Transfered to the Target Hayward store opening #176

Blog #175 I talked about how our Target Corporate visit went well. In this blog I want to talk about me being transferred to the Target Hayward store opening.

There was a new store opening in Hayward and I was to be transferred as the ETL for logistics there. I hadn’t really worked with the logistics team too much in the old store but was excited to learn. Basically this position was making sure all the shipments were handled properly. Every night there were trucks and they would dock the container and the overnight team would scan everything in and restock the floor. Everything else would be scanned into backstock.

This position was 2^nd in line to the STL or Store Team Leader so I was excited to learn this part in my new career. Part of the responsibility was to work with the overnight team to make sure everything was done correctly. The position itself wasn’t a graveyard position but if things went south you would have to figure out why. I planned on working a few weeks with the overnight team to learn the process.

Other ETL’s in this store weren’t as nice as the team in Milpitas. We were a pretty tight group there and all got along pretty well. This team was different. Couldn’t figure out why but one thing I did know was the Hardlines ETL thought he should have the Logistics position.  Made things a little awkward between us. He was kind of a stiff personality and wasn’t all that nice to people. Plus he was one of those managers that liked to intimidate people and while I always had high expectations I felt you treat all people with respect.

New STL

My new STL was super nice at first. He had a very calm personality and was very friendly. We got along pretty well and I enjoyed our conversations. Knowing I was learning this position, he wasn’t too much of a hard ass. He wasn’t a George though…George was really warm and rarely went off on people.

A few times I’d be walking the floor with him and we were having a nice walk and he would just go off the rails on another ETL. I stood there shocked. This was another side that made me a little nervous with how long he would be patient with my learning curve. He would scream at someone then come back still angry then a weird smile would come over his face and he’d talk really calm with me. Like something from a scary movie.

Observing his rants went on for several months and so far I didn’t have any of his anger go my way. To make sure of this I tried to get friendlier with the Hardlines ETL on running a good logistics business. There were a lot of good pointers which I tried to incorporate with my strategy. This helped him out too because the Hardlines area was so crucial to the stores business. You sell a lot of tide and other things at Target.

Regional

The regional supervisor came in a few times and he was a real hard-ass. I could see why our STL would have the mood swings, who knew what he had to endure himself. My regional in the other area was a great guy. He was on the quiet side but very professional. Had high standards too but didn’t get into the yelling stuff much. This whole way of doing things was so different than what I was used to.

 At Nordstrom  my RMM could be short with people and make you feel small but never yelled. I grew to appreciate how he treated me poorly now. Funny how things work sometimes. The grass is definitely not always greener on the other side.

People skills are so important on building a strong team. When you yell and scream at people, all that does is make them afraid of you. To truly build a strong team you need to have a vision, get everyone on board and celebrate the wins together. If there are tough times you rally everyone to try harder or a different approach.

When people aren’t living up to your expectations you need to coach them on how to do the job properly. If they aren’t capable of that, you give them notice. Yelling never solves anything. Treating people poorly is the sign of an insecure person. Being transferred to the Target Hayward store opening I thought was going to rejuvenate me. I knew this was going to get old quickly…