MrFedEx
Engorged Member
A few weeks ago, I wrote about a courier who had been 30 over on his 195, delivered everything, but was threatened with an OLCC because he didn't get a lunch. Since then, management dropped the OLCC.
Earlier this week, the same courier went out 36 stops over his 195, but this time he learned his lesson, which is to play the game according to their rules, and then watch the fun begin.
Anyway, he told them he'd need outbound help when he left the building, and then called and left messages twice that afternoon. At 1705, when he'd delivered his last stop, he started his break. When he arrived at the station extremely late, with lots of outbound MEM P1, he'd already missed the first shuttle, so they had to send a second shuttle. "Cost effective" and service effective too, because I don't think the freight made the plane. Plus, the rookie shuttle driver probably drove like a crazy person trying to make it to the ramp. Oh yes, he had to take a rider so they could use the carpool lane. More wasted $$$.
What a smart person this courier has become. By doing exactly what he was told to do, management had to eat a second shuttle that probably never made the aircraft. Bad for the customer, bad for the station, but good for this courier who had already almost been burned by doing the right thing. By turning-off his brain and thinking like management, he did all the "right" things yet had an awful result. Wow, what a surprise.
That's what happens when you treat employees like children and take away their discretion on how best to do the job. In a highly variable position (courier), blanket rules and policies never make sense because so much can happen during the day to change the scenario. There are exceptions, but employees will generally rise to the occasion if given the opportunity to do so. Unfortunately, at FedEx, you must lower your intelligence to their level just to keep your job.
When penny-pinching morons take the helm, the ship is probably going to crash. Eventually, it will crash hard enough to sink. What will the morons do? Keep pushing for more compliance, more group-think, and less reliance on individual job skill and intelligence. The RMS Titanic steams onward.
Earlier this week, the same courier went out 36 stops over his 195, but this time he learned his lesson, which is to play the game according to their rules, and then watch the fun begin.
Anyway, he told them he'd need outbound help when he left the building, and then called and left messages twice that afternoon. At 1705, when he'd delivered his last stop, he started his break. When he arrived at the station extremely late, with lots of outbound MEM P1, he'd already missed the first shuttle, so they had to send a second shuttle. "Cost effective" and service effective too, because I don't think the freight made the plane. Plus, the rookie shuttle driver probably drove like a crazy person trying to make it to the ramp. Oh yes, he had to take a rider so they could use the carpool lane. More wasted $$$.
What a smart person this courier has become. By doing exactly what he was told to do, management had to eat a second shuttle that probably never made the aircraft. Bad for the customer, bad for the station, but good for this courier who had already almost been burned by doing the right thing. By turning-off his brain and thinking like management, he did all the "right" things yet had an awful result. Wow, what a surprise.
That's what happens when you treat employees like children and take away their discretion on how best to do the job. In a highly variable position (courier), blanket rules and policies never make sense because so much can happen during the day to change the scenario. There are exceptions, but employees will generally rise to the occasion if given the opportunity to do so. Unfortunately, at FedEx, you must lower your intelligence to their level just to keep your job.
When penny-pinching morons take the helm, the ship is probably going to crash. Eventually, it will crash hard enough to sink. What will the morons do? Keep pushing for more compliance, more group-think, and less reliance on individual job skill and intelligence. The RMS Titanic steams onward.