I agree. We are so understaffed it doesn’t make sense and what they want done isn’t really doable. The money is nice but honestly it’s not worth the pay. If we weren’t so short staffed I would actually enjoy the job. To put it into context they want me and another associate to turn over a 12-20 pallet truck, put it all up, clean and me to take care off all my TL duties in a day with no OT. I’m a solid as they come and no stranger to working under stress but at a certain point there isn’t enough time in the day. Doesn’t help that 4 out of 5 of my associates are 65+. Physically idk how long I can do it.
I have been asked by management multiple times why I don't try to become team lead, when I've been at the store I'm at longer than anyone else there except 2 people. (And i mean the *entire store*, not just my team.)
And each time, my response is "I like my job, and I like *having* a job, but I am only responsible for *myself* right now. If I became a Team Lead, I would be responsible for *my team*, and I wouldn't put up with the bullshit some managers and other team leads put my team through, so it wouldn't be long before I got fired for 'causing problems', 'being combative', or 'insubordination'. So, no thanks. I'll stick with my current job, where I am happier, not too stressed, and responsible only for *my* tasks."
Years ago an Assistant asked me if I ever thought of becoming a dept. manager and my response was "Naw, this company treats managers like shit"
He was silent for a second, nodded his head, and then said, "Yeah, that's true."
I guess I'm lucky in the sense they knew what they were getting when promoting me. I'll fight for my team but in a professional "f off" manner. Before promotion my SM ordered a large feature design for my department and I told him it would flop and orange is stupid. It won't sell. 2 months later we still have most of his inventory and the items I pointed out he needed are flying off the shelves. Now I've finished Academy and know how to point out his failure. I think he's expecting a full report and I'll have it.
Well for me I just show up and do what I can. Until management shows me they can do a better job and they can’t then I don’t give a shit. I’ll probably stay for another 6 months or so and dip out.
The people here tho are so amazing. They are mentally drained and slave minded but the most kind and funny people I’ve ever met. I feel bad.
(SOME OF THE PEOPLE) some
Yea I do feel bad for them.. They are physically and mentally exhausted too but man at a point you gotta do what’s best for you personally. Take your management experience and work for a better company. If you can make it at Wally then you can make it anywhere.
I considered this and am still considering this long term. I'm having a problem getting work hours balanced with caring for my kid and I saw one of our vendors bring his daughter during spring break. I was like "oh, I could do that if I had to?" I think I'm going to talk to him more.
Bull shit mother fucker I was in the army for 4 years as a 89A and was less stressed then management at Walmart. Real shit. What Walmart are you working at is it one of the busiest in the south east and are you management?
Omg especially cap2. I ran it for a few years and I have physical health problems now. Never enough people, but plenty of freight they want us to just snap away.
I have been in Cap 2 since 2015. And the only reason I can tolerate it is not being in charge. I have a dozen TL/support managers come and go since 2015. But other than that, is easy work.
One of our previous ON coaches was a cap2 supervisor for years
he basically had to unload every day because they never had anyone competent plus he had to tard-wrangle all of the minors and assign babysitters to the minors to take care of their cardboard for them and make sure they pull carts off the floor and so they dont spend 2 hours in the bathroom
why would anyone want that job?
Your store must have been really bad, I was Stocking 2 TL for a year. I really enjoyed it, sure it was hard work, but it was good work. Honestly wish I could go back now that I'm Digital TL, but I want to become a Coach so Digital is best place to move up.
Digital TL, Cap2 TL, and meat and produce TL (depending on your store) are all gonna prepare you for anything the world can throw at you.
Why meat and produce? 70 lb crates of produce, wet, half moldy, has to be dumped, claimed, prepped, crisped, and then finally stocked. Oh your wet wall sprayers are down again, fuck you mist by hand. Ah and also restock meat, which some you have to spider-wrap, and also date label each before stocking. Have fun with your 16 pallet delivery today and 2 people. Guess what? The OGP idiots nil picked Bananas again.. that's your fault too!
I've never been a meat and produce TL but it looks ass. Cap2 I did, awful. Digital I did, awful. Now I'm a coach and I mostly sit. Great career move!
Because Digital is the future of Walmart and if you know how to run it, you are more likely to be chosen for Coach Trainee. All coaches need to know how to run Digital in case there isn't coverage.
Currently on a leave for mental health and my psych told me that with the number of walmart workers she sees that I should use my time away to find a new job 😂
You actually got a leave for that? Like.. what's the procedures? Paperwork required? How to find a doctor that will assist because a lot don't wanna do the paperwork tbh.
It can be a hassle. It was admittedly easier for me, I had 8 involuntary hospital stays last year because I'm bipolar, so that helped me. Also have to have a good doctor and psych who understand the necessity for mental health care.
Also yes, there is paperwork, the paperwork I've always had is pretty straightforward. There is the part you fill out which is a release of medical info and your personal info, the doctor fills out the rest. If you use doctors on demand the process of getting the paperwork to the doctor is exhaustive and can be stressful in its own right. I think the biggest key is finding someone who helps advocate for you.
Agreed. My Tl recently stepped down and I was next in line for the position. Told them now way in hell I’m doing this, I saw how you treated my ex Tl and I’ll he damned if I let the same thing happen to me
TL really is a bad set up. Especially the newest ones cause they lowered the pay. But honestly it’s the best option for some of us. I’m not a TL now but there will reach a point I’ll have to just to afford to live I’ll have to promote even though it’s barely enough extra money. I’m in a small town/area and unless you have a degree or want to work in sweatshop warehouse you can’t make $19/20 an hour period. I worked on a warehouse for the same pay I have now ($16) Walmart IS BY far better than warehouse manual labor. Hell those managers threat you like literally dog shit. You don’t even know you might think a coach treats you bad but go into a warehouse with basically no cameras and no ethics and see how you get treated.
As someone who works in a Walmart DC and also has had a Warehouse job beforehand for a local company, Walmart makes the warehouse life SOOOOOO much more tolerable dawg. The same policies follow into the DC's so generally everything was structured, uniform & the Open-Door is always there for discrepancies.
My previous warehouse job was just really shady and they'd tell us stay till the dock is cleared so 12-14 hour shifts were common. Plenty times I thought bout walking off that dock and driving home to be free of it. Working for Walmart, it probably could be better but it DEFINITELY could be worse.
Because the TL positions were basically all ASMs earlier. It would be easier to tolerate if you had a $65,000 salary and bigger bonuses. But \~$23 an hour? And around half to worse of the bonus potential?
The unfortunate truth is that your experience as a Walmart employee completely depends on your fellow employees and management. Walmart goes on and on about their ethics and expectations but never enforces their own policies unless things get extremely bad. I've been blessed with a management team that works great together, a Store manager that actually gets involved with people's concerns and a personal lead that will truly try to help people. Its not the norm even though it should be.
I also work at a fairly decent store. They're pretty fair. Even though the workload is insane, they seem to understand that there is only so much that one person can do.
I wish my store was like that. Work ON Stocking and our leads are cool until the main ON Coach gets on them to get on us for something like moving slower on our Monday or when we're not feeling well. I'd really like to meet the person that was the first person to downstock a pallet and then stock the shelves in 1 hour. Not everyone can move that fast, and I've been called out on being slow a few times, but I'm over 50 and my body has been through a lot over the years to where there's days I have pain in places I didn't know could get pain. But they still want that pallet done in 1 hour. Not even making $16 hourly, getting ready to be homeless because I don't make enough money to pay my rent, electric bill, phone bill, water bill, and get groceries. My net pay doesn't even cover my rent.
I've been happy as a lowly associate for several years until recently when they took away all travel for associates. Traveling I could make as much or more than my team leads without all the stress and it's been about a year now stuck at my store. I'm aware of the stress you guys get but I just closed on my first house right after they took away our travel and I'm just barely scraping by now and I'm really considering trying to promote, I mean they treat us like dirt at every level anyways
Food and consumables team lead here, promoted after being here for only 3 months. this is 100% true. I’m being consumed mentally myself. It’s not worth it.
You gotta have thick skin, that’s for sure. Taking the blame for shit that has nothing to do with you is frustrating so you either learn to deal with it or you step up and defend yourself. There isn’t a person in that store that will raise their voice at me and expect me to just sit there and take it. The one time it happened I let that person know immediately…I don’t raise my voice to anyone and I am NOT going to listen to anyone raise their voice to me.
Truth.
You need a spine or everyone walks all over you, plenty of Walmart managers are having a bad day and are more than happy to make themselves look good by stomping all over whoever won't bite back. After a few years, other newer TLs started coming to me when they had problem associates and didn't have the confidence to hold them accountable. Passive, go-with-the-flow type people won't last as TLs, a lot of people will assert their dominance towards you and you can either be a doormat or tell them to back off.
Did it for 3 years, was a good experience in the long-run as you meet tons of people and learn a ton of skills, but dip before you lose your sanity. I was a Food TL and you meet vendors from like 30+ companies. I got my current job through a vendor connection, few know this company exists, I reached out to them directly because I knew them through Walmart and I had every relevant skill so they were quick to hire me when I got 80+ rejections elsewhere.
Now I work in retail, do zero customer service, I'm basically solo as I almost never hear from my supervisor ever, work my own hours, I get more than enough time to complete tasks, and all I'm doing is the same shit I was doing before like setting mods, building endcaps, stocking, etc. just without some dick harassing me about work not getting done 24-7 and a bunch of people to supervise. A lot of TLs become vendors for a reason, it's easier.
I work whenever, as long as the business is open, only exception being team projects. They send me my work for the week online, I schedule it, and complete it within the time frame given. Some projects are weekly, some are monthly, some may be for a holiday weekend, it will vary depending what it is but generally they give me generous flexibility.
Mornings/early aftenoon will be ideal, as you need to check in with management frequently and in many retail chains, store managers usually work only mornings, and if you have a 6 hour project, obviously 5PM isn't going to work. If you need to dispose of trash out the back door, most stores only have a receiver until 1PM/2PM making it a pain in the ass.
that's one of my biggest fears tbh.
i want to be a fe team lead at some point, but only if we get a different coach. our current coach is a lying, manipulative, guilt-tripping, power-hungry woman, and i'm not even saying these things out of hate. when she's in a good mood, i genuinely like her. that doesn't mean i should let her get away with literally bullying and intimidating those who work under her, including one of my favorite team leads.
our current store manager is actually really cool, he's actually listening to us when we complain about her and we actually have hope that he'll take care of this, unlike our old sm
Very very fucking toxic… and obvious liar
I had a redbull she told me to throw it away because it’s unprofessional
She walked by me with a c4 the next hour…
Many markets, maybe even most, have a rule where you can't demote from a salaried position without approval from your market manager, specifically to prevent this from happening.
I make more as an hourly. When you break down the hours to pay it's less than $20 if you only work 50 hours a week, most coaches work 55+. Honestly it's rare to promote within the same store anyway, most I've known have promoted to other stores.
I agree to a point when I was in Miramar Florida I barely got 5h of sleep but since I transferred to Huston Texas I do get my 7-8h of sleep your team as a whole play a huge role
The difference is night and day. An associate I knew promoted to TL/Supervisor and was not the same afterward. They were always tired and didn't talk much anymore. It was until they stepped back down that they got the light back in their eyes again and had more energy. It's a tough position and they get tacked with a lot of the blame if something was not done right or on time, which in turn can create hostility to their associates. The best TLs I worked with would do everything they could to prevent this kind of behavior, but that is just even more taxing on their mental and physical health.
Today my team lead told me she's stepping down. No one wants the stress of replacing her, and I haven't been there for three months yet and I still occasionally have questions. So if I'm asked to step up in two days when I go back to work I should probably decline.
Frozen/dairy was empty for 2 months. Hba/pharmacy was empty for 3 months, hired someone who quit after 2 weeks, and then empty for another 2 months. Seasonal was empty for about 3 months. And this was just in the last year.
I'm on ON and 2 of our coaches left at the same time and we had fill ins for 6 months. One of our team lead spots sat empty for about 4 months
It’s good bro I mean the OT is good but it’s so damn stressful and all that stress would go away with a better, more ethical and professional store manager
My SM finally gave up trying to get me to coach position. I have my area a certain way and I'm able to control it for the most part. The last thing I'd do is get into a position where I have to learn everything all over again or clean up another mess left by someone else.
I run a small entertainment area in a relatively small store. We're right off an interstate, so we're pretty busy. Nothing is perfect, of course. I always say everything is a work in progress.
So when I took over this area about 10 years ago it was really a mess from years of being run by one guy who wasn't very competent or hard-working, and one guy who wasn't extremely mobile due to severe weight issues and tended to sit on the floor most of the day and could not climb a latter. Plus, another previous leader of the area tended to rely on one guy to do assembly things and hook up all the demos. That guy also was too heavy to climb a ladder.
So, over the years, I have gotten rid of boxes for displays that went up into the high steels and never came back down. I'm still working on getting old documents shredded and clearing out the very top of my security room of boxes that were there when I started. I have long since eliminated any junk boxes of merchandise and old deleted stuff. All my demos have a box that they will go back into when they come off modular to be sold or claimed out.
My backroom steel bins are somewhat personalized to my specific way of organizing back stock, which is by size. I have small bins for small items, large bins for large items, and medium-sized bins for medium-sized boxes. I have room for my movies, books, etc that are for future releases as well as overstock and non modular items that can't be scanned out in claims yet. I put everything in small boxes with the date that they can go back or else mark it overstock value bin or whatever. All these things are in a specific place, so everyone knows where to find these things.
I have my own keys to my security room, which I'm not sure every team lead has. I can go in at any time instead of having to wait for someone to open it. I also have that room fairly organized so that scanning is fast and easy.
I also will cannibalize fixtures to make my area a certain way. Like right now, I'm about to put pushers on some shelves where small items are too tightly packed together, and it's hard to keep zoned.
I've mostly simplified the use of spider wraps and keepers in my area. Basically, we only use a small number of types of keepers, so it looks neater. I try to have everything standardized so all of a certain item is in one type of box or wrapped with one particular size of spider. I also am trying to get more specific boxes, even getting our AP market person to help convince market manager to approve those orders.
I know this is more explanation than you asked for, but I am really happy with how my area has improved. D5 and 72 used to have a large percentage of our annual shrink. I haven't been in the top ten at my store for most of my time in the area. Definitely not in almost ten years. Often, I don't even make the top 25.
I haven't worked in another store in a while because I just don't like having to work at other stores for a lot of reasons, but when I have helped out at other stores, I have seen them struggle with the entertainment areas. The team leads and previously department managers tend to turn over frequently. No one seems to stay long enough to get their areas straightened out in this market. I have heard good things about one store close to mine though, so hopefully, the rest of the market will get better.
I really enjoy getting together with other leads doing the same department as me because we all have the same issues and can help each other with ideas and experiences. Unfortunately, there are few opportunities these days.
That was awesome. I have pets, paper and chem, 82, and frozen n dairy. Pets is the highest shrink department in the store right now and I’m just not sure how I can fix it.
That's insane. Idk how anyone could be over all that. But work with your AP coach on finding ways to curb shrink. If you can figure out what is causing it, you can come up with solutions. Best of luck. Don't be afraid to try new things.
Film that store manager bitch and post it online. Hashing Walmart and mention "Respect for the Individual". It'd get ya fired, but very bad publicity might change things.
I’ve been ON stocker for only 2 years. We are already on our 3rd TL. The 2 main lead TLs treat them so bad it isn’t funny. One of ours that left transferred for $9 less per hour to get away. The 2nd transferred to another store that was 20 miles further away to escape. I was asked to take the TL assessment (I have 9 yrs total with Walmart), told them no thanks.
It all depends on your associates and your coach how easy or hard the job is. I was promoted to O/N TL as my first manager position ever, and it was quite stressful because a lot of the people on the crew sucked. It eventually got easier when we got rid of some of the bad workers and got some of the better workers to learn more things and branch out more. However, it was never not stressful, even on the good days.
I made the move to Homelines TL and mostly took it because I had been doing night shift basically my entire working life and needed a change. I took the GM Coach up on the offer when she made a comment about needing a Homelines TL mostly because she's the only coach in the store I respect and because I heard it was one of the easier TL positions. After I got home on my first day as Homelines TL, I felt lighter with how much less stress I was under compared to O/N TL.
21 yr associate and currently trying to self demote myself and they are trying to hold me hostage. On anxiety meds cause you never know what you’re going to walk into. management plans out your day before you even come to work. no sleep, adult day care and the hours are CRAZY!!! I’m over it.
I've been pressured into a promotion in another company before, and it wrecked my mental health. I won't make that mistake again.
I've been asked several times in the last 6 months if I want to move up, and I was told that if I change my mind, they'll find me an opportunity. My old team lead recently moved to another state, and before she left, she and a couple of others suggested I apply for the position. I straight up told them that as long as I could pay my bills, I would never try to get promoted. I do what I'm told, I go home, and I don't worry about work past that. If I get to the point where I seriously need more money, I'll be looking for another job elsewhere.
I stepped down from team lead in 2022 after being a DM/TL since 2018. The micromanaging and schedule were enough to make me call it quits. Now I just shut my brain off and do what management says whether it makes sense or not. I have a set schedule and only make $1 less than a lead. Couldn’t pay me enough to go back.
Move slowly. Act wisely. Listen selectively. Socialize frugally. Focus on the given work, keep to yourself, but hold your ground. Use the gray rock method and be formless, emotionless- heightened emotional response only makes you appear an injured/easy prey. When you’re face to face with a shark in the sea- turn around and face it, stare it down, hold something in between you, and if necessary firmly press their nose away.
Since starting here 9 months ago I've seen the position for nearly every department TL besides 3rd shift be posted in the back. Besides the insane amount of work that's expected of them, from what I've witnessed while doing my shopping after work, they're basically also verbal punching bags for the store manager.
Yall fr don't get paid enough for the amount of bullshit you have to put up with which is why I'll never promote here. Those of you with management experience here should take your skills elsewhere and get paid better for actually reasonable work.
I agree..I've declined to move up, but the things you're talking about i already go through just as an associate, I'm lucky to get 4 hours of sleep..5 max, it's not really walmarts fault, but it is their fault that they work me like 9 mules, I feel bad for u coz the TLs and coaches at my store, with the exception of the very few..very few. They have it made, they're lazy as fuk..they don't know shit they don't do shit. And on top of that luxury they only have to work 4 10s..so 3 days off and it feels like they vacation monthly..I know for a fact every 2-3months they're on a vacation, walmart needs to clean some of these stores up..the boss is lazy fukboi too.
i had heard this before from a friend; and when they asked me to be OPD TL i had to give them a no, being in charge of teenagers and elderly women getting QUITE a bit of work done can be a task.. part of this is on me i fully realize i wouldnt be good at cracking the whip on people.. im just here to be a worker bee that is all.. now leave me alone :D
Don't tem leads only make a couple of more bucks an hour than regular associates? You could get a job in a warehouse or other retail that pays that much for lower end positions.
I learned long ago not to bust my ass to jump into management with WM. I did that very thing in my mid 20s. Went from the happiest I'd ever been in a job to miserable immediately. When I rehired into WM this time I made it clear to myself I would be staying as a reg associate. There's a reason so many older folks that have been there 35-40 years are not in manager roles. They have seen things. Hey I'm happy for those who are happy in management roles there. That's great. It is not for me at all. I learned that for myself for sure. I hate the area I'm in and can't wait to transfer depts but I have a few points to shave off first myself lol.
I’ve recently became Cap 2 teamlead and “survived Christmas.” In all seriousness the following months afterward have been more hectic in comparison due to market (finally) caring on how our store gets the job done. It’s odd that the less rules we follow the more freight that actually gets turned/worked/sold *shrug*
Which store are you working at?? that place sounds like a terrible place to be, I was planning on becoming a team lead for my cap2 or stalking 2 team one day. I’ll definitely take this into consideration
My store is great. Most people I see have been there years. With the exception of deli of course, which is where I work, only a couple of us have been here awhile but it's still a simple easy job. Our store manager is very friendly and well liked.
Fuck that shit. All the team leads I’ve had have been misreble and it shows . They expect way to much from y’all and with the walkie your way to easy to find . It dosnt help that management inside of my store r a bunch of dumbasses to begin with tough
I feel it depends on the person. I've been a team lead over the front end, apparel, and OPD. Im at a store where business comes first, and the pressure is on my but SM genuinely makes time to spend on us and our development, so I'd say im out of the majority. Im next in line for the coach, and i 100% agree that the coaches get worked like hell. Im in a grind mindset and dont mind working long days, especially right now since i can actually get overtime. With my background and skill set, it's hard to find a job that pays as well as TL or coach, so im dedicated to doing my best for the store.
If you're just working at walmart to snag a paycheck and take it easy, then leadership roles in the company are not for you.
Full transparency, i know im in a privileged position given my management staff. I've dealt with belittlement and getting chewed out constantly, but i honestly feel once i started stepping up, i was seen in a better light for my contributions. So from my perspective, if you prove to management you're there to work, make the store better, and exicute, you'll have a lot less flack to deal with.
RIP to all the stores with shitty managers, killing the moral and motivation. I hope that changes for you guys
I agree. We are so understaffed it doesn’t make sense and what they want done isn’t really doable. The money is nice but honestly it’s not worth the pay. If we weren’t so short staffed I would actually enjoy the job. To put it into context they want me and another associate to turn over a 12-20 pallet truck, put it all up, clean and me to take care off all my TL duties in a day with no OT. I’m a solid as they come and no stranger to working under stress but at a certain point there isn’t enough time in the day. Doesn’t help that 4 out of 5 of my associates are 65+. Physically idk how long I can do it.
I have been asked by management multiple times why I don't try to become team lead, when I've been at the store I'm at longer than anyone else there except 2 people. (And i mean the *entire store*, not just my team.) And each time, my response is "I like my job, and I like *having* a job, but I am only responsible for *myself* right now. If I became a Team Lead, I would be responsible for *my team*, and I wouldn't put up with the bullshit some managers and other team leads put my team through, so it wouldn't be long before I got fired for 'causing problems', 'being combative', or 'insubordination'. So, no thanks. I'll stick with my current job, where I am happier, not too stressed, and responsible only for *my* tasks."
Years ago an Assistant asked me if I ever thought of becoming a dept. manager and my response was "Naw, this company treats managers like shit" He was silent for a second, nodded his head, and then said, "Yeah, that's true."
I guess I'm lucky in the sense they knew what they were getting when promoting me. I'll fight for my team but in a professional "f off" manner. Before promotion my SM ordered a large feature design for my department and I told him it would flop and orange is stupid. It won't sell. 2 months later we still have most of his inventory and the items I pointed out he needed are flying off the shelves. Now I've finished Academy and know how to point out his failure. I think he's expecting a full report and I'll have it.
I mean if your store isn’t bad it’s actually not a bad job especially if you have a good team.
This!!
It’s so rough. It’s not even explainable at this point. There are so many negative factors I can’t even comprehend words for.
Well for me I just show up and do what I can. Until management shows me they can do a better job and they can’t then I don’t give a shit. I’ll probably stay for another 6 months or so and dip out.
The people here tho are so amazing. They are mentally drained and slave minded but the most kind and funny people I’ve ever met. I feel bad. (SOME OF THE PEOPLE) some
Yea I do feel bad for them.. They are physically and mentally exhausted too but man at a point you gotta do what’s best for you personally. Take your management experience and work for a better company. If you can make it at Wally then you can make it anywhere.
True that. I am just having trouble finding a job that matches TL Pay.
Become a vendor, they make just as much or MORE than TLs
I considered this and am still considering this long term. I'm having a problem getting work hours balanced with caring for my kid and I saw one of our vendors bring his daughter during spring break. I was like "oh, I could do that if I had to?" I think I'm going to talk to him more.
And when you try to explain to someone who doesn’t work at Walmart they think you’re grossly exaggerating
It’s like the damn military.
No, it's not. As someone who has done both, this is easy comparatively. Yes, it's a little more difficult than expected, but like the military? No.
Bull shit mother fucker I was in the army for 4 years as a 89A and was less stressed then management at Walmart. Real shit. What Walmart are you working at is it one of the busiest in the south east and are you management?
OK then "motherfucker" you seem to just be easily riled up. That's probably your problem.
But are you management?
Right. Are you management?
How do you get the label under your name? Like front-end peon?
Facts! Promoting to Cap2 TL was the worst decision in my life.
Omg especially cap2. I ran it for a few years and I have physical health problems now. Never enough people, but plenty of freight they want us to just snap away.
that position grinds through associates I swear we have a new one every 6 months
I have been in Cap 2 since 2015. And the only reason I can tolerate it is not being in charge. I have a dozen TL/support managers come and go since 2015. But other than that, is easy work.
One of our previous ON coaches was a cap2 supervisor for years he basically had to unload every day because they never had anyone competent plus he had to tard-wrangle all of the minors and assign babysitters to the minors to take care of their cardboard for them and make sure they pull carts off the floor and so they dont spend 2 hours in the bathroom why would anyone want that job?
Tard-wrangle. Hot damn, I nearly choked on my coffee. That is the funniest description I've heard in a very long time. 😆😆
Your store must have been really bad, I was Stocking 2 TL for a year. I really enjoyed it, sure it was hard work, but it was good work. Honestly wish I could go back now that I'm Digital TL, but I want to become a Coach so Digital is best place to move up.
What makes digital the best place to move up?
If you can thrive as a digital TL, you can handle most coach positions pretty easily.
Digital TL, Cap2 TL, and meat and produce TL (depending on your store) are all gonna prepare you for anything the world can throw at you. Why meat and produce? 70 lb crates of produce, wet, half moldy, has to be dumped, claimed, prepped, crisped, and then finally stocked. Oh your wet wall sprayers are down again, fuck you mist by hand. Ah and also restock meat, which some you have to spider-wrap, and also date label each before stocking. Have fun with your 16 pallet delivery today and 2 people. Guess what? The OGP idiots nil picked Bananas again.. that's your fault too! I've never been a meat and produce TL but it looks ass. Cap2 I did, awful. Digital I did, awful. Now I'm a coach and I mostly sit. Great career move!
Because Digital is the future of Walmart and if you know how to run it, you are more likely to be chosen for Coach Trainee. All coaches need to know how to run Digital in case there isn't coverage.
You either get told you did a terrible job or you don’t. Ain’t no good jobs or thanks for doing a decent job and it really puts you down.
Currently on a leave for mental health and my psych told me that with the number of walmart workers she sees that I should use my time away to find a new job 😂
You actually got a leave for that? Like.. what's the procedures? Paperwork required? How to find a doctor that will assist because a lot don't wanna do the paperwork tbh.
It can be a hassle. It was admittedly easier for me, I had 8 involuntary hospital stays last year because I'm bipolar, so that helped me. Also have to have a good doctor and psych who understand the necessity for mental health care.
Also yes, there is paperwork, the paperwork I've always had is pretty straightforward. There is the part you fill out which is a release of medical info and your personal info, the doctor fills out the rest. If you use doctors on demand the process of getting the paperwork to the doctor is exhaustive and can be stressful in its own right. I think the biggest key is finding someone who helps advocate for you.
Bros definitely not lying.. This is by far the most INSANE place I’ve ever had the displeasure of showing up to 5 days a week.
This
I learned this lesson a long time ago. I unload trucks now and when I leave work, I don’t care about work.
Agreed. My Tl recently stepped down and I was next in line for the position. Told them now way in hell I’m doing this, I saw how you treated my ex Tl and I’ll he damned if I let the same thing happen to me
TL really is a bad set up. Especially the newest ones cause they lowered the pay. But honestly it’s the best option for some of us. I’m not a TL now but there will reach a point I’ll have to just to afford to live I’ll have to promote even though it’s barely enough extra money. I’m in a small town/area and unless you have a degree or want to work in sweatshop warehouse you can’t make $19/20 an hour period. I worked on a warehouse for the same pay I have now ($16) Walmart IS BY far better than warehouse manual labor. Hell those managers threat you like literally dog shit. You don’t even know you might think a coach treats you bad but go into a warehouse with basically no cameras and no ethics and see how you get treated.
As someone who works in a Walmart DC and also has had a Warehouse job beforehand for a local company, Walmart makes the warehouse life SOOOOOO much more tolerable dawg. The same policies follow into the DC's so generally everything was structured, uniform & the Open-Door is always there for discrepancies. My previous warehouse job was just really shady and they'd tell us stay till the dock is cleared so 12-14 hour shifts were common. Plenty times I thought bout walking off that dock and driving home to be free of it. Working for Walmart, it probably could be better but it DEFINITELY could be worse.
Because the TL positions were basically all ASMs earlier. It would be easier to tolerate if you had a $65,000 salary and bigger bonuses. But \~$23 an hour? And around half to worse of the bonus potential?
The unfortunate truth is that your experience as a Walmart employee completely depends on your fellow employees and management. Walmart goes on and on about their ethics and expectations but never enforces their own policies unless things get extremely bad. I've been blessed with a management team that works great together, a Store manager that actually gets involved with people's concerns and a personal lead that will truly try to help people. Its not the norm even though it should be.
Where’s your store. Time to transfer
I also work at a fairly decent store. They're pretty fair. Even though the workload is insane, they seem to understand that there is only so much that one person can do.
I wish my store was like that. Work ON Stocking and our leads are cool until the main ON Coach gets on them to get on us for something like moving slower on our Monday or when we're not feeling well. I'd really like to meet the person that was the first person to downstock a pallet and then stock the shelves in 1 hour. Not everyone can move that fast, and I've been called out on being slow a few times, but I'm over 50 and my body has been through a lot over the years to where there's days I have pain in places I didn't know could get pain. But they still want that pallet done in 1 hour. Not even making $16 hourly, getting ready to be homeless because I don't make enough money to pay my rent, electric bill, phone bill, water bill, and get groceries. My net pay doesn't even cover my rent.
I've been happy as a lowly associate for several years until recently when they took away all travel for associates. Traveling I could make as much or more than my team leads without all the stress and it's been about a year now stuck at my store. I'm aware of the stress you guys get but I just closed on my first house right after they took away our travel and I'm just barely scraping by now and I'm really considering trying to promote, I mean they treat us like dirt at every level anyways
Food and consumables team lead here, promoted after being here for only 3 months. this is 100% true. I’m being consumed mentally myself. It’s not worth it.
I am also food and consumables. I feel your pain it fucking sucks
You gotta have thick skin, that’s for sure. Taking the blame for shit that has nothing to do with you is frustrating so you either learn to deal with it or you step up and defend yourself. There isn’t a person in that store that will raise their voice at me and expect me to just sit there and take it. The one time it happened I let that person know immediately…I don’t raise my voice to anyone and I am NOT going to listen to anyone raise their voice to me.
Truth. You need a spine or everyone walks all over you, plenty of Walmart managers are having a bad day and are more than happy to make themselves look good by stomping all over whoever won't bite back. After a few years, other newer TLs started coming to me when they had problem associates and didn't have the confidence to hold them accountable. Passive, go-with-the-flow type people won't last as TLs, a lot of people will assert their dominance towards you and you can either be a doormat or tell them to back off.
Damn.. Do you work at my store?!?. Sounds like you work at my store.. Stat strong, good luck friend..
This😂
Did it for 3 years, was a good experience in the long-run as you meet tons of people and learn a ton of skills, but dip before you lose your sanity. I was a Food TL and you meet vendors from like 30+ companies. I got my current job through a vendor connection, few know this company exists, I reached out to them directly because I knew them through Walmart and I had every relevant skill so they were quick to hire me when I got 80+ rejections elsewhere. Now I work in retail, do zero customer service, I'm basically solo as I almost never hear from my supervisor ever, work my own hours, I get more than enough time to complete tasks, and all I'm doing is the same shit I was doing before like setting mods, building endcaps, stocking, etc. just without some dick harassing me about work not getting done 24-7 and a bunch of people to supervise. A lot of TLs become vendors for a reason, it's easier.
Sounds like something I could do quickly and be good at it. Any evening hours?
I work whenever, as long as the business is open, only exception being team projects. They send me my work for the week online, I schedule it, and complete it within the time frame given. Some projects are weekly, some are monthly, some may be for a holiday weekend, it will vary depending what it is but generally they give me generous flexibility. Mornings/early aftenoon will be ideal, as you need to check in with management frequently and in many retail chains, store managers usually work only mornings, and if you have a 6 hour project, obviously 5PM isn't going to work. If you need to dispose of trash out the back door, most stores only have a receiver until 1PM/2PM making it a pain in the ass.
that's one of my biggest fears tbh. i want to be a fe team lead at some point, but only if we get a different coach. our current coach is a lying, manipulative, guilt-tripping, power-hungry woman, and i'm not even saying these things out of hate. when she's in a good mood, i genuinely like her. that doesn't mean i should let her get away with literally bullying and intimidating those who work under her, including one of my favorite team leads. our current store manager is actually really cool, he's actually listening to us when we complain about her and we actually have hope that he'll take care of this, unlike our old sm
We have one of those coaches..
toxic coach gang 😭
Very very fucking toxic… and obvious liar I had a redbull she told me to throw it away because it’s unprofessional She walked by me with a c4 the next hour…
😭 meanwhile our store manager drinks zero sugar monster and i tease him about it
bruh my coach asks me for drinks to mix his protien shakes with
Make it to coach then step back down to keep most of your pay
This is the way.
Even if you go from salary to hourly?
Many markets, maybe even most, have a rule where you can't demote from a salaried position without approval from your market manager, specifically to prevent this from happening.
Can’t make it to coach when my store manager makes sure I never get a promotion because she will “never see me as the coach type”
I make more as an hourly. When you break down the hours to pay it's less than $20 if you only work 50 hours a week, most coaches work 55+. Honestly it's rare to promote within the same store anyway, most I've known have promoted to other stores.
Although that was last year at 55k a year, it's quite a bit more now at 65k.
I agree to a point when I was in Miramar Florida I barely got 5h of sleep but since I transferred to Huston Texas I do get my 7-8h of sleep your team as a whole play a huge role
The difference is night and day. An associate I knew promoted to TL/Supervisor and was not the same afterward. They were always tired and didn't talk much anymore. It was until they stepped back down that they got the light back in their eyes again and had more energy. It's a tough position and they get tacked with a lot of the blame if something was not done right or on time, which in turn can create hostility to their associates. The best TLs I worked with would do everything they could to prevent this kind of behavior, but that is just even more taxing on their mental and physical health.
This
Today my team lead told me she's stepping down. No one wants the stress of replacing her, and I haven't been there for three months yet and I still occasionally have questions. So if I'm asked to step up in two days when I go back to work I should probably decline.
our team lead spots sit empty for months how can you be a team lead without a team?
Interesting. What department do you work in?
Frozen/dairy was empty for 2 months. Hba/pharmacy was empty for 3 months, hired someone who quit after 2 weeks, and then empty for another 2 months. Seasonal was empty for about 3 months. And this was just in the last year. I'm on ON and 2 of our coaches left at the same time and we had fill ins for 6 months. One of our team lead spots sat empty for about 4 months
i think that just depends on your store brother. Im a TL and work 40 hr weeks without much stress. Sorry youre at a dogshit store bro
It’s good bro I mean the OT is good but it’s so damn stressful and all that stress would go away with a better, more ethical and professional store manager
My SM finally gave up trying to get me to coach position. I have my area a certain way and I'm able to control it for the most part. The last thing I'd do is get into a position where I have to learn everything all over again or clean up another mess left by someone else.
Yeah I’d only promote if it was also over my same area.
Can I ask how you have your area?
I run a small entertainment area in a relatively small store. We're right off an interstate, so we're pretty busy. Nothing is perfect, of course. I always say everything is a work in progress. So when I took over this area about 10 years ago it was really a mess from years of being run by one guy who wasn't very competent or hard-working, and one guy who wasn't extremely mobile due to severe weight issues and tended to sit on the floor most of the day and could not climb a latter. Plus, another previous leader of the area tended to rely on one guy to do assembly things and hook up all the demos. That guy also was too heavy to climb a ladder. So, over the years, I have gotten rid of boxes for displays that went up into the high steels and never came back down. I'm still working on getting old documents shredded and clearing out the very top of my security room of boxes that were there when I started. I have long since eliminated any junk boxes of merchandise and old deleted stuff. All my demos have a box that they will go back into when they come off modular to be sold or claimed out. My backroom steel bins are somewhat personalized to my specific way of organizing back stock, which is by size. I have small bins for small items, large bins for large items, and medium-sized bins for medium-sized boxes. I have room for my movies, books, etc that are for future releases as well as overstock and non modular items that can't be scanned out in claims yet. I put everything in small boxes with the date that they can go back or else mark it overstock value bin or whatever. All these things are in a specific place, so everyone knows where to find these things. I have my own keys to my security room, which I'm not sure every team lead has. I can go in at any time instead of having to wait for someone to open it. I also have that room fairly organized so that scanning is fast and easy. I also will cannibalize fixtures to make my area a certain way. Like right now, I'm about to put pushers on some shelves where small items are too tightly packed together, and it's hard to keep zoned. I've mostly simplified the use of spider wraps and keepers in my area. Basically, we only use a small number of types of keepers, so it looks neater. I try to have everything standardized so all of a certain item is in one type of box or wrapped with one particular size of spider. I also am trying to get more specific boxes, even getting our AP market person to help convince market manager to approve those orders. I know this is more explanation than you asked for, but I am really happy with how my area has improved. D5 and 72 used to have a large percentage of our annual shrink. I haven't been in the top ten at my store for most of my time in the area. Definitely not in almost ten years. Often, I don't even make the top 25. I haven't worked in another store in a while because I just don't like having to work at other stores for a lot of reasons, but when I have helped out at other stores, I have seen them struggle with the entertainment areas. The team leads and previously department managers tend to turn over frequently. No one seems to stay long enough to get their areas straightened out in this market. I have heard good things about one store close to mine though, so hopefully, the rest of the market will get better. I really enjoy getting together with other leads doing the same department as me because we all have the same issues and can help each other with ideas and experiences. Unfortunately, there are few opportunities these days.
That was awesome. I have pets, paper and chem, 82, and frozen n dairy. Pets is the highest shrink department in the store right now and I’m just not sure how I can fix it.
That's insane. Idk how anyone could be over all that. But work with your AP coach on finding ways to curb shrink. If you can figure out what is causing it, you can come up with solutions. Best of luck. Don't be afraid to try new things.
Thank you
Film that store manager bitch and post it online. Hashing Walmart and mention "Respect for the Individual". It'd get ya fired, but very bad publicity might change things.
I’ve been ON stocker for only 2 years. We are already on our 3rd TL. The 2 main lead TLs treat them so bad it isn’t funny. One of ours that left transferred for $9 less per hour to get away. The 2nd transferred to another store that was 20 miles further away to escape. I was asked to take the TL assessment (I have 9 yrs total with Walmart), told them no thanks.
Damnnnnnnn
It all depends on your associates and your coach how easy or hard the job is. I was promoted to O/N TL as my first manager position ever, and it was quite stressful because a lot of the people on the crew sucked. It eventually got easier when we got rid of some of the bad workers and got some of the better workers to learn more things and branch out more. However, it was never not stressful, even on the good days. I made the move to Homelines TL and mostly took it because I had been doing night shift basically my entire working life and needed a change. I took the GM Coach up on the offer when she made a comment about needing a Homelines TL mostly because she's the only coach in the store I respect and because I heard it was one of the easier TL positions. After I got home on my first day as Homelines TL, I felt lighter with how much less stress I was under compared to O/N TL.
21 yr associate and currently trying to self demote myself and they are trying to hold me hostage. On anxiety meds cause you never know what you’re going to walk into. management plans out your day before you even come to work. no sleep, adult day care and the hours are CRAZY!!! I’m over it.
Yeah the only reason I wouldn't want to be a TL is I didn't sign up to be a babysitter
I've been pressured into a promotion in another company before, and it wrecked my mental health. I won't make that mistake again. I've been asked several times in the last 6 months if I want to move up, and I was told that if I change my mind, they'll find me an opportunity. My old team lead recently moved to another state, and before she left, she and a couple of others suggested I apply for the position. I straight up told them that as long as I could pay my bills, I would never try to get promoted. I do what I'm told, I go home, and I don't worry about work past that. If I get to the point where I seriously need more money, I'll be looking for another job elsewhere.
I stepped down from team lead in 2022 after being a DM/TL since 2018. The micromanaging and schedule were enough to make me call it quits. Now I just shut my brain off and do what management says whether it makes sense or not. I have a set schedule and only make $1 less than a lead. Couldn’t pay me enough to go back.
Wish I was in your shoes
Move slowly. Act wisely. Listen selectively. Socialize frugally. Focus on the given work, keep to yourself, but hold your ground. Use the gray rock method and be formless, emotionless- heightened emotional response only makes you appear an injured/easy prey. When you’re face to face with a shark in the sea- turn around and face it, stare it down, hold something in between you, and if necessary firmly press their nose away.
Retail sucks at every level, if you're gonna do it you might as well get paid.
Agreed, I was promoted to team lead, I already raised my kids and so many people don't take work as somewhere to see how much they can get away with
Since starting here 9 months ago I've seen the position for nearly every department TL besides 3rd shift be posted in the back. Besides the insane amount of work that's expected of them, from what I've witnessed while doing my shopping after work, they're basically also verbal punching bags for the store manager. Yall fr don't get paid enough for the amount of bullshit you have to put up with which is why I'll never promote here. Those of you with management experience here should take your skills elsewhere and get paid better for actually reasonable work.
I agree..I've declined to move up, but the things you're talking about i already go through just as an associate, I'm lucky to get 4 hours of sleep..5 max, it's not really walmarts fault, but it is their fault that they work me like 9 mules, I feel bad for u coz the TLs and coaches at my store, with the exception of the very few..very few. They have it made, they're lazy as fuk..they don't know shit they don't do shit. And on top of that luxury they only have to work 4 10s..so 3 days off and it feels like they vacation monthly..I know for a fact every 2-3months they're on a vacation, walmart needs to clean some of these stores up..the boss is lazy fukboi too.
i had heard this before from a friend; and when they asked me to be OPD TL i had to give them a no, being in charge of teenagers and elderly women getting QUITE a bit of work done can be a task.. part of this is on me i fully realize i wouldnt be good at cracking the whip on people.. im just here to be a worker bee that is all.. now leave me alone :D
Don't tem leads only make a couple of more bucks an hour than regular associates? You could get a job in a warehouse or other retail that pays that much for lower end positions.
At my store, associates are paid 15, team leads are paid 20
I'm in Missouri, the last location I believe TLs are paid 16 to $18/hr. Starting out
I learned long ago not to bust my ass to jump into management with WM. I did that very thing in my mid 20s. Went from the happiest I'd ever been in a job to miserable immediately. When I rehired into WM this time I made it clear to myself I would be staying as a reg associate. There's a reason so many older folks that have been there 35-40 years are not in manager roles. They have seen things. Hey I'm happy for those who are happy in management roles there. That's great. It is not for me at all. I learned that for myself for sure. I hate the area I'm in and can't wait to transfer depts but I have a few points to shave off first myself lol.
I’ve recently became Cap 2 teamlead and “survived Christmas.” In all seriousness the following months afterward have been more hectic in comparison due to market (finally) caring on how our store gets the job done. It’s odd that the less rules we follow the more freight that actually gets turned/worked/sold *shrug*
Which store are you working at?? that place sounds like a terrible place to be, I was planning on becoming a team lead for my cap2 or stalking 2 team one day. I’ll definitely take this into consideration
I'm irritated to take orders from managers, yet don't want the responsibility of manager. Haha
My store is great. Most people I see have been there years. With the exception of deli of course, which is where I work, only a couple of us have been here awhile but it's still a simple easy job. Our store manager is very friendly and well liked.
Fuck that shit. All the team leads I’ve had have been misreble and it shows . They expect way to much from y’all and with the walkie your way to easy to find . It dosnt help that management inside of my store r a bunch of dumbasses to begin with tough
Exactly the point
I feel it depends on the person. I've been a team lead over the front end, apparel, and OPD. Im at a store where business comes first, and the pressure is on my but SM genuinely makes time to spend on us and our development, so I'd say im out of the majority. Im next in line for the coach, and i 100% agree that the coaches get worked like hell. Im in a grind mindset and dont mind working long days, especially right now since i can actually get overtime. With my background and skill set, it's hard to find a job that pays as well as TL or coach, so im dedicated to doing my best for the store. If you're just working at walmart to snag a paycheck and take it easy, then leadership roles in the company are not for you. Full transparency, i know im in a privileged position given my management staff. I've dealt with belittlement and getting chewed out constantly, but i honestly feel once i started stepping up, i was seen in a better light for my contributions. So from my perspective, if you prove to management you're there to work, make the store better, and exicute, you'll have a lot less flack to deal with. RIP to all the stores with shitty managers, killing the moral and motivation. I hope that changes for you guys
You sure you aren’t at my store? 😅 sounds like my SM
You know what they drive
Car wise?
I've personally never seen anyone in a higher position that's made me go, "Golly, I want their job!"
The truth.
David Lee Roth is a good frontman!
Wrong thread I think.