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Target Canada Hiring: 'Welcome To Amazing' Training Script Leaked On Gossip Site

‘Corporate Brainwashing’ For Target Employees?
In this July 28, 2012 photo, shopping carts sit parked outside a Target store in Marlborough, Mass. Target is reporting that net income for the second quarter was unchanged, as the retailer gets ready for its upcoming move into Canada. But the retailer saw solid spending in the quarter and in a sign of confidence, the cheap chic discounter raised its earnings outlook. Target posted earnings Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012 of $704 million, or $1.06 per share in the period ended July 30. That compares with $704 million or $1.03 per share, in the year ago period. (AP Photo/Bill Sikes)
AP
In this July 28, 2012 photo, shopping carts sit parked outside a Target store in Marlborough, Mass. Target is reporting that net income for the second quarter was unchanged, as the retailer gets ready for its upcoming move into Canada. But the retailer saw solid spending in the quarter and in a sign of confidence, the cheap chic discounter raised its earnings outlook. Target posted earnings Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012 of $704 million, or $1.06 per share in the period ended July 30. That compares with $704 million or $1.03 per share, in the year ago period. (AP Photo/Bill Sikes)

Target Canada has started hiring for the first of its new stores set to open in the spring of 2013, but those thinking of applying for a job may want to take a look at what appear to be Target employee training materials obtained by Gawker.

According to a Target insider who leaked the documents to Gawker, the discount retail chain is running a training seminar called “Welcome to Amazing” (which Gawker describes as “hilariously childish”) that will teach employees to give customers a particularly satisfying in-store experience.

Gawker describes the whole thing as Target “torturing its workers with Disneyesque corporate brainwashing.”

It wasn’t clear if the training script would be used at newly-opening Target locations in Canada. A Target Canada spokesperson told The Huffington Post Canada the company was looking into the Gawker report.

UPDATE: In an email to The Huffington Post, Target Canada said the documents in question were "just one introductory element" of a wide-ranging new training program.

"In terms of the training program for Canada, we are developing unique training materials ... that focus on creating a collaborative, team oriented environment, where we all work together to provide the best possible guest service in the marketplace," spokesperson Lisa Gibson said in the email. "We are excited to build the best team in retail in Canada and our team-focused atmosphere is a hallmark of who we are."

The training script, called “Welcome To Amazing,” begins with an exhortation to create “amazing guest service” at Target stores.

See more of these documents at the Gawker website.

“Over the next five weeks, we’re going to rediscover how fun and rewarding it can be to connect with our guests — and how good it can be for our business, too,” the script continues.

A recent analysis suggests Target’s arrival in Canada could pose a threat to established retailers such as Canadian Tire and Walmart, but Target doesn’t appear concerned with other big-box retailers; the documents suggest the company is battling online shopping.

“In a world where it’s so easy for guests to shop online whenever and wherever they want, is service really enough to keep guests coming to stores?” the training script asks. “Sure it is.”

The document continues: “You know what I’m talking about … great merchandise, cool displays, clean and bright stores, and that wave of happiness that hits them when they walk through our doors.”

Target Canada is hiring 150 to 200 people for each of the first 24 stores it plans to open, all of them in Ontario. Positions being filled include floor staff as well as management, but if you plan to apply, best be sure you’re into corporate cheerleading.

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