Are Part Time Sups at lowest level of job satisfaction?

[konsole]

My supervisor and I havent been getting along for like 8 months now. There use to be a few people in my work area that the sup couldnt stand because of their work ethic, but his complaints about these employees kept falling on deaf ears. About 8 months ago these employees left to a different sort and it seems like ever since then the sup has been taking out his frustration. I have written up several grievances for him working and he claims he is cool with that but I would bet that its partially the reason for him and my clashing. So over these last 8 months or so the sup has been much more, lets say "intense", in his supervision style, and him and I havent gotten along too well over these 8 months because of this. I'm not going to get into all the details but I will say that there is much less employees allowed to make decisions for themselves, and alot more "you do as I say because I am the supervisor". Prior to 8 months ago him and I got along just fine, but recently him and I have had a few confrontations, even threats, of which the most recent led me to want to post this topic. I understand that he is the supervisor and what he says goes, but I really dislike being treated as a clueless obedient worker that doesnt have an opinion of my own. You can say that I should be doing whatever my supervisor says all you want, but it can get to the point were its a little demeaning when he is constantly criticizing petty stuff, when he is frequently on me about minor things that he never said a word about before, and when many of the things he complains about are not much more then a misunderstanding, and assumptions are jumped to too quickly. I just really don't think the job is complicated enough to need a supervisor micro managing everything. I think if my fellow workers were left to figure things out on their own it would create higher quality workers and there probably wouldnt be much need for a supervisor.

I know most of the other workers in my area get along with the supervisor just fine, which I think is partially due to needing someone to agree with when him and I have arguements, and also they are too willing to allow him to step in and handle their work. But I really cant help but wonder thats hes probably being pushed to higher performance by upper management. I say this because alot of the stuff that he does seems to be merely to satisfy upper management.

So the battle between him and me aside, do any of you supervisors or your supervisors feel they are being pushed and taking out their frustration now more then ever?

 

[gorilla75jdw]

all sups are under a new found pressure with the regional and district changes and combinations that have taken place . Our fulltime sup. has been seen crying and is always talking to hisself . Just dont pay the guy no mind and do your job as normal , the time will pass and so will his antics .

 

[UPSSOCKS]

My supervisor and I havent been getting along for like 8 months now. There use to be a few people in my work area that the sup couldnt stand because of their work ethic, but his complaints about these employees kept falling on deaf ears. About 8 months ago these employees left to a different sort and it seems like ever since then the sup has been taking out his frustration. I have written up several grievances for him working and he claims he is cool with that but I would bet that its partially the reason for him and my clashing. So over these last 8 months or so the sup has been much more, lets say "intense", in his supervision style, and him and I havent gotten along too well over these 8 months because of this. I'm not going to get into all the details but I will say that there is much less employees allowed to make decisions for themselves, and alot more "you do as I say because I am the supervisor". Prior to 8 months ago him and I got along just fine, but recently him and I have had a few confrontations, even threats, of which the most recent led me to want to post this topic. I understand that he is the supervisor and what he says goes, but I really dislike being treated as a clueless obedient worker that doesnt have an opinion of my own. You can say that I should be doing whatever my supervisor says all you want, but it can get to the point were its a little demeaning when he is constantly criticizing petty stuff, when he is frequently on me about minor things that he never said a word about before, and when many of the things he complains about are not much more then a misunderstanding, and assumptions are jumped to too quickly. I just really don't think the job is complicated enough to need a supervisor micro managing everything. I think if my fellow workers were left to figure things out on their own it would create higher quality workers and there probably wouldnt be much need for a supervisor.

I know most of the other workers in my area get along with the supervisor just fine, which I think is partially due to needing someone to agree with when him and I have arguements, and also they are too willing to allow him to step in and handle their work. But I really cant help but wonder thats hes probably being pushed to higher performance by upper management. I say this because alot of the stuff that he does seems to be merely to satisfy upper management.

So the battle between him and me aside, do any of you supervisors or your supervisors feel they are being pushed and taking out their frustration now more then ever?

If your looking for a relationship try one of the online dating sites.. While your at work you should just work as instructed

 

[22.34life]

this job is soooo easy when you let them tell you exactly what to do and then follow those instructions to a tee,if there instructions are wrong thats there problem,if there instructions cause the area to run like crap that again is there problem.they pay me to work and thats it,they dont pay me to think or make decisions.you can never do anything wrong if all you do is what they tell you to.

 

[konsole]

this job is soooo easy when you let them tell you exactly what to do and then follow those instructions to a tee,if there instructions are wrong thats there problem,if there instructions cause the area to run like crap that again is there problem.they pay me to work and thats it,they dont pay me to think or make decisions.you can never do anything wrong if all you do is what they tell you to.

Don't slaves work like that?

Supervisors should be telling their employees what to do and then letting the employees figure it out, not tell the employees what to do and then telling them how to do it, because like I said this job isnt so complicated that the employees cant figure it out. I would bet that most of the employees are smart, but they just act dumb because they arent required to make any intelligent decisions.

Supervisor: I need you to do this
Employee: How do I do it?
Supervisor: I trust that you'll be able to figure it out

The first time that conversation occurs is a brand new day for that employee.

 

[UnconTROLLed]

Hi Konsole, grievances-cease and desist harrassment and over supervision!

 

[konsole]

Hi Konsole, grievances-cease and desist harrassment and over supervision!

LOL good luck getting a grievance for over supervision from a respected supervisor to go through. Management likes him because he gets stuff done and he has the best numbers on the sort, and after I realized that he is consistently so high with his numbers, the over supervision makes alot more sense. Its not fun watching him run around like a mad man 5 minutes before the end of the shift trying to get so many people off the clock to the point were its really questionable that the remaining workers can finish the work without him stepping in to work. He claims he is keeping enough workers but if one person still have to finish loading a truck and there packages still coming down the belt, 1 person is not enough. None of the other supervisors I had ever did this and we did just fine.

 

[22.34life]

Don't slaves work like that?

Supervisors should be telling their employees what to do and then letting the employees figure it out, not tell the employees what to do and then telling them how to do it, because like I said this job isnt so complicated that the employees cant figure it out. I would bet that most of the employees are smart, but they just act dumb because they arent required to make any intelligent decisions.

Supervisor: I need you to do this
Employee: How do I do it?
Supervisor: I trust that you'll be able to figure it out

The first time that conversation occurs is a brand new day for that employee.[/QUOTE
slaves dont get paid,look just do whatever they tell you to and that will set you free.if they treat you like a child act like a child.give them enough rope to hang themselfs with.

 

[UnconTROLLed]

Don't act like a child. Kill them with kindness, sincerity and concern, even when being "scolded". There is no better way to deflect negative energy than with positive energy.

Then when the dust is settled after the sort, hand in the grievances.

 

[CustomerConcern]

Kudos for actually filing grievences...and yes it probably is a give-and-take sort of thing. Simple way to survive PT is do as told, don't overthink the job, see something wrong get it fixed.

 

[TearsInRain]

taking poor production numbers personally is an extremely easy way out for a supe, and it's the route most of the ones i know take

 

[Used&AbusedwithNoPrivacy]

You must understand that each day the Part-Time Sups get an enormous amount of pressure from Upper Managment to achieve increased efficiency while being safe, zero injuries, zero overtime, and zero misloads. Anything short of this is failure. So, you must remember you have to demand respect out of yourself, you might have to get into a shouting match with your sup face to face in front of others in order for him to listen to you, and I guarantee that after that day he will respect you. But, you must do it with grace and control, you can't get mad and stomp outta there. You must find a way to stand up to him and calmly express your reasons for disagreeing with him. Remember, he will be right in some cases and you have to back him in front of others (thats how you get his respect too), and if he has ever loading he has been in your shoes and probably knows what he is talking about. It is your responsibility to call him out though, whenever you feel something isn't right, slows down production, is unsafe, or goes against the path of least resistance, you must inform him. Don't do anything, if it is unsafe or could get you hurt. Always get help on the overweights and irregs. Also, you always have the right to request a helper if the load gets to heavy, or you can get him to help you. If he works over 15 minutes without your consent, you can file a grievance with your Shop Steward and Union regarding your supervisor doing bargaining work without your consent, and stealing your work time. Remember, the relationship you should have with your Supervisor should be a natural system of checks and balances with each other. When one of you forgets something the other one better remember and so on. Some of the best working relationships are the ones when you have two personalities that are opposites and do not think alike, that way you know that you have every angle and perspective covered. Just like a Ship Captain and his Second Mate. They must work together to achieve success. Remember, he is the Captain though, but you can be the one to always remind him of things that he overlooked. Don't get me wrong. Some of my Part-Time Sups are my best friends. Work together and achieve success while being safe. Hope this helped. Good luck.

 

[Bsullivan]

I had a supervisor that management loved and she would stand at the end of my trailer and watch me work no matter what trailer i went to. And I was nice to her and she was always yelling but I did every thing she would tell me with a smile on my face. Then I filed a grievance for harrassment and over supervision. After that she had to stay at the supervisor work station every single day.

 

[UPSSOCKS]

I had a supervisor that management loved and she would stand at the end of my trailer and watch me work no matter what trailer i went to. And I was nice to her and she was always yelling but I did every thing she would tell me with a smile on my face. Then I filed a grievance for harrassment and over supervision. After that she had to stay at the supervisor work station every single day.

Was she allowed to go to the bathroom or anything?

 

[quickspamcgraw]

I came to the right place. The folks below who replied with Looking for online dating or do as instructed, they either have been with UPS since the stone age or are buddy buddy with their sups to keep them off their back. I'm having this exact same issue..problem is my sup is only 21 barely. He was working along side us preloaders for a year then as soon as he moved up he became a 40 year old tigh *ss. I don't understand it's like he picks at the smaaaallllllest stuff and I've been their for 3 years I know exactly what I'm here to do. I HIGHLY agree with not needing a sup..They are irrelevant. It's harrasment when they stand in your way at work and micro manage your every move.

 

[AnonyMusser]

Just joined here but have been a package handler at my hub for over a year now and am in pretty much the same boat. Not sure how to go about addressing my complaints either and have a definite laundry list of complaints.

EDIT: Well I may as well list em so anyone can tell me if Im making a mountain out of a molehill or just thin skinned

1. Since our Sup's been running our PD hes fired two people for positive drug tests for pot, drug tests he had them take because he outright didnt like them. I say that not because Im upset over both the firings, I got along great with those two loaders. He knew for as long as hes been in charge that they smoked, the Sup being a smoker himself (allegedly). One of those people was the husband of a friend of several years, and fragile mentally, who it turns out was fighting very aggressive cancer, and still came in 3-4 out of 5 days a week (lazy potheads right? ) He knows he cant get me on a drug test and I dont share how I unwind with him.

2. Last year a dear friend of mine took his life. The Sup in question, about 2 months after was breaking jams for me and a senior Full Time loader and after what started as just busting balls told me to kill myself. He claims he knew nothing about the ordeal, regardless of the fact he was seeing an employee who shares a mutual friend with me who knew all about the tragedy. She(the employee) even apologized to me for him (the sup), which says to me they probably had talked about it at some point.

3. Not even borderline sexual harrassment with EVERY employee on the dock. I dunno if this is how the insecure over-compensating type communicate now or what. I cant even explain how over the top it is, every 5-10 minutes, a joke, a gay joke, at everyone elses expense. Best way I can explain is the sexual harassment episode of King of the Hill where everyone was afraid to speak or make eye contact around the Ben Stiller character.

4. If the gay jokes and textbook sexual harassment arent enough, he will literally insult and belittle every employee whether or not it increases productivity. The new hires who dont know any better break themselves cause they dont want to let the bullying show on them. If someone has an injury, someone is sick, doesnt matter, if they call in and let him know he will call them everything in the book to belittle them and get them to come in broken, in pain, infectious, doesnt matter.

Im at a loss here, our full time Sup is great, but Im sure everyone knows how it is to get around management, make the allegations and have to live with it backfiring, and considering the sociopath we(at least I) all put up with if we try and make it stop it will come back to bite us. The way I feel is at this point is Im making $11 an hour to relive my 7th grade. So tell me, am I just being dramatic, should I just move to a different dock, or should I go over his head to grieve and see who will come with me?

 

[UnconTROLLed]

Just joined here but have been a package handler at my hub for over a year now and am in pretty much the same boat. Not sure how to go about addressing my complaints either and have a definite laundry list of complaints.

EDIT: Well I may as well list em so anyone can tell me if Im making a mountain out of a molehill or just thin skinned

1. Since our Sup's been running our PD hes fired two people for positive drug tests for pot, drug tests he had them take because he outright didnt like them. I say that not because Im upset over both the firings, I got along great with those two loaders. He knew for as long as hes been in charge that they smoked, the Sup being a smoker himself (allegedly). One of those people was the husband of a friend of several years, and fragile mentally, who it turns out was fighting very aggressive cancer, and still came in 3-4 out of 5 days a week (lazy potheads right? ) He knows he cant get me on a drug test and I dont share how I unwind with him.

2. Last year a dear friend of mine took his life. The Sup in question, about 2 months after was breaking jams for me and a senior Full Time loader and after what started as just busting balls told me to kill myself. He claims he knew nothing about the ordeal, regardless of the fact he was seeing an employee who shares a mutual friend with me who knew all about the tragedy. She(the employee) even apologized to me for him (the sup), which says to me they probably had talked about it at some point.

3. Not even borderline sexual harrassment with EVERY employee on the dock. I dunno if this is how the insecure over-compensating type communicate now or what. I cant even explain how over the top it is, every 5-10 minutes, a joke, a gay joke, at everyone elses expense. Best way I can explain is the sexual harassment episode of King of the Hill where everyone was afraid to speak or make eye contact around the Ben Stiller character.

4. If the gay jokes and textbook sexual harassment arent enough, he will literally insult and belittle every employee whether or not it increases productivity. The new hires who dont know any better break themselves cause they dont want to let the bullying show on them. If someone has an injury, someone is sick, doesnt matter, if they call in and let him know he will call them everything in the book to belittle them and get them to come in broken, in pain, infectious, doesnt matter.

Im at a loss here, our full time Sup is great, but Im sure everyone knows how it is to get around management, make the allegations and have to live with it backfiring, and considering the sociopath we(at least I) all put up with if we try and make it stop it will come back to bite us. The way I feel is at this point is Im making $11 an hour to relive my 7th grade. So tell me, am I just being dramatic, should I just move to a different dock, or should I go over his head to grieve and see who will come with me?

I-Pod. That way you cannot hear nor care about the sophomoric humor

Also I suggest smiling a lot, especially when you see PT sups stressing out extra because their FT sups forgot their meds

 

[764Steward]

I personally believe that having a PhD in Stupidity is a prerequisite for being a "Stupid-visor" for UPS. My center just recently hired 2 part-time pre-load sups. One, a girl who worked both local sort and pre-load, and was arguably the worst ever at every job she performed, and they actually tried to get rid of her but never followed through with it. Now, she's 'training and supervising' employees?! And the other, is a guy who worked pre-load, quit, and 3 months later, they rehire him as a sup. Are they really that hard up for people?

 

[softshoe]

Are they really that hard up for people?

YES

 

[UPSSOCKS]

Just joined here but have been a package handler at my hub for over a year now and am in pretty much the same boat. Not sure how to go about addressing my complaints either and have a definite laundry list of complaints.

EDIT: Well I may as well list em so anyone can tell me if Im making a mountain out of a molehill or just thin skinned

1. Since our Sup's been running our PD hes fired two people for positive drug tests for pot, drug tests he had them take because he outright didnt like them. I say that not because Im upset over both the firings, I got along great with those two loaders. He knew for as long as hes been in charge that they smoked, the Sup being a smoker himself (allegedly). One of those people was the husband of a friend of several years, and fragile mentally, who it turns out was fighting very aggressive cancer, and still came in 3-4 out of 5 days a week (lazy potheads right? ) He knows he cant get me on a drug test and I dont share how I unwind with him.

2. Last year a dear friend of mine took his life. The Sup in question, about 2 months after was breaking jams for me and a senior Full Time loader and after what started as just busting balls told me to kill myself. He claims he knew nothing about the ordeal, regardless of the fact he was seeing an employee who shares a mutual friend with me who knew all about the tragedy. She(the employee) even apologized to me for him (the sup), which says to me they probably had talked about it at some point.

3. Not even borderline sexual harrassment with EVERY employee on the dock. I dunno if this is how the insecure over-compensating type communicate now or what. I cant even explain how over the top it is, every 5-10 minutes, a joke, a gay joke, at everyone elses expense. Best way I can explain is the sexual harassment episode of King of the Hill where everyone was afraid to speak or make eye contact around the Ben Stiller character.

4. If the gay jokes and textbook sexual harassment arent enough, he will literally insult and belittle every employee whether or not it increases productivity. The new hires who dont know any better break themselves cause they dont want to let the bullying show on them. If someone has an injury, someone is sick, doesnt matter, if they call in and let him know he will call them everything in the book to belittle them and get them to come in broken, in pain, infectious, doesnt matter.

Im at a loss here, our full time Sup is great, but Im sure everyone knows how it is to get around management, make the allegations and have to live with it backfiring, and considering the sociopath we(at least I) all put up with if we try and make it stop it will come back to bite us. The way I feel is at this point is Im making $11 an hour to relive my 7th grade. So tell me, am I just being dramatic, should I just move to a different dock, or should I go over his head to grieve and see who will come with me?

I want to comment and reply to this so badly but............ I must stay in silence. If this is actually true and I say what I want to say, it may be the end for me so I will refrain.

These are serious offenses. I will give your supervisor credit for the drug firings. It takes some coconuts to get someone for fitness for duty only because if you take them for the test and your are wrong you could be subject to some kind of corporate punishment (like a relo to somewhere cold).

I do have a question? Are you a homosexual? Or is anyone that your supervisor making the gay comments to homosexual? Not passing judgement just trying to see the whole picture here.