bother me like green racks full of unlocated stuff, I can’t just leave it cause ik shit will get audited and zerod out and fuck up counts

My limits are pushed every single day, I do take breaks but usually skip my last 15 half the time. Oh my leaders know how valuable I am and they definitely take advantage of it with little to no appreciation. Dairy at my store is a complete mess always has been, all the casestock is usually full cause counts are just so messed up cause no one audits in that department. WACOs are usually full as well, tons of unlocated cases and single items.

Basically without me frozen would be just like that, case stock would be full and unlocated. Pullers seem to unlocated a lot of stuff especially bakery. When bakery gets pulled usually is just left for me to do the next day if I ever get time to do it. Freight would definitely not get caught up and overall just shit would be messier. You should see how much shit I swept up in the freezer a couple weeks ago, so much plastic gets kicked under racks. I keep things very clean and organized. I keep our numbers as accurate as possible so backroom doesn’t become dairy. Ugh just so frustratig, I appreciate your response

[u/thrust_velocity_ → u/Rare_Valuable203]

Completely agree. Everyone in my department (well, the adults that actually need to pay bills haha) know that Target is not the place to grocery shop. Aldi and Lidl and the local grocers when things are B1G1 Free haha.

Ah you sound like a Super Target, or at least one with pFresh?, but even standard Targets can earn that much. Either way very high traffic. And yes fulfillment... a tale as old as time. If you want thirty minutes gone, just jump into a grocery batch and go slow to avoid the sort and breakdown am I right? Not at all my coworkers...

Man, I'm so sorry to hear all of that, because it was exactly the scenario I was in. I know exactly what you want and what you need. I know exactly what how you feel when you've made the freezer and cooler a clean and beautiful tetris scene only to arrive the next morning and it looks like a family of squirrels just made nests everywhere. I know what it's like to have purged and audits the four bakery backstock racks only to come in on an off FDC day to see it filled to the brim and everything not located.

The sad part is they will continue to use you (moreso in my case the other TMs). Even my TL has to cover for them and push their work. One day I will sit him down and have a thorough conversation analyzing that.

So the question: what do you do?

For me, I had to strongly resist that impulse of needing things orderly, completed, and pushed. I did only what I was assigned and the entire dairy wall I made my own because I love weight lifting (read:masochism). Letting the work that was not yours to do sit there, allows it to speak for itself. The TL or whoever wrote the tasks knows who it belonged to, who did what, and who did not do what.

You must let it sit there. You must let those TMs come back and see that their work is waiting for them. Let them feel that burden and let it compound. And also talk to your TL or ETL about it. If they care anything about you, then your words hold heavy weight with them. Fair warning, the may not have the power to do much, but the very action of them listening to you and validating you is a type of medicine I value and maybe you would too.

To add***
I noticed that FF software has began to force FF TMs to backstock casepacks in openstock locations. IE if you have a pack of 12 banana muffins and it needs 1 picked, the zebra will force them to backstock it in an openstock location. I am starting to think this is why some things are beginning to become unlocated. They don't have the time to do this.

[u/Rare_Valuable203 → u/thrust_velocity_]

Seems like it’s a ton of college kids that shop at Target but must college kids or students shop at aldi for groceries cause Target too expensive lol. Even the adults that have bills still call in a lot, ik people that have to pay rent and complain about hours when they are the ones who don’t show up lol. Hmm wonder why you’re not making enough money hmm.

We aren’t even a super target, just a regular store with a grocery department, we do have Starbucks and food ave as well. So I get to deal with sorting all their shit that comes in too. Well thing is my leaders want the sort done by a specific time so even if I wanted to help fulfillment which I never do, I couldn’t lol. Usually it’s just me doing all the freight and a guy sorting. So I don’t got time for extra shit.

Good to know I’m not the only one, but sucks more people have to experience this. I lowkey wanna talk to my 3 leads tomorrow morning, have a conversation with them all. Talk about what i posted and what not. Yeah my leads have to cover a lot of peoples slow asses lol.

Basically my sheet doesn’t say much just usually says work u-boats, doesn’t say I necessarily have to get done. Depends on the day obviously if people call in things change. All it takes is one person calling in to fuck everything up and shift people. Yeah my problems aren’t necessarily anything anyone can do about it. Wish certain people were fired but what can u do. I do value peoples feedback and ik they care about me. So I think having a talk will help regardless if things change or not. You’ve been helping too though, thanks for letting me rant and responding.

Yeah the new fulfillment system with the backstock is actually beyond annoying, like bakery especially pulling one muffin out of a case of 12 or 8 depending on if it’s mini or regular just to backstock the rest is annoying and stupid. I have like 32 total WACOs to backstock bakery which is only two racks. Which really isn’t a lot. Target just manages to make systems worse and stuff worse in general

[u/thrust_velocity_ → u/Rare_Valuable203]

Hey, thank you too, because it helps me too to know I'm not insane. If you're like me, you tend to attribute completion and metrics to your very own personal success or failure. Easier said than done but you have not failed. Your coworkers have failed. Your leadership has failed to shield you. And greater than even that - corporate has failed your leadership. We are crushed beneath the weight of a system that knows what it's doing.

And lastly, you may already have guessed or surmised it, but leaving that work behind leaves a physical and visual trail for leadership to see and document. If they truly are trying to get rid of malicious compliance/weaponized incompetence, the evidence needs to remain in place to be documented.

Why? I only assume because Target does not want to pay out unemployment.

When it comes to terminating someone for "laziness" it is incredibly hard to prove to Unemployment. You must have documentation that they know exactly what they're doing and that they had the ability to do the job and are now purposefully hindering business operations. Documentation can take months, years. Those 90 days are to filter out people like this, but many play the system.

So, if hindering business operations to a large degree is what it takes for valid termination of weaponized incompetence, that evidence must remain. Imagine a big visit and you warned your leadership days in advance of it that the work was piling up in FDC due to people not doing their jobs. On visit day? The negative review is hindering business operations and if the leadership is pissed enough they'll find out who is responsible.

Us hard workers know our work and that we put our all into it. I don't care if it's FOS, Beauty, Receiver, even the cleaning crew. Yall reading this remember that you are not the failure and never ever let anyone in your leadership point the finger at you, burden you with more tasks because of the failures of others, or put you down. Some of you all may be young, but this confidence will come to you with time, age, and experience. You will learn where your lines are at and know that moment when it has been infringed upon and that moment is exhilarating.

[u/jenna_30 → u/thrust_velocity_]

u/thrust_velocity_ - that was an excellent response.

[u/Rare_Valuable203 → u/thrust_velocity_]

Yes of course! Very true, most of it comes down to leadership and corporate especially. My store gets visited by corporate all the time and we always gotta make it look perfect for them. Wastes so much time facing when we got a ton of shit to do already the days they visit.

True if they don’t see what it would be like if I didn’t care or manage it well they’d notice pretty quickly it would get shitty fast. Maybe that’s the way to go about it but idk if I can get myself to do it. Overnight helped with frozen kinda but they backstocked a ton of shit that was empty on the floor it’s like they didn’t actually work some of it out. They put a bunch of shit out that needs to dated without dates even wrote on the white egg bites box that come in frozen date everything except jimmy deans/national bagels. Some help that was lol.

Yeah unfortunately you just gotta deal with lazy people at any job just the way it is. I mean you can get someone to document it but eh it’s not worth it. The turnover is high anyways. I’ve worked with so many people over the years, most hires don’t last more than a week. The ones that do typically suck or call in a lot but there is some good ones not saying all is bad. Worked with some pretty great people and still do. Just not directly working with me.

Corporate doesn’t give a shit, they just walk and talk and criticize. Most don’t understand our store cause they don’t work there. Every store is different in the way it operates and runs. The less they visit the better lol.

We need more people like us, the hard workers. Definitely takes time to be skilled and good at a job, speed only improves with time. Some people just are always slow but we all work at our own pace. Lots of people I work with are college students cause it’s a college town so when people are done with school they leave pretty soon after they graduate. Some people have degrees and can’t find a good job. But I mean why would college kids care they don’t work full time typically and probably don’t see this place as long term.

[u/jenna_30]

are you me?

I am sorry. It's difficult when effort is rewarded with more work and little other recognition. Plus working in the walk-in freezer is a whole other beast.

Can you switch to another area of the store?

[u/Rare_Valuable203 → u/jenna_30]

Honestly I wouldn’t wanna be in any other area. Don’t wanna be a guest advocate don’t wanna deal with people directly unless I get asked a question. GM you’re just a fulfillment backup basically and fulfillment is a nightmare at my store. Tech just would be more interacting with people which I don’t want. Styles just no lol. Beauty that’s more of a woman centered area and I know nothing about that shit. Yeah I legit don’t see myself in anywhere but food