April 18, 2015 - bort2bort

Target Mobile: The Unsung Hero

All I can say is that when I think of Target Mobile, perhaps the most urgent feeling I can express is pity. I don’t know what it is like at other Targets, but at mine, it is one of the worst positions in the store. I work at a high traffic Target, and like most of you out there, this Target is also poorly manned. Nowhere is this more evident than Hardlines 2, aka, Electronics. In my store, this is proven by the workload thrust upon the poor unsuspecting man in charge of Target Mobile. As the name implies, Target Mobile’s job is to sell phones, but there are some things that need mention in this. First, they don’t actually work for Target, they work at Target, for an outside company. Secondly, much of their income is commission based, namely from the selling of said phones. Now the problem arises from the fact that our vaunted guests do not know this, they simply see a person stationed near electronics while the person actually working there is off in Mini Seasonal on the other side of the store reorganizing the clearance Easter candy because a pile of shit isn’t Brand. The problem further arises when TL’s and ETL’s conveniently forget this fact as well, also simply seeing a person stationed near electronics when nobody else is. So what happens? Sometimes Target Mobile is in a slow period, and out of the kindness of their hearts, they help a little, directing guests, asking for the keys so they can get a video game while you explain what the internet is and how this magical box makes it float to other magical boxes, even simply checking someone out. This is well and good, except when it becomes expected of them, so much so that it prevents them from helping their guests and selling phones which are the basis of their income. This is the case at my store. For guests, this is forgivable, they really have no way of knowing the intricacies of his position. For someone in management, this is unforgivable. My TL will often be in charge of Electronics but effectively leave it in the care of Target Mobile while he hides in a corner doing a “project”, aka flirting on the phone and not responding on the walkie. One day in recent memory he didn’t take care of the ad and had the balls to ask Target Mobile to finish it for him. On a good day he delegates his time to someone else in Hardlines when they don’t know the department so he can do one of his “projects”. What this devolves into is, while yes, there is someone actually manning the spot and not leaving all matters to Target Mobile, they are a chicken with their head cut off and at times requires Target Mobile to basically train this TM on the area. This has only exacerbated in recent times when two out of three of our Electronics TM’s have quit, with me and the bike guy filling in because we actually know the area. So far, they’ve hired one new person to work Electronics, he barely speaks English and doesn’t understand US currency, so clearly things have improved much and the work thrust on Target Mobile has lessened. I want to hope things will improve for him, but my gut says that like everything else in this company, it will only get worse.

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Employee Experience / TargetSucks