While ETL schedules do have some uniformity to it (every other weekend, and one day off mid week), working 6 days straight in a retail environment, 10+ hours a day is extremely exhausting. Holiday work/life balance is unfortunately at this point, non-existent. (Think, arriving at 9pm on Thanksgiving, and leaving at 9am Black Friday). Developing professionally with Target is a big focus, with a lot of opportunities to do so, but it too requires what's called "Doing more." That means the 50 hour work week minimum is just that - a minimum. If you have a desire to be recognized or to promote, there are almost unlimited work hours in the week at your disposal to do go above and beyond, and since going above and beyond is expected for developing professionals, it almost inevitably means any work/life balance disappears. As a District Resource (an additional title that allowed me to "do more" as I prepared for a promotion) I worked 70 hours/week more times than I'd like to admit, just to meet expectations (existing job requirements and my assigned side projects). Even with the competitive bonuses and raises I've received with Target, calculating my hourly wage by the number of hours I work is always depressing.
Target's corporate direction has also been through so much change in the past 5 years, between entering/exiting Canada, and the security breach. Brian Cornell seems to be making the right changes, but the volume of changes necessary has been overwhelming for stores. Each week or month, there is inevitably a new roll out, requiring more training and less payroll. Everyone is feeling the strain, and even in the best stores, I've seen the managerial environment to be exhausted, overworked, and rather cynical. Target is changing so quickly, and there is not yet an equilibrium between new expectations and old.
Lastly, much of the store experience relies heavily on the Store Team Leader (STL). As his/her only peer in the building, your STL's management style is the determining factor for the tone, the accountability, the effectiveness and overall morale of the store. As someone who has had an extremely erratic, disrespectful and disorganized STL, as well as an excellent, empowering STL, this can be a both good and bad thing. But, since no one has a say in choosing their own boss, there is no way to predict what your situation will be, or how effectively you will be able to perform your job. Your STL's performance (and therefore your store's) is almost exclusively determined by the perception of the District Team Leader (DTL), and that can be influenced by a number of things - personal likes/dislikes, frequency of district visits, and payroll performance. It can prove a very discouraging environment, even in a fantastic store.
