Our store seems to have a focus of team leads being a mentor for a team member. What is the point of this?
One word. Development. It's the hottest thing in Target right now. Identifying TM's that have the potential to be internally promoted. TM to TL. TL to SRTL. SRTL to ETL. Etc, etc, etc. Focus will start to shift to 4th quarter, BUT with that will be making sure that seasonal hires' strengths and talents are identified. Target understands that in tough economic times the pool of talent is MUCH larger than it is when the unemployment lines are short. Make sure we are keeping the cream of the crop is what it boils down to. I, for one, like it.
I'm actually starting soon and am really hoping my ETL has mentor mentality. I am very excited to start, and am dying to learn and be challenged.
I think the mentor thing can be great, if done properly. I've never really seen it done very well. Especially in a retail environment where hours can be a bit ... unstable.
This. Its retro Target. At one time Team Leads had team members assigned to them. This still happens in certain work centers but, is not seen on the sales floor or front end etc. Now Target is going back to placing team members under certain team leads for development, reviews etc. This also follows the lastest trend of placing more ETL duties under TLs so more ETL positions can be removed.
Not all team members want additional responsibility or can handle additional responsibility. I understand mentoring a team member that would like to move up in the company and get a "bench" of promotable team members ready. But I do think that management needs to realize that there are team members who work hard and have pride in their job but have no desire to turn Target into a long term situation. And then there are team members that are in it for the long haul, but have no desire to move up.Not all TLs make good mentors either. There are some great task TLs who are using every second in their day just to get their jobs completed on time. Adding in a mentoring situation is not fair to that TL or the team member. The team member simply becomes another body to get the job done on time. Why not find out who wants to move up, partner them with a TL that wants to also move up?Our leadership team thinks all team members need to be mentored to become promotable. They say that we should only hire people with high aspirations. There is nothing wrong with a flow team member that stocks accurately and quickly, puts in their 5 hours a day and leaves. They want/need some extra cash and we need the help. A college kid working nights in softlines that is pursuing a nursing degree has no desire to be mentored to become a TL. We have been down this road before, just like most of the "new" programs this year. They are simply recycled ideas.
We have a program at our store for this.
Its personally a waste of time, as none of the management cares enough to see it through.
Its to develop you into a leader. If you like working for spot, try for it. If not, you're gonna be wasting your time.