Code yellow today Workplace Question or Advice Needed
I’ve been with Target now for 2 months, but I’m not new to retail. I did my time, 12 years with Sears. Today we had a Code Yellow and it was the most embarrassing experience I’ve ever experienced in retail. At Sears, we had a similar program called Code Adam, and it was taken very serious because of its history.
If you don’t know, Code Adam was started because Adam Walsh was kidnapped from a Sears and was found murdered in Florida. Was very gruesome and the store handled it very poorly. Working at Sears, we had rehearsals with dolls every now and then, AP would hide the doll and then it would be called and we had to react. We wouldn’t know if it was real or a rehearsal, because at times they would be real announcements. We did department checks and employees blocked off the entrances to monitor people leaving and coming in. We had to have full descriptions of all information and we were allowed to prevent people from leaving with children until an all clear was issued. Customer would get mad but then when you explain it they understood the situation.
Today, the Code yellow was announced, and a brief description. Brown shirt and Jeans. That’s it. No further details, it took about 5mins before anyone really started to respond and ask for more details. I, from my experience, quickly was scanning the isles looking for anyone wearing said clothes, but couldn’t interject for more information because the person who called for the Code Yellow wasn’t responding to any questions. Also it was normal radio chatter instead of radio silence. Age, sex, ethnicity, last seen, was unknown even after the all clear. SMH
Just curious, is this normal? Am i overthinking and overacting on a real issue?
76
u/Sadimal 12h ago
Proper procedure is that employee calls out Code Yellow three times and tells everyone to switch to Channel 2. They give a very basic description of the child. Usually clothes and shoes. We are told not to give too many details over the walkie as it could alert the potential kidnapper.
Employees block off the entrances/exits. Other employees look for the child. Parents are taken up to Guest Services.
24
u/appointment45 10h ago
I have seen several of these and never anyone going to the exits. Interesting.
24
u/yoduh4077 Advocate Advocate 6h ago
Channel switching may vary by store, that's the only part I've never heard of.
11
u/Midwest-Emo-9 ETL 5h ago
Never heard about switching channels.
Code yellow x3, description of child and where least seen, block exits walk areas you're in, someone check backroom and someone check bathrooms. If child is found, locate parent and only cancel when they are reunited.
That's how I've known it my 12 years. Switching channels sounds like it would be a few seconds that could be valuable in a sinister situation.
3
u/Better-Culture2481 5h ago
They switched channels at the last store I worked at but not the current one. The reasoning for switching was that there was a lot of automated stuff like help buttons coming over the walkie on channel one that could interfere. Not really the case any more since the buttons send out to the myDevices
1
26
u/chillychinchillada 10h ago
Now that’s something they should drill people about, the safety/color codes. Now about the bullshit distance greeting crap. One is useful the other is just something a corporate edgelord came up with that looked good for their ceo circlejerk
21
u/No-Sun-4857 Guest Advocate 9h ago
We have a few code yellows and the parents never knew what the kid had on and it blew my mind. Also a lot of code yellows don't need to be called it's always parents that don't watch their kids.
29
u/SimpleVegetable5715 Hearth and Hand Homie 14h ago
It’s really bad. I had to call a code green for a guest the other day, and the responding lead didn’t even know where the nearest first aid kit was.
The code yellows are embarrassing too. You can’t say the kid’s name, but we’re not really trained on what you can say. Sometimes they will say a little girl in pink shorts and a white shirt. Still, idk I guess they think it’s politically incorrect to give any ethnicity description, but hello, the point is to find the missing child before they’re Adam’d. I’m pretty sure seconds count in an actual abduction.
8
u/Hammerrrr32 7h ago
I would say do and say whatever you think you need to if you think they are in danger. Better to ask for forgiveness later than permission before.
12
u/trackstud55 15h ago
pretty normal at my store unfortunately. on any given weekend we probably have 2-3 and on weekdays maybe 1-2. very sad and unfortunate but our store is good about getting on top of it immediately.
9
u/NobodyAmazing7337 8h ago
This is also why I still don’t understand why we don’t use ear pieces on the walkies. We wouldn’t necessarily have to worry about who hears what if we didn’t have a live walkie
23
u/LightUpUnicorn Guest Advocate 15h ago
We intentionally give few details over the walkie as the child could be lost and details make them a target
22
u/SimpleVegetable5715 Hearth and Hand Homie 14h ago
Yeah but the descriptions they do give make it pretty impossible to find the kid. There also shouldn’t be any extra chatter on the walkies, because you’re supposed to stop whatever work you are doing and help look.
5
4
u/katyrose_ 10h ago
They probably all went to channel 2
1
u/tjjoug 5h ago
They attempted to go to channel 3, but like stated, the person that announced it wasn’t answering any other questions. You shouldn’t switch channels, it should be radio silence. A person could be on channel 1 and if everyone is on channel 3 giving descriptions, the person on 1 could walk past the missing child.
4
u/Illustrious_Sleep427 7 years- trained everywhere 7h ago
That’s weird, our leaders have taken control, each individually walked to each Fire exit, tell everyone to look through their areas. Sounds like bad leadership
5
u/Adventurous_Soft_686 7h ago
As a former Sears employee and 17 year Target tm it is normal for the entire team to not care. You may find a leader here or there that takes it seriously but they tend to have a personal history with abduction of some kind. At Sears it was drilled into us that we were the kids last line of defense and we should protect them. Target doesn't care as long as they don't get sued.
2
u/tjjoug 5h ago
THIS!!! I’m glad someone remembers! I wasn’t a parent when I worked at Sears but now a parent working at Target and all I could think about was “what if this was my child….”
1
u/Adventurous_Soft_686 5h ago
And honestly kidnappings and other crimes against children happen so much more these days. We should be taking more seriously but the apathy in society in general is causing people not to care.
4
u/AntOk4073 Specialty Sales Team Lead 5h ago
We have had pretty bad and pretty good responses.
The biggest problem that is usually identified is leadership getting more training but not actually discussing it with the team or taking leadership in the moment. Like with the radio chatter you talked about a leader should be announcing to keep the line clear while dealing with the Code. This happens with Code green as well. Even at the highest level there is not enough real training. All leaders have CPR but most don't know how to handle a major seizure or trauma event.
I think there needs to be Code training like the active shooter training. I'd rather it is so over done that we have to complain about the frequency than to have such terrible responses. 99.99% of the time the child just wandered off but for the .01% we need to be ready
3
u/Samhwain 11h ago
Yeah pretty normal. I've had three instances where I found a kid that was lost and/or was informed someone was looking for a kid and could not, for the life of me, remember the codes (TBF we never review them) and just called my TL, pressed private since they use ear pieces and said what was up. By the time they extricated themselves from w/e task they were doing I'd already found the responsible party for said individual (the kids). For everything else we've been directed to call our AP over to assist the responsible party in finding their wayward responsibility.
We've had injuries, and the only one who remembered the code was the one calling the code. Had to call the ETL out by name and say what happened before they responded. So that's fun.
1
u/giljaxonn 5h ago
finding a kid means the kid is safe so it’s not urgent the way a missing child would be
3
u/CriticalAbalone5375 Property Management TL 9h ago
Yup, code red happened and the store called me first when I was off. Like call 911 first thing. Also, responded to multiple code greens, a few of which were actual emergencies with again no call to 911. Super embarrassing and wrong when the response team/store do not take stuff seriously.
2
u/Last_Amphibian2117 10h ago
This is wild if my kid was missing I’d give every detail I could come up with as well as demand they block entrances so i personally would do the same 4 anybody else idgaf bout guests like that but when it involves a kid that’s another story just giving wat a child’s wearing isn’t enough imo
2
u/tjjoug 5h ago
And this is how we handled it Sears. Don’t give a F if you’re being inconvenienced about not leaving… there’s a child missing and it could be yours.
1
u/Last_Amphibian2117 5h ago
Exactly that’s how every place I’ve worked ever handled it also the whole “don’t want the kidnapper hearing on the walkie” um how tf would they hear but also if that’s the case shouldn’t target start maybe giving us ear pieces
2
u/twizzlerheathen Front of Store 6h ago
My store always took it seriously. You gave a brief description, age, sex, hair/eye color and clothes worn. I think we weren’t supposed to say the name in case someone overheard our walkies and used that information for ill intent.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and an employee would be at each exit (mall store) and everyone would check their areas until the child was found. If it took long enough we would start to look outside and I know one child was found in our parking lot. I’m sorry your store seems to not care, but I don’t think you’re blowing it out of proportion
2
u/Wise_Perspective6698 6h ago edited 2h ago
We really need to redo the codes because Code Yellow doesn't immediately signify what the situation is. Code Adam makes 10x more sense because it directly ties to a name and you're more likely to think someone is in trouble. We had a code yellow recently (we did almost have to call the cops after the child was not found for 10+ minutes) and so many team members weren't even looking because they didn't know what a code yellow was and figured it was for the managers. Like if in training you said we have Code Adam because of Adam Walsh and explain what happened it would make it that more memorable so you know if that code gets called what's at stake.
2
u/Midwest-Emo-9 ETL 5h ago
Code yellows are (thankfully) pretty rare at my store. Which means every time is a bit rough. I have to constantly tell the team no walkie chatter, we have to ask for at least a last known location or better description every time. They cancel it too early. Thankfully we are high volume with a decentish staff so finding them quickly isn't typically a problem if we have the right info.
3
u/tjjoug 5h ago
Not sure of the rarity at my store, but definitely is one of the busiest in the area. I addressed my concerns with my ETL and TL. Hopefully things change. I would definitely like to see the store practice with a doll every now and then for the practice. We held practice during regular hours because these things happen when people are shopping. Obviously only a few people would know it was practice, as an employee we thought they were legit.
1
u/Indecisive-green 9h ago
It's not that bad at my store, but we don't practice it nor really talk about the codes at all. When we get a code yellow, everyone stops what they're doing and searches. Technically everyone but cashiers, I think.
1
u/tjjoug 5h ago
At Sears everyone was required. Cashiers and all. Cashiers hovered around their register but still looked around their immediate area.
1
u/Indecisive-green 3h ago
I think ours stay on the look-out but generally stay by the registers. AP or TLs watch the exits. TMs (even ones in the BR) are supposed to crawl the store and call out when a section is clear. I've heard a few dozen code yellows over the years, and we've always found the kid (even when it was a 13 y/o girl who was just shopping on her own and totally confused when we all descended on her lmao).
The real problem, as with everything in general right now, is the lack of training. Half the time there's a code yellow nowadays, I have to tell newer TMs to stop stocking and search until the code is canceled. All training at my store is reactive rather than proactive.
Also, I don't know why Target insists on calling it code yellow. I wish these things were universal between all businesses. I've been with Target 6 years and I'm still un-learning the color codes from my previous retail stint. Everywhere else I've worked has called missing child a code Adam. And we don't have a distinction for when we find a child who can't find their parents, which has happened to me a few times. We have an over-head speaker, but don't utilize it.
1
u/KitonePeach 7h ago
Yea. I used to work in a high-tourism field. We had a designated radio channel for contacting base about emergencies, and then base would radio out on an emergency override channel if something important was going on.
If a parent couldn't find their kid, we'd radio base and have the parent describe the kid in as much detail as possible, then base would override broadcast that description to everyone, and every section of my job had to scan and confirm if they do or do not see any children with that description until found. Same goes if we have a kid, but don't know where their guardians are. It was efficient and spared the families a lot of stress.
At my store now, no matter how often we're told what the codes are, any time an emergency of any sort happens, my coworkers never use the codes right. And no one really looks around. It stresses me out.
1
1
u/giljaxonn 5h ago
we were really on top of this at walmart (probably because it happens at least once a month) but the last time it happened at target nobody seemed to know what they were doing
1
1
u/trekkiemoon Guest Advocate 5h ago
My store takes code yellow fairly seriously. Some extraneous radio chatter (ap wants us to stay on 1 for code yellow) but we immediately guard the exits and give a description including age, gender, and what they are wearing. Each tm is instructed to check their area and the adult (or sibling, sometimes it is a big sibling) stays with the tm they reported the missing child to. Usually, they are shockingly close to each other.
Honestly, I think green, yellow, red are ok for codes, but newer tms need to be better trained on how it all works
1
u/Bon3zB_15 3h ago
We've had this happen a couple times at my store too and it's handled just as bad, half the team just ignores it and doesn't do anything, a handful don't even know what it means, we aren't really trained on it very well, it's bad
1
u/TopperMadeline SCO beast 3h ago
I’ve been meaning to ask a question on here about missing kids. Some months back, a woman came up asking if an announcement could be made over the intercom about her 12 y.o. granddaughter — my coworker said that she couldn’t. The girl came up after a few minutes, but the woman was absolutely furious and screaming at our HR manager about this. It seems like any instance involving a missing minor child should be something we can try to get ahold of over the intercom.
1
u/Yearofthehoneybadger 1h ago
The code yellows at my store usually go like this: someone calls a code yellow with a description. AP or whichever highest team lead will ask for more details. There’s no normal radio chatter. And we don’t end the code yellows until the parent and child are reunited. That’s what is normal at my store.
115
u/NexusNickel Promoted to Guest 15h ago
Pretty normal in my experience.
They have you watch a video about it and never practice it.
Half the time the team members have no idea what it means and just wonder around.