Lunch with Eskew

hoser

Industrial Slob
Let's give an extremely hypothetical situation:

Mr. Eskew shows some leadership. Instead of paying management consultants $2000 for the day, he'll give them the day off and instead have lunch with a few of his unionized employees; the preloaders, the midnight hub sorters, the drivers, the ECS clerks, and so-forth, asking them the question: "how can I turn higher profits while increasing employee morale and retention?" What kind of things do suggest this company can improve on that can help trim costs and make employees happier?

Let's say you're invited, what constructive ideas would you have for Mr. Eskew to turn higher profits while increasing employee morale and retention?? Remember that Eskew isn't just going to listen, he knows that his employees make industry top wage and he understandably expects a lot from his employees. If you tell him to cut productivity, he's going to tell you that a paycut would be in order. If you tell him PAS is a joke, he's going to ask you for a viable alternative.

Please:
  • Don't go off on an anti-Eskew, anti-UPS, my back is killing me rant, you're out for lunch with him, what would you actually say? (I know for a fact that 99/100 of you wouldn't call Eskew an a-hole if you had the chance to meet him and he was paying for your calzone and wine)
  • Realise that Mr. Eskew has a business to run, not employees to please, but he suddenly realized that happier workers are more profitable workers, and that front liners can provide information 10 times more valuable than any management consultant ever could.
  • Remember the question being addressed is: "how can he turn higher profits while increasing employee morale?" not "how would you run the company, taking corporate finance out of the picture?"
 

rushfan

Well-Known Member
Do they have the 2 for .99 hot dogs at the local gas 'n sip? I've never met the man, and I doubt he'll come to our center, so I have no right to call him names. We are all just small parts to the big UPS puzzle.
 

Thebrowntruth

Active Member
Let's give an extremely hypothetical situation:

Mr. Eskew shows some leadership. Instead of paying management consultants $2000 for the day, he'll give them the day off and instead have lunch with a few of his unionized employees; the preloaders, the midnight hub sorters, the drivers, the ECS clerks, and so-forth, asking them the question: "how can I turn higher profits while increasing employee morale and retention?" What kind of things do suggest this company can improve on that can help trim costs and make employees happier?

Let's say you're invited, what constructive ideas would you have for Mr. Eskew to turn higher profits while increasing employee morale and retention?? Remember that Eskew isn't just going to listen, he knows that his employees make industry top wage and he understandably expects a lot from his employees. If you tell him to cut productivity, he's going to tell you that a paycut would be in order. If you tell him PAS is a joke, he's going to ask you for a viable alternative.

Please:
  • Don't go off on an anti-Eskew, anti-UPS, my back is killing me rant, you're out for lunch with him, what would you actually say? (I know for a fact that 99/100 of you wouldn't call Eskew an a-hole if you had the chance to meet him and he was paying for your calzone and wine)
  • Realise that Mr. Eskew has a business to run, not employees to please, but he suddenly realized that happier workers are more profitable workers, and that front liners can provide information 10 times more valuable than any management consultant ever could.
  • Remember the question being addressed is: "how can he turn higher profits while increasing employee morale?" not "how would you run the company, taking corporate finance out of the picture?"
Good question hoser. I would start by asking Mike (and forget the Mr. Eskew, we are still on a first name basis) how he would tackle delivering the worst route in the worst section of town which hasnt been time studied in over a decade to still run scratch. Of course he wouldnt have an answer. Then I would ask him how to juggle our routes to achieve the reductions PAS has called for...again I am sure he wouldnt have an answer. Then I would ask him for his help in re-looping our least best routes. By this time I'm sure he would be a bit upset and reply with a "what am I paying you for (as a pick one - driver, supervisor, center manager)"
To which I would say EXACTLY MIKE EXACTLY! Nobody knows the city, areas, customers and business in any area like the center TEAM. Please give us six months to show you we can run a business. Call off the dogs in the regions that justify their lives through endless conference calls and butt kickings for YESTERDAYS numbers. Let us have input on our yearly plan. Give us a realistic target and we will crush it. Let the center teams make the decisions to run and grow the business that THEY KNOW BEST.
Lets say this year we have a cost per piece in our center of $4.00 according to a detailed plan, not a number slammed in by the region. If I come in under the $4.00 our center receives a bonus (the entire center, not just the drivers or the management team). If I go over the $4.00 I had better have excellent justification. If not we start addressing where the hourly and/or management failed.
Let us drive the profits, sit back and enjoy the ride. As the old saying goes it would force everyone in the center to work smarter, not harder. Oh the things we could accomplish without the conference calls and region BS we have now!!!!
 

hoser

Industrial Slob
Let's give an extremely hypothetical situation:

Mr. Eskew shows some leadership. Instead of paying management consultants $2000 for the day, he'll give them the day off and instead have lunch with a few of his unionized employees; the preloaders, the midnight hub sorters, the drivers, the ECS clerks, and so-forth, asking them the question: "how can I turn higher profits while increasing employee morale and retention?" What kind of things do suggest this company can improve on that can help trim costs and make employees happier?

Let's say you're invited, what constructive ideas would you have for Mr. Eskew to turn higher profits while increasing employee morale and retention?? Remember that Eskew isn't just going to listen, he knows that his employees make industry top wage and he understandably expects a lot from his employees. If you tell him to cut productivity, he's going to tell you that a paycut would be in order. If you tell him PAS is a joke, he's going to ask you for a viable alternative.

Please:
  • Don't go off on an anti-Eskew, anti-UPS, my back is killing me rant, you're out for lunch with him, what would you actually say? (I know for a fact that 99/100 of you wouldn't call Eskew an a-hole if you had the chance to meet him and he was paying for your calzone and wine)
  • Realise that Mr. Eskew has a business to run, not employees to please, but he suddenly realized that happier workers are more profitable workers, and that front liners can provide information 10 times more valuable than any management consultant ever could.
  • Remember the question being addressed is: "how can he turn higher profits while increasing employee morale?" not "how would you run the company, taking corporate finance out of the picture?"
Good question hoser. I would start by asking Mike (and forget the Mr. Eskew, we are still on a first name basis) how he would tackle delivering the worst route in the worst section of town which hasnt been time studied in over a decade to still run scratch. Of course he wouldnt have an answer. Then I would ask him how to juggle our routes to achieve the reductions PAS has called for...again I am sure he wouldnt have an answer. Then I would ask him for his help in re-looping our least best routes. By this time I'm sure he would be a bit upset and reply with a "what am I paying you for (as a pick one - driver, supervisor, center manager)"
To which I would say EXACTLY MIKE EXACTLY! Nobody knows the city, areas, customers and business in any area like the center TEAM. Please give us six months to show you we can run a business. Call off the dogs in the regions that justify their lives through endless conference calls and butt kickings for YESTERDAYS numbers. Let us have input on our yearly plan. Give us a realistic target and we will crush it. Let the center teams make the decisions to run and grow the business that THEY KNOW BEST.
Lets say this year we have a cost per piece in our center of $4.00 according to a detailed plan, not a number slammed in by the region. If I come in under the $4.00 our center receives a bonus (the entire center, not just the drivers or the management team). If I go over the $4.00 I had better have excellent justification. If not we start addressing where the hourly and/or management failed.
Let us drive the profits, sit back and enjoy the ride. As the old saying goes it would force everyone in the center to work smarter, not harder. Oh the things we could accomplish without the conference calls and region BS we have now!!!!
Empower the employees. Something that will never happen at UPS :sad:
 

30andout

Well-Known Member
Hoser, by the amount of people that read your post and the number that have replied, seems that most are speechless when it comes to the Mikester.:crying:
 
O

Observer

Guest
Hoser - In my one time shot with Mike I'd ask him to do what he is doing (sitting down with front line people and looking for their ideas) more often. That kind of leadership cannot be questioned or ridiculed.
 

mattwtrs

Retired Senior Member
Hoser & Thebrowntruth, I think you two have really hit on something, Lunch with Mike would be a great starting point to get this ship back on course!
 

DS

Fenderbender
I`d say Mike buddy...lose the brokerage charges.Change all cross border Canadian shipments to expedited and you will increase profit by regaining the confidence in a public that has been ripped off for years.
Mike,have you ever had to deliver a christmas gift from Florida that has a C.O.D. tag slapped on it by UPS that demands $49.77 when the gift itself is worth $49.99?Well Mike I deal with it every day.I had an 87 year old woman that was in tears because she did not have the $49.77
UPS demanded to release her gift to her custody.:sad: Ok Mikey,thats my major suggestion.Now lets talk PAS.Trying to get some IE guy in Louisville to dispatch some guy in Newark will never work.Your drivers loaders and supervisors are far well better equipped to do it effectively.So let us fix the things that PAS needs to make it work.
Oh and mikester, every so often we get center managers that may look good to you up there in the tower,but they are power hungry bastards that fire everyone they dont like and dissapear .Hey Mike want another beer? Where ya goin? I aint finished.....
 

EAM_Master

Part-Time'er for Life!
Well on a more serious note, I'd like to ask him if he has a family? Does he have to stay at work until 9 or 10 at night? Does he know how it feels to tell your kids "Sorry, but I have to work so I can't make it to your little league game or band concert" I know it's all about money, but how much per hour is it worth when you can't spend time with your family?
 

sendagain

Well-Known Member
You can save time by installing gas pumps that don't trickle out the gas like molasses in January, there's got to be some savings there. You might also introduce a scanner to the back of each package car that will sound an alarm to the preloader if he happens to carry a package on a vehicle not assigned to that truck. This would prevent any misloads, saving drivers time and preventing service failures. If that option is too expensive, color code the pas labels so they can quickly be spotted as misloads. Oh yeah, and let your drivers make some decisions about areas they know better than anyone.
 

hoser

Industrial Slob
Well on a more serious note, I'd like to ask him if he has a family? Does he have to stay at work until 9 or 10 at night? Does he know how it feels to tell your kids "Sorry, but I have to work so I can't make it to your little league game or band concert" I know it's all about money, but how much per hour is it worth when you can't spend time with your family?
You'd be suprised how hard CEO's work, along with how hard they worked to get to where they are.
 

hangin455

Well-Known Member
I'm pretty sure Mike put in lots of hours getting to where he is today. My guess is that he continues to work those kind of hours. I think that this kind of culture has a hard time understanding that the mortals on the front line don't want to work the kind of hours they do. Those at the top pulled some very long hours along the way to their present postion - do not doubt this. But I think that because of this there's an attitude of "I did it - why can't you?"
The problem is that the rewards that these people have reaped no longer exist. There was a sense of making a large sacrifice for a large reward that no longer exists as UPS has gone public. It's unrealistic to expect the sacrifices without the rewards.
 

hoser

Industrial Slob
I'm pretty sure Mike put in lots of hours getting to where he is today. My guess is that he continues to work those kind of hours. I think that this kind of culture has a hard time understanding that the mortals on the front line don't want to work the kind of hours they do. Those at the top pulled some very long hours along the way to their present postion - do not doubt this. But I think that because of this there's an attitude of "I did it - why can't you?"
The problem is that the rewards that these people have reaped no longer exist. There was a sense of making a large sacrifice for a large reward that no longer exists as UPS has gone public. It's unrealistic to expect the sacrifices without the rewards.
They still get nice stock and cash bonuses. :thumbup1:
 
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