Path of the Dark Side

[soberups]

My advice would be to ask all of the management people you have access to if they would, knowing what they know now, still go into management.

I have seen many people like yourself go into it with the best of intentions, only to see those intentions get thrown into the meat grinder of reality.

As a management person, your survival will depend upon your ability to generate...on a daily basis....whatever statistic your immediate superior wants to look at on his daily report. Ethics, honesty, common sense and good people skills will always take a back seat to whatever flavor-of-the-week number your boss is demanding that you generate.

Good luck. I hope I am wrong, and I hope you succeed.

 

[upsgrunt]

Theichii wrote:
"i made the other airmen below me"


I don't know if you can pull that off at UPS or not?

 

[brownrodster]

My question is, and maybe this should be a poll, but how high of a probability is it that i can fix problems? I mean could i really make employees like the dispatch? Enjoy their management team? Actually want to do their job correctly?

LOL. You will simply be a tool of the next higher level of management. You don't follow their instructions exactly then you will be looking for a new job. Fixing problems and having subordinate's who enjoy you will lead to bad numbers which will also cause to look for a new job.

All that matters from here on out for you are numbers. Everything else is meaningless.

 

[Livin the Dream?]

LOL. You will simply be a tool of the next higher level of management. You don't follow their instructions exactly then you will be looking for a new job. Fixing problems and having subordinate's who enjoy you will lead to bad numbers which will also cause to look for a new job.

All that matters from here on out for you are numbers. Everything else is meaningless.

Yeah, but, I mean, other than that, go for it!

 

[brownrodster]

I've alwasy told younger people that I've worked with that if you want a career with UPS then stay union. If you want to use UPS to pay for college and look good on your resume then that is an excellent reason to go into management.

As bad as driving is, management is an order of magnitude worse. I believe both my driver sups are only in management because of injuries which would have made the rest of their driving career torture or impossible.

Countless times I've heard managers or supervisors say they wish they never went into management.

 

[brownrodster]

I wrote papers in school about the ethos of the company, the spirit of camaraderie, that i read about in business profiles and books about the company.

Now I've been working here for a year and half and nothing seems to be like it was in the books.

That comaraderie, spirt and ethos is pure fiction. It is not something I have experienced at UPS.

If it were not that UPS was one of the highest paying jobs in my town and my education could not get me a higher paying job then I would have never even considered working here.

 

[UnconTROLLed]

That comaraderie, spirt and ethos is pure fiction. It is not something I have experienced at UPS.

If it were not that UPS was one of the highest paying jobs in my town and my education could not get me a higher paying job then I would have never even considered working here.

Interesting. I do believe that in the old days, spirit and love of the company was much greater. Of course this was well before I started with UPS, so I can't say for sure. But from what I have heard, read and seen, it seems the past 10-20 years the company has really taken a turn for the worse as being seen as a "big brown family" - now falling back to "big brown machine"...and borderline "big brown bully"

 

[hellfire]

I guess I'll have the dissenting opinion on this thread.

I started at UPS 33 years ago as an idealist, and I'm still one today. Looking back on my career, I'm proud of the things the organization (and I) have done and especially of the people I've worked with.

That being said, as a management person you need a much different skillset than as an hourly. Contrary to others' thoughts, I think this lack of skillset is the biggest missing piece, not the day to day experience.

As a management person, you will be measured by how well you can get other people to do their job. You will need to be a good planner, communicator, hold people accountable, follow up, etc. These things are more important than knowing every route in the center.

For instance... There are a pile of packages left in the building. You will need to figure out how to get those delivered. Many supervisors figure that their job is now complete once those packages are dispatched.

That is the smallest part of the problem. Why were they there? How do you keep them from being there tomorrow? Do you have a bad plan or is someone not executing a good plan?

UPS is a big ship. You will not turn it quickly. But like a big ship, small incremental adjustments will get things turned.

Can you make a difference? Sure, but don't underestimate how long it will take.

Go into management with the right expectations and skills. Have a pure heart and high integrity and you will do well.

P-Man

For instance... There are a pile of packages left in the building. You will need to figure out how to get those delivered. Many supervisors figure that their job is now complete once those packages are dispatched.

That is the smallest part of the problem. Why were they there? How do you keep them from being there tomorrow? Do you have a bad plan or is someone not executing a good plan? ............................................................you forgetting you were never in operations??????? oh,,,guess you read a report on how to run a center,, my bad.............

 

[hellfire]

anyway good luck

 

[pretzel_man]

For instance... There are a pile of packages left in the building. You will need to figure out how to get those delivered. Many supervisors figure that their job is now complete once those packages are dispatched.

That is the smallest part of the problem. Why were they there? How do you keep them from being there tomorrow? Do you have a bad plan or is someone not executing a good plan? ............................................................you forgetting you were never in operations??????? oh,,,guess you read a report on how to run a center,, my bad.............

Try again. I spend many years in operations, just not in a center.

I've dealt with the same decisions of whether to hold trailers or leave packages in the hub.

Same issue. Same resulution.

BTW, reports do help identify those problems in a hub. I found those helpful as well.

Now what?

P-Man

 

[stevetheupsguy]

Me thinks that hellfire and P-Man need to step behind the building to settle this little "dispute".

 

[UPSNewbie]

Me thinks that hellfire [-]and P-Man[/-] need to step behind the building to settle this little "dispute".

 

[stevetheupsguy]

LOL, Does this mean that the part of P-Man will be played by STUG?

 

[tiegirl]

I wish I was 22 again.

So i am taking the path of darkness at UPS. I turned in my letter for full time supervision and got a go ahead on my evaluation so all that is left is the in-box, the 100 question test, and the interview. My main goal is to sit at Scott's desk one day. My question is, and maybe this should be a poll, but how high of a probability is it that i can fix problems? I mean could i really make employees like the dispatch? Enjoy their management team? Actually want to do their job correctly? I'm young (22) and have done pre-load, local sort, and driving, so I've got a taste of everything and i know it's not much but i figured i needed to start moving up as soon as possible. I need to bring back the idealisms that Jim Casey brought. I need to serve my workers. I need to use the simplest tools possible to do the job. And need to pay attention to my job and not work to satisfy the people above me, just do my job efficiently and expertly. Above all, use common sense. So what do you think?

 

[old levi's]

I wish I was 22 again.

I don't even remember 22.

 

[trplnkl]

About all I remember about being 22 was working 10 hours a day to take care of my family and then going to night school to get my high school diploma. I finally graduated when I was 23.

 

[brownrodster]

At 22 I quit work to live off my rather large life savings and go to college. I worked construction from 18-22 and saved a lot of money working on huge jobs making the big bucks (back then i made 20-25$ an hour which was amazing money).

Funny thing is a friend of mine at the time who was a preloader told me to go get a PT job at UPS while I went to school. I was like 'hell no' I'm done with work for a few years... Then after college I immediately got a job at UPS. lol. And when I was 18 a relative who was a UPSer told me to 'get a job at UPS.' And I was like 'hell no.' Funny how I ended up here eventually. I guess it was meant to be.

 

[HEFFERNAN]

I applaud the original poster's decision in making the jump to the management ranks. It really does take a different breed to make their career work and flourish in operations. His background in the military is a huge plus. The skills you learned in the military WELL OUTWEIGH anything you've seen as a UPS employee so far. The ties at UPS respect and demand the rank system and you following the will of your commanding officer (center manager, dm, DM) only will help you.

The problem with supervisors with military service is that you begin to treat your employees cold like soldiers instead of employees. People skills need to be developed to an extreme for your employees to react positive for you. I've seen a couple sups with mili backgrounds in the past lose their workers before they realized what happened.

I also don't agree that a new sup should have a certain amount of time at UPS before serving in management. Does it help? a little. But it gives the manager a chance to teach him the way HE wants it done. Eventually, the sup figures it out.

Also, Casey's idealisms are dead at UPS. It is about money and more importantly, NICKLES and DIMES. If you are going into operations, the bottom line is PPH. In driving, its about the least amount of routes you can use. If you havn't figured this out yet while working here, you'll be peeling potatoes behind the mess hall.

 

[InTheRed]

And need to pay attention to my job and not work to satisfy the people above me, just do my job efficiently and expertly. Above all, use common sense. So what do you think?

You are going to have to be sound with your decisions. Remember that there are goals to be met, and a business to be run. You will need to make decisions to achieve (or attempt to achieve) these goals. These decisions will not always be popular. You must remember what is popular is not always right and what is right is not always popular.

That said, you must do what you believe is right. You must hold those accountable to their duties and responsibilities. You must learn to be fair in your job and decision-making. You must remember that you must treat everyone fairly. Treating everyone fairly does not mean treating them the same, because everyone is different. This is something that cannot be explained but everyone will know if you do it or not.

Never forget the experience of the shoes you have walked in. Good luck with your interview process.

 

[Braveheart]

Give the bong back to Mr Phelps and slowly walk away.