Big Changes Ahead in TSG

[Hubber_TSGer_WhoCares]

The convenience was not worth the extra expense.

I continue to get attentive and skilled help from TSG.

From my perspective, the TSG changes have been a success story..

P-Man

I am glad that you experience acceptable service. The convenience is still a luxury "Staff" level gets no matter what. They can call a TSG Supervisor and a tech will be there in moments to address any concern, no log, no problem.

Sorry, I do think change is good, cost savings is good, and maybe our district is the only one that contains technicians that use the help desk as a means of basic troubleshooting...

 

[pkgdog]

There have man cut back in NC in our district they had a total of 20 folks tsg being the bulk of them.. Im not sure how far its going to be affected but im crossing my fingers.. Theey are even shuttin down out sunrise shift here..

There's a big push to complete various projects this week. Time is closing in for Northeast Region TSG.

 

[westsideworma]

I find it amusing that the more this company embraces technology, the less people they keep around that can repair it should the need arise. I mean I'm pretty familiar with computers (minored in CS and a couple certifications) and so is another fellow supe but we are by no means TSG level. We can get computer based scanners working when they seemingly refuse to and other common headaches, but the proprietary UPS tech? well I'm good with stubborn bluetooth scanners but thats where it ends pretty much. The funny thing is when we say we can't get it running they're like how come? The phrase its above my paygrade comes to mind but I've yet to use it.

I sure hope we keep a couple techs around when those new HP scanners arrive.

 

[jyounes]

"Celtics 2009" this happened again today on district conf call very general discription of layoffs did not state any numbers of how many effected this is a joke get out while you still can the writing is on the wall pmt is a joke and so is j bevis and jack

Celtics 2009. You offer nothing but cowardness and name calling. You have no information, no facts but a big mouth.. You must live in your beautiful bubble where everything is good. It sounds like you prefer to have everybody sits and be fat and happy till it comes crashing down on everyone. I see your type around me all day. The ones who do little and talk lots. Sure you can not do more so here comes your nonsense. Grow up. Dare you raise your voice, or your eyes to either one of those folks. Cowardness has a new Name... Celtics 2009...

 

[nedroc]

this happened again today on district conf call very general discription of layoffs did not state any numbers of how many effected this is a joke get out while you still can the writing is on the wall pmt is a joke and so is j bevis and jack

Celtics 2009 comments are ridiculous. I understand your frustrations if you have any. You might be able to talk about J becasue it seems to be the feeling all around. However, I find it difficult to believe that you speak of Jack this way. He has treated us with much respect, done great for our district and the NE. I met him in focus meetings 3 times and found him very effective, honest, down to earth and a good leader. The first region TSG mgr to come down and listen, address concerns and do positive things for the techs and the sups. I know he stood by me when I was facing difficult time and assisted me. Therefore, I reject your comments and see them as a way to degrade someone for no reason. How shameful... By the way, we all know who you are and know your poison...My advice is for you to pack it before they do you the honor as you deserve it.

 

[BrownTech99]

Celtics 2009 comments are ridiculous. I understand your frustrations if you have any. You might be able to talk about J becasue it seems to be the feeling all around. However, I find it difficult to believe that you speak of Jack this way. He has treated us with much respect, done great for our district and the NE. I met him in focus meetings 3 times and found him very effective, honest, down to earth and a good leader. The first region TSG mgr to come down and listen, address concerns and do positive things for the techs and the sups. I know he stood by me when I was facing difficult time and assisted me. Therefore, I reject your comments and see them as a way to degrade someone for no reason. How shameful... By the way, we all know who you are and know your poison...My advice is for you to pack it before they do you the honor as you deserve it.

Your limited exposure to Jack is the cause of your ignorance. He is a wolf in sheeps clothing. He leaves a wide swath of careers in his wake...

 

[simcoe919a]

Your limited exposure to Jack is the cause of your ignorance. He is a wolf in sheeps clothing. He leaves a wide swath of careers in his wake...

Agree - What he is doing is wrong.

 

[TSG_1]

Anyone heard of how they are picking? Hear, its a shotgun effect: Arbitrarily picked "shifts" were picked in October. Anyone on that "shift," no matter the seniority level, is impacted. So that guy/gal next to you with less sr is fine, but you are impacted and can't bump them because their "shift" stays, and yours is going.

Any other buildings doing the same? Or is it strictly seniority?

 

[TSG_1]

I guess this just has not been my experience. Of course things have changed...

It used to be that if I had a problem with my PC or an application, I would walk up to TSG (or call them) and someone would come right away and help.

Now, I either call the help desk or log on asking for a service request. Someone calls me back in the appropriate amount of time (based on the severity.

Does this take longer? Absolutely. Is it as convenient? No.

The convenience was not worth the extra expense.

I continue to get attentive and skilled help from TSG.

From my perspective, the TSG changes have been a success story..

P-Man

So, P-Man, say you have an issue with your Laptop/PC in a presentation with peers. How do you get help? If you call the desk, they'll bumble around for a while, then dispatch a Sev6 log. If you use TechCares, you get a Sev6 dispatched right away if you "beat the system." Otherwise you have to call the desk to get the log pushed out. Technically, we have a week. Now, I'm assuming, from the content of your posts, that you are management. Given that, and the lack of projects and work in most TSG departments, most techs will just jump on it. We do like to help, usually. But what if they called you and said, How's tomorrow for ya? I have to plan that in PDT (rebrand ftw) so I can get proper credit for it and not have integrity issues by doing it now and planning it for tomorrow...

Because that is how it is supposed to go. Is that a success story?

How about a preload that is lagging and/or PC crashing and they "don't have time to call the desk" and put in a TechCares log instead? Again, Sev6. If it gets pushed out.

I understand the need for cost cutting. But we've been doing that for about 8 yrs now.
/shrug

We're losing 11 in our Geo. There's a building with 3 techs...

 

[Deeohem]

TSG_1, that was the nice thing about this years Balanced Scorecard. That service index was removed. no more of the department getting gigged when a tech deviated from plan. No mistake about it, our managemet still want us to stick to plan where reasonable, but we are now allowed to BE reasonable and go off plan if it makes sense. I figure helping out a manager who's having issues during a management meeting would be reasonable along with fixing a PAS system that managed to get a sev6 UDC log through TechCares

 

[pretzel_man]

So, P-Man, say you have an issue with your Laptop/PC in a presentation with peers. How do you get help? If you call the desk, they'll bumble around for a while, then dispatch a Sev6 log. If you use TechCares, you get a Sev6 dispatched right away if you "beat the system." Otherwise you have to call the desk to get the log pushed out. Technically, we have a week. Now, I'm assuming, from the content of your posts, that you are management. Given that, and the lack of projects and work in most TSG departments, most techs will just jump on it. We do like to help, usually. But what if they called you and said, How's tomorrow for ya? I have to plan that in PDT (rebrand ftw) so I can get proper credit for it and not have integrity issues by doing it now and planning it for tomorrow...

Because that is how it is supposed to go. Is that a success story?

How about a preload that is lagging and/or PC crashing and they "don't have time to call the desk" and put in a TechCares log instead? Again, Sev6. If it gets pushed out.

I understand the need for cost cutting. But we've been doing that for about 8 yrs now.
/shrug

We're losing 11 in our Geo. There's a building with 3 techs...

I needed emergency help as you described a couple of times over the last few years. It took a few more minutes than in the past, but TSG still was able to help me. Not quite as convenient as before, but still okay.

I also noticed that since using TSG generally now takes more steps, I need to plan a little better. Again, an inconvenieces, but not a problem

I think UPS reduced something like $50M in TSG cost since the cost cutting measures came into place.

I'm a management person and a shareholder too. The reduced cost is worth the inconvenience.

P-Man

 

[TSG_1]

Anyone else have anything regarding the job elimination?
I know everything is hush hush. We're loosing 11 in IL (incl. CACH). Not sure about the rest of the Region.

Also, I'm glad we in TSG can "take one for the Team" (One UPS) and increase your shareholder earnings. Hey, we're buying stock cheap now, right? I hope there is someone in the building the next time you need immediate help. I really do. But it's kind of hard not to feel pessimistic regarding this. Don't worry about me though. I've got good skills, a job, and a reliable car.

 

[pkgdog]

I needed emergency help as you described a couple of times over the last few years. It took a few more minutes than in the past, but TSG still was able to help me. Not quite as convenient as before, but still okay.

I also noticed that since using TSG generally now takes more steps, I need to plan a little better. Again, an inconvenieces, but not a problem

I think UPS reduced something like $50M in TSG cost since the cost cutting measures came into place.

I'm a management person and a shareholder too. The reduced cost is worth the inconvenience.

P-Man

P-Man...
You may think the reduced cost in TSG is worth the inconvience, but our customers do not. Here's a true story. Management has prevented us in TSG from visiting customer for Worldship issues over the past year which has lead to customer having to work on their own issues with our software. One of my customers wanted TSG to upgrade their system, management said no because it would result in increase mileage, plus in managements eyes...you only need to put a disc in the machine and run the software. However, the customer HAD a highly intergrated Worldship setup on an older version of Worldship. In the managers eyes, the customer can simply put the disc in the computer and let the upgrade happen. The customer refused to do this as they are not technically inclined. As a result, the BD guy (who may i say is paid much more than myself) ran the upgrade for the customer and it loaded just fine. The problem resulted a week later. The customer had a worldship setup that was an approved setup in previous versions of our software, and it was originally setup by UPS TSG. When BD upgraded the customer, they installed the software on a server which the newer version of Worldship do not support. Yes it may work, but somebody from above said it is not supported by UPS Worldship. A week after the upgrade, the customer had a problem, they called the help desk, the help desk told them that their setup was not supported by UPS and that the helpdesk could not assist them. This customer was furious at this point. This customer was shipping over $3000 per day with UPS. Today this customer is shipping $0 per day with us. Still think the reduced cost is worth the inconvenience???

True story number 2. Customer was having worldship issues. The customer called the center looking for help. Managements only answer to this is to call the help desk. This customer refused to call the helpdesk for various reasons that i can only imagine. My experience with customers is some customers perfer to deal face to face with people, some customers have learned to expect face to face service, some people do not have time to call the helpdesk, and some customers have their backup plan setup right next to the UPS computer in the name of Fedex already. Regardless of the reason a customer doesn't call the helpdesk, do we simply say...well they can't follow the simple process of calling the helpdesk, then they don't deserve to ship with us? If they cannot or will not call the helpdesk, then their $2500 per day isn't good enough for us?

Both of these situations occurred in the past 2 months in my remote building. Both customers are shipping with Fedex today. Both of these customers are being pursued by highly paid BD folks who should be out there getting new business, instead of trying to win back old business. Had I been more accessible like i once was, we would still have that business.

It still amazes me after all of this happened, my managers still worry about the nickle and dimes they are saving by not having me drive out to a customer. I wonder how many miles i could have driven at $.50 per mile with all the money we have lost with these 2 customers alone from a small center. How many salaries could be paid each year from these 2 customers???? I have always wondered why the UPS managers lack the ability to see the "whole picture". Yeah...TSG is an expense...but look what can and does happen when you chop it down. Yeah P-Man....the cost cutting measures in TSG are worth it so you can get a fatter check. Hopefully your peripheral vision comes back to you soon and you have the ability to see the "big picture" (as you always tell the drivers. )

 

[pretzel_man]

PKGDog,

You posted two good examples of stupid management. The resolution to this problem however is not to let TSG cost go uncontrolled. That's where it was.

If I can have my internal needs met at a reduced cost, there is no reason that external needs cannot be met that way as well. There's no reason that costs cannot be kept low and also service customers.

P-Man

 

[pkgdog]

PKGDog,

You posted two good examples of stupid management. The resolution to this problem however is not to let TSG cost go uncontrolled. That's where it was.

If I can have my internal needs met at a reduced cost, there is no reason that external needs cannot be met that way as well. There's no reason that costs cannot be kept low and also service customers.

P-Man

P... my group has undergone cost cutting measures over the past 4 years without any UPS financial statements showing revenue decline. My workgroup is half the size of 4 years ago. People have left the company, moved to different positions, died, been fired and we simply did not replace them. To state TSG costs have been uncontrolled would be either be a lack of information on your behalf, or refusal to see anything other than an arguement for your own personal financial statement as you stated in a previous post.

Do we still have dead weight? Does management still have dead weight? Do the driver groups have dead weight? Absolutely to every corner of our company.

The decisions made by what you labeled as stupid management were indeed stupid. There are a lot of stupid managers out there. The point I was trying to make regarding customers is this. We are a service company. People pay for a service and expect service. UPS employees can absolutely wait for a technical issue if need be. The employees are not going to walk away from itself for lack of technical service. However, Those who pay your salary and increase your stock portfolio each year, those folks will and do walk away.

As for your statement on keeping costs low and still servicing our customers.... the costs have gotten to the point that some customers are walking away from ups because of the cost cutting measures that didn't come from those immediate managers i mentioned my previous post, but because of the decisions made by managers so far removed from the customer that they do not even see this happening. When you have customers with urgent issues 120 miles away in one of your remote centers and its the afternoon, with no miles allowed and no overtime allowed, we simply will not be assisting those customers until the following day. If this is the future of UPS, then i suppose it is up to management to get the word out to the customers that TSG service will be changing and we will not be offering same day technical support and the BD shouldn't try selling it as a selling point.

Anyhoo...whatever, it has gotten to the point where it doesn't even matter. We used to be trusted to do the right thing. Now we're not trusted at all and the micro managing has created an environment where you don't jump unless you are told to jump. If you jump when you are not told to do so, you are second guessed and questioned as to why you did so.

 

[pretzel_man]

P... my group has undergone cost cutting measures over the past 4 years without any UPS financial statements showing revenue decline. My workgroup is half the size of 4 years ago. People have left the company, moved to different positions, died, been fired and we simply did not replace them. To state TSG costs have been uncontrolled would be either be a lack of information on your behalf, or refusal to see anything other than an arguement for your own personal financial statement as you stated in a previous post.

Do we still have dead weight? Does management still have dead weight? Do the driver groups have dead weight? Absolutely to every corner of our company.

The decisions made by what you labeled as stupid management were indeed stupid. There are a lot of stupid managers out there. The point I was trying to make regarding customers is this. We are a service company. People pay for a service and expect service. UPS employees can absolutely wait for a technical issue if need be. The employees are not going to walk away from itself for lack of technical service. However, Those who pay your salary and increase your stock portfolio each year, those folks will and do walk away.

As for your statement on keeping costs low and still servicing our customers.... the costs have gotten to the point that some customers are walking away from ups because of the cost cutting measures that didn't come from those immediate managers i mentioned my previous post, but because of the decisions made by managers so far removed from the customer that they do not even see this happening. When you have customers with urgent issues 120 miles away in one of your remote centers and its the afternoon, with no miles allowed and no overtime allowed, we simply will not be assisting those customers until the following day. If this is the future of UPS, then i suppose it is up to management to get the word out to the customers that TSG service will be changing and we will not be offering same day technical support and the BD shouldn't try selling it as a selling point.

Anyhoo...whatever, it has gotten to the point where it doesn't even matter. We used to be trusted to do the right thing. Now we're not trusted at all and the micro managing has created an environment where you don't jump unless you are told to jump. If you jump when you are not told to do so, you are second guessed and questioned as to why you did so.

I guess I was not clear. When I mentioned uncontrolled TSG cost, I did NOT mean today. You are correct that the cost cutting measures started 4 years ago.

From my perspective, over the last year or two TSG costs have been excellent. TSG is providing excellent service at low cost.

I am saying that the answer to TSG managers making bad decisions is NOT to go back to where we were 4 years ago. Its to use what we have today more effectively.

P-Man

 

[33in2togo]

As a sales person handling very large customers I have become frustrated at the limited support we get on technology issues. The remote log in from the help desk is excellent in a high percent of the problems. The customers that PDog refers to are the ones that want an in person immediate fix or they will use the competitor whose system is working on the particular day there was an issue. When WS 10.0 first came out there was a known issue that as sales people we were not aware of. My largest customer was down for two days after trying the upgrade. It was very painful to take cell phone pictures of our packages sitting on the Fed Ex skids. The bottom line is we do need to control costs but what is the damage we are doing in some cases. I always vist and try to assist when a customer is down.

 

[nedroc]

Yesterday I spent the day with my supervisor who i rarely see in my facility. My tsg sup spent the day sitting next to and joking with the BD manager all day long. On the phone in the next office was the poor OMS taking a beating from an angry customer because the customer had Worldship intergration problems due to a crashed pc. The BD and tsg sup simply told the OMS to have the customer call the helpdesk. After telling the customer to call the helpdesk during 5 different phone conversations where the customer screamed at the poor oms, the customer used its alternitive plan.....Fedex!!! I had nothing going on at all since theTSG responsibilities been limited to nothing at all, but to save a few bucks in mileage reimbursement, i couldn't help the customer. The result..... we lost over $3000 per day from this customer. 18 working days and there goes my salary. How's that for service and bd!!! I hope the folks who cut these jobs realize what a failure their choices can be.

You are lying....If that is true and all what you did is come to Brown Cafe and put the post, you are worse than those folks you spoke about...Shameful

 

[nedroc]

Your limited exposure to Jack is the cause of your ignorance. He is a wolf in sheeps clothing. He leaves a wide swath of careers in his wake...

Disagree with you BrownTech99, the man promoted about 25 people in our region and 3 in our district. The company is cutting back and so is TSG. Yet he still promoted people all the way through..You know that the districts goals are cut every year from corporate and the regions have to comply.

As far as careers, I see that all good Mgmt people in TSG in our district are still around. The lazy ones are gone.

Remember that like us techs, some Mgmt people appear solid but they might fool you and that is why they are not around...

 

[nedroc]

Agree - What he is doing is wrong.

Simcoe919a, No wonder North Jersey was consolidated. Quite few people like you who do not know all the facts can coward in here and say ridiculous things. NOJ could have had people on the impacted list. They did not because mgmt like Arence and Jack have done a good job putting people in the right places or made the right moves. As techs, we have to be fair and truthful as well.