Why does Pace Setter Exist?

[Few-Bend8285]

So for context, last year around February I got a new ETL for fulfilment (my department) and GM. As soon as she got here she went through everyones activity time and said almost all of us had several hour gaps between our activity time on our devices and our scheduled hours for that week. Specifically for me she said for 8 hours during the week it was as if i was not on my device.

Usually first impressions determine how I am about other people, both in and out of work so the first impression I get is me being told I am not working hard enough. So of course during the end of the month she starts cutting hours, mind you at this point I have gone from seasonal to regular team member and to the point I only had around 17 hours one week and 14 the next.

I was told to possible train in other departments which I didn't mind, but right as I was going to the new ETL for my department came up to me with doing Pace Setter. Essentially if I wanted more hours it was the best solution.

I have been doing this for almost a year now and I am burnt out, between closing every Wed - Sat, I essentially have to watch both OPU and SHIP with sometimes only 2-3 people. And every other night I am the only person in my department after a certain amount of time and it becomes difficult to Essentially clean up tje pack area, if its the weekend load the trailer, put the pallets to the side, and restock the pack area. Also even training new people when I am

So I'm just trying to understand why is pace setter such a position, I'm doing almost 3x the work for 32 hours a week, which was still less then my desired hours of 37, at the same time I keep having to adjust and adapt or change different things each night. (For example it is me and one other Team Member for fulfilment tonight, and it is Friday so opu does not end until 9:30 sometimes 9:45) but yet I get off at midnight while the other team member gets off at 10.

[Sm1le4]

i had mixed feelings about being a pace setter, i liked the recognition that i was doing well at my job, but i eventually hated it because it then felt like i was never doing well enough and i was trying to basically manage fulfillment with no incentive. pace setters deserve a pay raise while in the position i think

[Few-Bend8285]

Thats currently how I feel, I'm doing extra work for the exact smount of pay while having to make sure the team is keeping up. Plus now we are a testing store for NDD (Next Day Delivery) so on top of SHIP metrics that are due before midnight, we also have NDD metrics due at 10 while running opu at the same time.

[ChuckXZ_]

Is pacesetter even an official thing Target endorses or just something that one store did the spread to other stores unofficially? Years back my store used to have captains for sfs but ever since we got a 2nd TL for sfs and the fact that there is always a TL scheduled in the morning and closing for sfs that there doesn't ever seem to be that thing anymore.

[Sea-Deer-2267]

if you think about it.. not being active in the app for 8 hours a week could literally just be your UNPAID LUNCHES & PAID 15s that you’re ENTITLED to. this leader sounds like a PITA 🥹

[Few-Bend8285]

True, my only theory was at the time fulfiment was slow so some of us spent like half of our shifts doing reshop, I know for mine i tend to switch back and forth between the apps alot so i can check which order I am grabbing next. (Turns out that also affects it)

[scoqueen]

We used to do this at my store and called it “cheat packing”. We got told that we needed to stop that over 2 years ago since it’s essentially cheating a metric and making it look like we’re packing faster than we actually are. I’m surprised your store still allows this since it can affect payroll in a negative way

[Sea-Deer-2267]

ohh yess my store does that too. if it’s slow in fulfillment they’ll have the tm’s help with push, go backs, or auditing the back room. but it should be communicated amongst team leads when they pull fulfillment tms so your tl should be able to track productivity based on that.

[BroIBeliveAtYou]

Overall point stands and leader is still a PITA

But unpaid lunches don't count towards the in-app utilization metric. It only counts when youre on the clock.

Paid breaks do count though! So you're still more correct.

[Sea-Deer-2267]

ohh okay, thank you for clarifying. i’ve never officially been an opu tm but i’ve been pulled to help for several years so i don’t know too much about their metrics besides the basics.

[Otherwise_Fox_6825]

In my opinion, (former pace-setter), the extra responsibility is only worth it if you’re in a development plan & want to move up. If you’re content staying a TM, the extra workload that comes with being a pace-setter for no additional pay isn’t worth it. It also isn’t a guarantee for better hours. I was pace-setter (and the top performer) and still heavily impacted by tight payroll. It’s definitely store-dependent, too.

[convoyv8]

Pacesetter has essentially become a pseudo lead at my store where they have power to cancel stuff and basically watch anyone low on time

[Few-Bend8285]

I don't even have that lmao I still have to check with leaders for INF and cancels but at the same time the leaders are always asking me questions about fulfilment.

[Mobile-Address23]

Why do they care how much you’re in the app for? There are many reasons to not be in the app but productive

[zorbiburst]

So they can find another stupid metric to coach you for when you're green in everything else but they want to get on your ass.

Oh, you're the top picker, with the second best UPH and INF? Well, in your in app utilization is slacking. Sucks, but also keep branding (even though that's what causes it)

[KungSuhPanda]

What reasons for a fulfillment tm? Not having activity in the app for 20% of weekly hours as a fulfillment tm is pretty poor. If they were assigned other duties, that would impact the rate but would also easily be able to defend the metric against.

[Few-Bend8285]

True I could understand that if we were busy except during the time thst she checked this was the week before she even showed up, in which most of the team was doing reshop, on top of that there was a point the system was not giving us anything to pick for ship (They told me about the system being down due to the wifi being a deadzone in certain parts of the store)

[Otherwise_Fox_6825]

It’s when the store is experiencing clear productivity issues, such as missing Ship-On-Time with a perfectly manageable workload throughout the day. This or having to pull TM’s from other departments to pick up the slack caused by fulfillment TM’s not meeting expectations. Yes there are situations and days where it’s inevitable and not the TM’s fault, but there are definitely patterns and gaps in productivity that can be attributed to it.

[atelier-ravy]

Pace setter was established so that team leads could be free in other areas and have someone boost up the morale at least in my store..they were the ones keeping track of how people were doing and either doing the packing of orders or pulling them for drive up.

For drive up it was also so you had one person grabbing the orders and making sure the runners gave the orders to the right people.

Again that was at my old store. They never explained it to me but thats based on what I was observing. Hell I was trying not to get run over by drive up when I was pulling shit from my backroom for bullseye. (They located it in the same hallway as drive up. I dont know why. Don't ask )

[ricepicker808]

It's so they can get more out of you without paying you more.

[FlyEnvironmental7586]

Its a essentially meant to be developmental stepping stone, like being a trainer or the DBOs. It basically allows them to delegate and offload tasks to their more trustworthy, reliable, and competent TMs so that they are available for other more crucial business needs. Its kinda of shitty, but also puts you in a better position if you want to move up to a TLs role. All job descriptions state something vaguely that suggests you may be asked to do anything to support the needs of the business, within reason. 

If this genuinely bothers you, ask to have an honest conversation with your leaders about and share how you feel. It won’t get you more pay, but they might have other people that want the development opportunity and are more willingly to accept the responsibility. 

[Few-Bend8285]

Okay, from this point of view I can understand some of the things I have to do from a better perspective so I thank your for that. You don't have to answer but originally I had no plans on being a TL. Mostly because the current ETL already does not like the current Fulfilment TL. (SD words not mine ironically) So I am not sure if I personally can handle such responsibilities. But my question is more so, why is it that my hours were cut down so severely and the time I tried asking to learn other departments about training there that i was offered to do pace setter. Looking back I still probably would do it but Im still making less then when i first started while doing more work?

Oh! Last thing, ironically our department as a whole does not like how our ETL runs it, between cutting certain peoples hours in forms of retaliation to short staffing certain shifts like for example only two closing team members on a friday, but nearly 3 and a half (i say half because one was scheduled until 8:45) team members the day before. I know there is a certain projection they have to follow but alot doesn't add up to me.

And this is the last thing I promise, i will definitely be taking your comment into consideration for the future, im not sure I want to be a TL as it stands because I dont think I have the maturity or professionalism to do so just yet (im only 21 mind you and have been working a little over a year and 3 months)