Thanks for the feedback Tieguy. It was the purpose of my post to get honest feedback. I have been a Leadership giver for over 15 years and volunteered to be the United Way coordinator three times over the years. I am really torn over not continuing as a Leadership giver...I have given over $20,000 to United Way over the years and help with vounteer work 2 or 3 times a year.
After a night's sleep and reflection, I'll be a Leadership giver again this year (by the way, in the form of UPS Stock with a cost basis of less than $1).
By the way, I still love my job but UPS is going the wrong way to become just like every other big corporation. We use to have a special culture and "the partnership" meant something...now we're not special and there is no partnership, unless you are a level 20 or higher.
I've been with UPS for over 30 years. I've worked multiple districts, regions, and had a few corporate assignments. I think its fair to say that I've seen a lot, probably more than most.
There is no question that times at UPS are harder today than at any point in my career. I think you are putting the cause and blame in the wrong place however.
We are now the dominant player in the small package business. In the old days, we were hungry and taking packages from others. We were growing. Now the competition is stiff and taking packages from us.
We used to have a cost advantage. Read Casey's writings about our cost structure and how it enabled us to pull packages from the USPS.
We used to get by with a cookie cutter approach. We could write a manual on how to operate, and since we were growing, success meant just completing tasks.
Today, the customer has choices and in order to get business we have to provide special services that we didn't do before. This places additional burdens on front line operators.
The final straw of course is that stock has been flat (and declined as of late). In the old days, we worked our a** off, but at the end of the year, the growth in stock made it all worthwhile.
So, you get mad at the CEO, management committee and UPS. You've got to understand that WE are UPS. Read Casey's writings from the 40's and 50's. Things were tough then too.
By the way, grade 18's, 20's and above have a large part of their compensation in stock. When stock doesn't grow, they are greatly impacted. Things are not easy for them either.
As far as United Way goes, I believe in it. For me, its a great way to give back to the community. I find it an efficient organization and a large % of my donation goes to services instead of overhead. As with you, I've been a leadership giver for a very long time. I will continue to do so because it right.
Anyway, this is my take. The information can be used as one peases.
P-Man