I totally understand everyone is mad, frustrated, pissed, sad, and just mentally drained. If you want to work for an organization that places employees as their #1 priority, work for a non-profit. Target is a public company, love it or hate it, Target is responsible in keeping their shareholders happy. Sucks but its the corporate world. Brain Cornell is not to blame. Brain had no choice but to fix all the bad decision Target made in the past. This happens to all companies. You need to realize this action needed to take place so some of you can keep your jobs long-term and keep Target alive. Nobody at Target wanted to sink the company. Nobody at Target complained before the major layoffs started. Now the ugly comes out. Go home and enjoy the weekend! Refresh your batteries and figure out how YOU can control your own destiny in your career. Do not wait and allow any company to dictate your future. Take control NOW!!
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I believe he was hired to do this. Look at his track record with other companies and how he took Sams out of Canada too. He has not embraced Target's philosophy (nor do I think he cares.) The company is responsible to more then the shareholders, but to the employees as well. He has no attachment to this company and to the workers.
The problem with the "Please the shareholders" way of thinking is that all the shareholders care about are short term profits. The long term health of the company does not matter to them as long as they get their dividend checks and the stock price keeps going up. If it doesn't, then they whine and cry for some form of fix to make it happen. Layoffs are a great way to drive short term costs down, but the long term price for morale and company performance can be horrid. Drive efficiency to make sure you are operating at the best level, but cost cutting just for the sake of cost cutting is a sure way to run a company into the ground.
wow....
I guess I should post more than that. Profit is driven by workers who are happy. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. A lot of Target HQ people dedicate more than 50% of their lives to their work. So many people work in evenings and on weekends. Yes, they have coffee statuses, it's ok! If there is no culture, no team, no sense of belonging then people become disengaged. Profits will plummet and Wall Street and investors will not be happy. Look at the culture of other companies like Apple, Google, etc and you will see they want people to be happy...because ultimately it will make more money.
@Anonymous7492, and I suppose you do? Who does Brian answer to? Shareholders. What is his compensation based on? Stock price. What happens if things go south on his watch? He goes away with a nice golden parachute. What happens if the stock price goes up, he's rewarded with cheap options. So, you're telling me that he isn't going to do whatever he can to up the stock price and that layoffs don't do that? I may not understand business, but I understand reality, something you may need to look into.
Dear Anonymous74928: You are absolutely wrong. Why do you think there is a TV show called "Undercover Boss"? People, workers, employees are always the #1 asset that companies need to protect.
Dear Anonymous74926: It's past 3pm. Isn't it time for the HR mouthpieces to go home?
GreggS (Retired) You simply do not understand business at all. I understand the emotions are high and drive your decision making which is ok just don't sign up to be a CEO. If you think Brian is sitting in his office saying "look how I helped the stock" you are completely lost when it comes to managing a business. ............Anonymous74917....... great post on the pecking order regarding #1 priority. Well said! It really sucks but you are correct.
CEO is making the right decisions. Blame Gregg.
Dear Anonymous74920: Employees are always the #1 asset. A superior employee with excellent customer service skills can always turn a negative into a positive. And always bring in more customers. Those CEOs that don't recognize that their #1 asset is their employees are bound to fail. They will collect golden parachutes because they laid off tens of thousands, but those companies are no better off because nobody wants to shop there or work there.
"Anonymous74897" wake up and smell the coffee!! My post was serious. Employees are NOT the number #1 asset. I did not say kneel to the CEO, I said the CEO had no choice but to take action. The more I read your post...are you drunk or something? Go on Twitter to stop shopping at Target? I hate to break the news but Americans will continue to shop at Target as I will weekly. In fact due to your crazy post I am going to shop extra visits each week. In fact I am at Target right now getting back in line over and over buying more stuff as we speak. I just bought my favorite plastic red paper cups for the entire year!! LOL
Asset, maybe. But their #1 priority is not you, the employees. It is to the shareholders as owners. Then the customers and communities they serve that only furthers and advances their shareholder best interests. Like it or not, you are an expense and as far as assets go...you are the most liquid of assets they have to make their owners happy along the way to put more $ in their pockets. A company the size of Target doesn't care about any one of you individually. I agree with the poster of this, if you want an employer to really care you work non-profit, maybe education, or be in a small family type business.
I agree with the first reply. The original post is garbage. The CEO is absolutely to blame. He has the control to layoff or not layoff. Layoffs are always short-term fixes for a stock price. He'll be able to say, "hey look how I helped the stock". That's great if you are an investor and looking for short term gains. The problem is you have now alienated a lot of people (those getting laid off and their friends) and you may alienate would-be talent that doesn't want to come work in this house of horrors. This is simply a play to calm the wolves on wall street, nothing more. And, if you didn't lay off 3000 people, do you really think Target would up and evaporate. Highly doubtful.
Anonymous74897: What a horrible post. Every company should recognize their number #1 asset is their employees. Regular blue and white collar working class people at Target are losing their jobs, and we are supposed to kneel in front the new CEO? Your post is sarcasm, I hope. But please people who read this site....go on Twitter now and say what a horrible place it is to shop and a horrible place to work. Please do that now. And continue to do that. Please encourage your friends and relatives to go on Twitter and do not stop. Shop somewhere else. Do that so the HR mouthpieces behind this post turn this horrible situation into a positve.