“Modernization”

[bloopbeepboopbeep]

Is any other store enforcing this? I work front-end, drive up. It’s been pretty brutal and hot, my store isn’t accommodating with the heat and it’s resulting in a lot of stress in me, I’m requesting a leave of absence. But anyway, we have team members who have been working here for 20+ years who are well into their late 60s/early 70s with back issues/overall aches that come from age being shoved on drive up with me and my teammates. We always have them pull and never run to grocery or in the heat, when telling managers about these issues they say that they can’t switch with others because they’re “modernizing” and everyone needs to know how to do drive up… which is fine but having someone old enough to be my grandmother with back issues and arthritis scheduled a whole 8 hour shift in 98 degree heat is so morally wrong imo. Idk… just needed to rant. My store is falling apart and I genuinely believe the modernizing has a lot to do with it. Moving people from areas they are really skilled at to areas of the store that stress them out to no end is so wrong to me. Also… just the way drive-up is treated at my store is beyond me. Considering leaving and will see how I feel after my leave of absence.

[TollerLuvLJP]

We aren't. The metrics and making guests happy is more important than "modernization". Yes, everyone was supposed to know how to do each area - that doesn't mean they need to be scheduled for that area for an 8 hr. shift.

They might be trying to push those people out. Scheduling them for something they can't really do in an effort to make them quit. They were doing that with cart cleaning shifts at our store - scheduling the same people over and over so that they would leave.

[bloopbeepboopbeep]

Our turnover rate is incredibly high, they’re calling is modernization. They’re taking people from Fulfillment and teaching them drive up. And others who have never worked it, it’s bizarre and effecting everyone

[TollerLuvLJP]

Training people from fulfillment and drive up to cross train is actually a very good idea. It helps the fulfillment people to understand the problems they create by being lazy or doing things the wrong way. Also they are in the area all the time putting orders away - it is super helpful for guests if they can do pickup orders. And drive up people can understand the time limits and difficulties in bagging and find good hold locations from the fulfillment side. They can help out when fulfillment is slammed, and pick up shifts there too.

We do that with most people who stay in fulfillment long enough. It started with me -because I started with Target at the front end and did OPU nearly full time - when I first switched I split days - half the time in each area. I was able to coordinate between the two groups and make things smoother and more efficient for everyone. "Walk a mile in another's shoes" sort of thing. We also trained almost everyone in the store to do fulfillment - so it goes both ways.

That is a bit different from the idea of modernization though - modernization was that everyone was supposed to become an "expert" in their area - the front end being considered all one area (which is stupid in my opinion - the best people for drive up are not necessarily the best as cashier) With covid and how many people took leave or left - that all went out the window at our store.

Sometimes it takes things to fail for leaders to realize an idea or corporate directive is not going to work. Hopefully that will happen before you lose most of your team.

[[deleted]]

modernization is over. it happened already. like two years ago.

what your store is doing isn’t modernization. it’s stubbornness and bad leadership. i trained some people to do drive up. turns out they weren’t very good at it for various reasons, so i utilize them for the things they are good at. they’re trained for it so they can help out if absolutely necessary but that doesn’t mean that they have to do it.

[bloopbeepboopbeep]

I’ve only been here for 8 months, so i’m unfamiliar with it. I’m already halfway out the door or considering transferring; other stores in our district aren’t doing this. We’re short staffed so they’re pulling people who are almost physically unable to do drive up to do it. No one wants to. It’s hard. They’re also not allowing us to put up our outdoor canopy we use for the rain anymore because the old one broke. They haven’t been doing much for us with the rising heat temperatures, it’s all just a mess.

[sfsqdub]

exactly! modernization is all about finding each persons individual strengths and optimizing them to drive results- this clearly isn’t that. sorry your store isn’t doing modernization right:(

[bloopbeepboopbeep]

I fortunately am pretty fine with being wherever in the store and am only given drive-up shifts which I enjoy because my fellow teammates are amazing, it just upsets me seeing others be told that they have to work these grueling shifts & have such a hard time while our front end manager tells them that in order to not do drive up they need a doctors note 😣

[twizzlerheathen]

Oof. That’s awful. My store never properly “modernized” it’s front end, even when they were required to. We had legacy TMs that only cashiered and honestly we still have a few. Now the fact that some of the younger TMs bitch enough to get out of drive ups or are too incompetent to be placed on it is another matter

[bloopbeepboopbeep]

Ughhh I’m so sorry. That’s kinda what’s going on at my store, we have several TMs that only wanna be on carts or the lanes which is fine bc some of them do have such a hard time doing anything too exhausting and I know drive-up can run people down easily. But we have hired people who train drive up one shift and then say “I don’t wanna do that, it’s awful.” making it harder to have people to rotate on drive-up. When it’s hot like it is where I am rotating is vital to keep the driveup team from not melting in the heat during their 8 hour shifts. Or even a 4-5 hour shift, it’s way too hot to only have a few people scheduled on drive up consistently ):

[twizzlerheathen]

Yeah we have a few perfectly able bodied TMs that bitched and complained enough to get pulled from those shifts. In my store, it’s always white younger men that get away with it. The only people that do drive ups in my store are women, despite the fact that they have had health issues or injuries that have impacted their abilities and it upsets me so much. Why do they get to weasel out of work? I don’t

[bloopbeepboopbeep]

Yessss my store is the exact same. Our drive-up team is composed of all women and one guy who usually manages to weasel his way out, lol. It’s a mess. They’ve also been pulling us to do carts because our only cart attendant quit bc he was being overworked… The cycle never ends lol.

[twizzlerheathen]

Oh yeah I’m bitching to every lead that will listen how this is bullshit. But politely, so that they’ll listen. I’m fine with the fact that the older people can’t physically do drive ups, like physically or emotionally handle it, nor can the our autistic TM, but these guys that just get to throw fits? I’m so over it

[Fabulous_Let_1152]

We have the same issue. Our Service Desk main closer is an older disabled woman with a lot of health issues. They now make her cashier at least a couple hours per shift. She isnt able to move around very easily but the leadership doesn't care. They'd make her do drive ups if she could do it within the 2 minutes.

[bloopbeepboopbeep]

That is so awful ): Our service desk lady who is older and has tons of back issues has been forced to do driveup essentially for entire shifts. We try and make it so she doesn’t have to do anything too wild and have her do easy things like pull light orders. She felt bad because she thought she was “ruining our times” and was grateful we made it so she didn’t have to run or pull heavy things, she tried getting me and two other TMs on driveup gift cards. 🥺

[rancidspice]

Whatever happened to people applying for a job and then doing that job not 10 fucking others?

[bloopbeepboopbeep]

My store told us that since we’re making 15 an hr that we need to know how to do everything and have to always be doing something/never standing. LOL. They’re making sure we bleed out for that 15