Sorry UPS, OCRT is stupid

Scuba_Steve

Well-Known Member
So a big discussion at work right now is the fact that the company appears to be abusing the OCRT (Operations Contingency Response Team) and turning it into a solution to the fact they are unable to properly plan for normal daily peak staffing of the Worldport operation.

In Louisville, this has changed from what it was originally designed to do which was for management employees to help out during a big storm, strike or something of that nature.

Now it has turned into every year during regular days during peak and even in the summer a few times.

It is no longer a "contingency" but has become PLANNED.

What people are talking about in TTG/IT is the fact that:
- No skilled IT professional in any other company is expected to regularly go into an operation and perform work designed for 20 year olds (loading/moving packages).

- It is impossible to try and explain this to anyone that is GenX/Mellinials, they look at you like you are crazy and will just leave the company when you tell them they are expected to do this because IT pay at UPS isn't anymore than anywhere else anyway

- UPS IT staff is aging with the average age probably pushing closer to 50 now, and asking people that age to do work in the hub is just asking for injuries

- IT people are in demand and don't have to do this sort of thing. They are not stuck at UPS without anywhere else to go, heck its hard enough to keep them around for more than a couple of years as it is. That old "partner" mentality does not cut it at all with IT people.

I just think it is a bad idea all round to be putting your IT staff out in the operation on a regular basis as manual labor in regard to long term retention, and job satisfaction.

Anyone think we going to lose staff because of this? My guess is they will be looking for another job quite a bit harder after the first of the year.
 

Scuba_Steve

Well-Known Member
The point is.

I believe there is a danger that we have turned what was a good effort to formalize the sort of things that we all do to pitch-in during a snowstorm, labor stoppage, etc.. into being used as business as usual.

I know there is lots of willingness among the staff to pitch-in during times of emergency or even do peak special assignments.

But, I think maybe it has become a bit too easy to take advantage of the situation and blow the goodwill that exists by using what is essentially an operations emergency plan, into what appears to becoming a yearly additional peak manual labor force.
 

iloadthetruck

Well-Known Member
You hit the nail on the head for me. Got asked to go help cover peak and jumpseat despite being the only "tier" of support for several things, which of course caught fire while I was out. I did my best to keep things running when I would get back in at 7-8pm, since hundreds of people relied on the systems I "owned" and I felt they deserved it more than any organizational consideration.

Never got a pat on the back from anyone, no big surprise, it's UPS after all, but I had made some personal sacrifices in order to "be a partner" and it left me with a bitter taste. Add in some totally asinine staffing/HR decisions a few months later, and I left. But helping out that peak season was a big factor.

My new employer is in an entirely different line of business, but has front-line operations. There's no peak season (I haven't taken any time off yet, but I could, and it's definitely less stressful overall), but we do have contingency plans for severe weather. The last big natural disaster, IT could work remotely, but everyone who did make it in was treated to lunch. We also have the option of helping out operations if they are short staffed, and if we do that, we get a comp day.

I went from an employer than took great pleasure in telling us how we were "valued" while doing little to actually back that up, which I've learned is basically abuse, to one that shows how much they value you without boasting about it, and I prefer the latter.

All of my UPS memorabilia is sitting in a box, except for the frames - I recycled the good ones.
 
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