July 27, 2011 - expectlesspaymore
Expect less, pay more? ™
For a company that prides itself in top quality customer service, you would think the upper management fully supports its store employees and provides them with the tools to succeed, provide great service, and earn the profits that come with it. This is however not the case. It is of little or no fault to the store management as their hands are tied. Its the board, the top executives, the operations team, and a few of the interns that came up with some of the stupid ideas and roll outs over the years. (whoever invented AE09 needs a boot up their ass)
I have shopped at Target© for a long time, I have many friends that shopped there. Notice I say “shopped”. There are many reasons not to shop at physical retailers these days but Target© goes above and beyond by providing many more. Most issues are related to the day to day operation of the store but all of them have a direct impact on the guest experience. Some of the many issues: Lack of a livable wage, Poor staffing, Poorly trained staff, High turnover, little or no advancement opportunities in smaller stores, Too many stores in a dense area, Outdated operating practices in regards to credit cards, A simple but insulting return policy, lack of layover, lack of direct to store shipping options, a poorly designed website, as well as too much documentation whether it be store operations, coaching, or job function related.
Somewhere in time retailers lost track of the concept that worker productivity is tied to wage and you get what you pay for. There’s more to running an efficient organization than cutting wages as low as possible and hoping for the best. The lack of a living wage discourages employees from giving their job their full focus as they are then required to look elsewhere for additional funds to cover their remaining living expenses. This issue goes hand in hand with the next one, poor customer service.
Retailers expect poorly paid, part time employees to provide great service while getting tasks completed in a timely manner. They give too much task load for the time available, which is reduced further due to the amount of time spent providing customer service. An example of this is my daily task load which is enough to occupy me for the entirety of my shift even with me giving 110% effort, and yet the amount of customer traffic is also enough to occupy me anywhere from 60-80% of my shift. I end up forced to cut corners, be short with customers, or simply fail to get tasks done.
I’ve watched as repeat customers get tired of dealing with Target © and they stop returning. I’ve watched as team members and management put in their notice or quit outright due to the unrealistic expectations put before them. Upper management would be very quick to tell everyone to just “deal with it” however what they forget is customers don’t have to. There are many alternate options available. If you remove customer service as a requirement for your shopping experience, then Walmart © is perfect. Target can’t compete against Walmart or Costco price wise, it’s customer service is the main advantage, yet staffing and training is poor.
Target © should change its motto to “Expect less, Pay more” ™ It would fit the companies current direction much better. In the mean time I’m quitting and encouraging the sale of Target © stock.
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That's funny, my wife used to always say that when we would go into a Target... Expect Less, Pay More!
I really did want to give customers the best service I could when I worked there. I always up held that. My morale, like most employees, diminished very quickly. I got treated like garbage. I don't remember ever being given a compliment. My pay checks were just a little over two hundred dollars. What am I going to do with that??? Managers don't want to promote or cross train you. You are given one permanent permission that you are expected to be over the top enthusiastic with. Team leaders get paid a few dollars more than regular employees, and having to give that kind of money is heart ripping for the company. They really really don't want to give raises, promotions, benefits, or minimum wage for that matter. CEOs are probably in their offices right now scheming how they can convince people to work 60 hours a week for free. Not a single person, including my store managers, are currently working at my old store. Not a single person. They either got fired, quit, or moved on to better jobs.