The UPS Policy Book with Integrity: Session 2: Preface Part 1

[hellfire]

'I,s' agenda..........to post time and time again about all that needs to be done, to best use symbolism and metaphors,, to best patronize us with some silly made up super hourly watchman only here to help the workin man concept ,, sorry,, i dont buy it

 

[dannyboy]

I happen to have a set of books, including a policy book. The rest of the set are books written by some of the founders of UPS. The books are on values that made UPS the great company that it was and allowed it to grow continually from its beginnings.

The problem is that most management at the upper levels do think of it as quaint and outdated information. Things like a happy workforce that is appreciated by the company is more productive. Things like honesty and integrity in your daily lives. Values that have to be at your core to be a good person, a good UPSer, and a great leader.

Unfortunately, many of these core values are considered quaint and obsolete by todays upper class business types. Not only at UPS, but in many other companies as well. It all boils down to the dollar and how we can squeeze more from less.

How can you revise values, unless you intend to change your values?

I, at the rate you are covering the policy book, we will be in the year 3016. I hope you have that much time.....

Best

d

 

[Raw]

Raw,

Do you see the UPS Policy Book being used on a regular basis?

Sincerely,
I

I don`t but then I just come in , work, and go home, I only speak to management as little as possible.

 

[Catatonic]

I don`t but then I just come in , work, and go home, I only speak to management as little as possible.

That's probably a good thing!

 

[pretzel_man]

I happen to have a set of books, including a policy book. The rest of the set are books written by some of the founders of UPS. The books are on values that made UPS the great company that it was and allowed it to grow continually from its beginnings.

The problem is that most management at the upper levels do think of it as quaint and outdated information. Things like a happy workforce that is appreciated by the company is more productive. Things like honesty and integrity in your daily lives. Values that have to be at your core to be a good person, a good UPSer, and a great leader.

Unfortunately, many of these core values are considered quaint and obsolete by todays upper class business types. Not only at UPS, but in many other companies as well. It all boils down to the dollar and how we can squeeze more from less.

How can you revise values, unless you intend to change your values?

I, at the rate you are covering the policy book, we will be in the year 3016. I hope you have that much time.....

Best

d

Danny,

The set of books are the Partnership Legacy Books. There is a book on Casey, George Smith, The Oberkotters, and I forget who else. They are not written by those individuals, but has many of their writings....

At each meeting, I still do policy book readings. I still do Legacy book readings. These are discussions. Each manager explains what the policy means, how its relevant, and how to apply it.

My point is that no one told me NOT to do this. No one said to not have policy discussions. No one is lookng down at me like a dinosaur for holding on to the values. The center manager can do this too. Just like people that report to me do it. Nothing is stopping them.

All organizations are made up of individuals. Maybe I'm old school, but I explain to my young people the importance of carrying on the legacy. I explain why we do this. I believe they will carry it on.

It just starts with the individual.....

 

[island1fox]

What I really feel sad about are some of the all-inclusive opinions.
I would hope that we all would agree that we are individual human beings that all have various strengths and weaknesses. That None of us are perfect.
Do some of you truly believe that all Management are greedy , money hungry ,dishonest , hardnose individuals ??
Do some of you believe that all drivers and hourly are all lazy, not to be trusted,must be constantly threatened and disciplined ???

I was hourly and a Management person and can tell you that the MAJORITY of both groups are good , hard working, honest, strong valued Human beings and I am proud I had the opportunity to spend 36 years with all of you.

No job at UPS is easy but it is a company that allows you to work hard for many years, give you opportunities to do different jobs, have different careers,with honesty and Integrity.
Those who fall by the wayside ,violate honesty or Integrity do it through their own free will.
I can easily look in the mirror today, like the person I see, realize that I am not perfect but also know that my experiences at UPS both good and bad became part of the person I am today.
I am glad that I did not spend my life being a HATER !!!!
In the end a hater only destroys himself !

 

[hellfire]

What I really feel sad about are some of the all-inclusive opinions.
I would hope that we all would agree that we are individual human beings that all have various strengths and weaknesses. That None of us are perfect.
Do some of you truly believe that all Management are greedy , money hungry ,dishonest , hardnose individuals ??
Do some of you believe that all drivers and hourly are all lazy, not to be trusted,must be constantly threatened and disciplined ???

I was hourly and a Management person and can tell you that the MAJORITY of both groups are good , hard working, honest, strong valued Human beings and I am proud I had the opportunity to spend 36 years with all of you.

No job at UPS is easy but it is a company that allows you to work hard for many years, give you opportunities to do different jobs, have different careers,with honesty and Integrity.
Those who fall by the wayside ,violate honesty or Integrity do it through their own free will.
I can easily look in the mirror today, like the person I see, realize that I am not perfect but also know that my experiences at UPS both good and bad became part of the person I am today.
I am glad that I did not spend my life being a HATER !!!!
In the end a hater only destroys himself !

the IPO changed the company for the worse

 

[Integrity]

'I,s' agenda..........to post time and time again about all that needs to be done, to best use symbolism and metaphors,, to best patronize us with some silly made up super hourly watchman only here to help the workin man concept ,, sorry,, i dont buy it

hellfire,

I don't mean any disrespect, but you are providing very few details to support your general statements.

I think your contributions to these discussion threads would be more beneficial if you did support your statements with some evidence or details.

Sincerely,
I

 

[Integrity]

I happen to have a set of books, including a policy book. The rest of the set are books written by some of the founders of UPS. The books are on values that made UPS the great company that it was and allowed it to grow continually from its beginnings.

The problem is that most management at the upper levels do think of it as quaint and outdated information. Things like a happy workforce that is appreciated by the company is more productive. Things like honesty and integrity in your daily lives. Values that have to be at your core to be a good person, a good UPSer, and a great leader.

Unfortunately, many of these core values are considered quaint and obsolete by todays upper class business types. Not only at UPS, but in many other companies as well. It all boils down to the dollar and how we can squeeze more from less.

How can you revise values, unless you intend to change your values?

I, at the rate you are covering the policy book, we will be in the year 3016. I hope you have that much time.....

Best

d

dannyboy,

Thank you for your input. I think you are correct about the pace I am keeping. I have decided to change my approach. I will be covering it differently from now on.

Thanks again for helping me!

Sincerely,
I

 

[dannyboy]

Island and Pman

I have worked for people at UPS that inspired me to reach personal goals and removed the obstacles in my way. They were the type of people I suspect you are. I have also worked for people that I would not ......how can I say this without a TOS violation......I would not piss on them if they were on fire. One center manager died while active. I had several drivers that gave me grief for not going to his funeral. But I felt that if I did go, I would have yielded to the temptation of spitting on the casket, so I chose not to go.

So yes, there are those that are at both ends of the spectrum. And a lot more that fall somewhere in between. That does also apply to hourly, as you pointed out. I have defended hourly at hearings knowing damn well that there would be a next time, and they would not get their job back. But I did what I did to the best of my ability, and let the chips fall where they may.

The problem is that the indications from above at UPS do not give me much hope for the legacy that was UPS to continue in the future. We used to be a company owned by and run by UPSers. Yes, it had some limitations and problems, but we knew how to run the company.

The problem I see is that there is very little ability being used now at UPS. The division runs the show at the center level. The center team has very little leeway to stand out.....they pretty much just run the plan given to them from above. Yes, that does limit possible loss. But it also stifles the imagination and intelligence of the workforce. We are again working to please the people at the top, instead of being totally customer focused. The management people from above are more apt to place barriers in our way, than to remove them.

A mind is a terrible thing to waste. And at UPS, we have 400,000 minds. But we are only allowed to use maybe 5000? The rest just follow instructions from the crowd behind the computer screen.

d

 

[island1fox]

Danny,
I think we can consider ourselves "oldtimers" and many believe that with all the changes and technology that people like you and me just do not know what is going on.
I can agree with some of that but there are many things as much as they change -they stay the same.
On your point of being inspired and learning from people at UPS -I can relate to that but must point out that many of the lessons I learned were from bad management people--I learned what not to do and sometimes those lessons stuck with me even more than what I learned from good managers.
On performance and demands and spor , high paid day, grievances,demands --we all lived through it--UPS is a demanding company --no matter what your job.
That everything changed when we went public --lets just say debatable.
That people cannot use their own minds-I take issue with. Even with all the technology drivers still have to constantly be alert,work and drive safely and make many decisions while on road. Management from low to high have a tough business plan to work toward. It would take me forever to go through every job --but lets take a quick look at todays on car supervisor.
He or she reports to work and immediately has much to do and decisions to make --staffing, coverage,preload wrapup, dpsm --which is to check on previous days operation -what went right ,what went wrong, what Drivers he will COMPLIMENT, what drivers have to approached on service , performance or safety issues. I could go on and on with decisions all UPSers have to make --I agree demanding job -but to paint either Management or Drivers of not using their intelligence and making decisions I believe it is a stretch.
All day UPS people are making decisions and using their minds --some very effectively --some not so.
Sorry for long responses but these are complicated issues and cannot be boiled down to simple--No one is allowed to make decisions.
I could be wrong-but I believe you run a business yourself. I am sure there are many things your employees have little flexability on but I am sure they are always using their brains.

 

[pretzel_man]

Island and Pman

I have worked for people at UPS that inspired me to reach personal goals and removed the obstacles in my way. They were the type of people I suspect you are. I have also worked for people that I would not ......how can I say this without a TOS violation......I would not piss on them if they were on fire. One center manager died while active. I had several drivers that gave me grief for not going to his funeral. But I felt that if I did go, I would have yielded to the temptation of spitting on the casket, so I chose not to go.

So yes, there are those that are at both ends of the spectrum. And a lot more that fall somewhere in between. That does also apply to hourly, as you pointed out. I have defended hourly at hearings knowing damn well that there would be a next time, and they would not get their job back. But I did what I did to the best of my ability, and let the chips fall where they may.

The problem is that the indications from above at UPS do not give me much hope for the legacy that was UPS to continue in the future. We used to be a company owned by and run by UPSers. Yes, it had some limitations and problems, but we knew how to run the company.

The problem I see is that there is very little ability being used now at UPS. The division runs the show at the center level. The center team has very little leeway to stand out.....they pretty much just run the plan given to them from above. Yes, that does limit possible loss. But it also stifles the imagination and intelligence of the workforce. We are again working to please the people at the top, instead of being totally customer focused. The management people from above are more apt to place barriers in our way, than to remove them.

A mind is a terrible thing to waste. And at UPS, we have 400,000 minds. But we are only allowed to use maybe 5000? The rest just follow instructions from the crowd behind the computer screen.

d

Danny,

Not sure how to respond. The vast majority of UPSers are wonderful people. Both management and hourly.

Yes, there are some horrible ones too. Again, both management and hourly, but....

Poor management does terrible damage to UPS. They spoil many people for a long, long, time. A poor hourly person has very limited impact.

Your last statement says a lot. There are 400,000 minds at UPS. There is NOT 1 mind. There is not a single mind at the top telling everyone how to behave.

It's up to individuals. I cannot accept that an individual does not matter or cannot make change. As far as I'm concerned, a poor manager acts as if they cannot run their own operation.

Everyone blames the IPO. I do not. The root cause is competition. We are running tighter now. The operation is harder. It is no longer cookie cutter like when I started. Management people have to be planners, thinkers, creative, etc.

So, I refuse to accept that a good manager cannot run their operation the way they see fit. That is how the process works. Its the average manager that accepts that the decision was not their own.

Sorry for the unpopular answer.

 

[dannyboy]

Not looking for popular, just a truthful answer. And believe it or not, I tend to believe what you have posted more than what I have heard face to face at the center. But then hands on experience has also led to the formation of what I have posted.

The way things are presented at the center is that the local management team is nothing more than messenger boys. They are told what to do, when to do it, and no exceptions.

Not long before I retired, we had a run cut in on Tuesday-Thursday. Always out on Monday and Friday. We ended up with a manager that told us if we brought the paid day in, he would leave the run in on Fridays. IT all worked well. Moral was much better, the stops per hour on Friday were better than the rest of the week, all indications showed it was a smart move. But after several months, he was told he could not keep that extra route in. IT was not a decision he was able to override, it came from above.

As well as all the relooping that was done. WE got our say, but they did it the way they wanted it. Did not matter if it made sense or not, or if the customer was harmed by the changes. All this was done from above the center level.

So as much as I would love to believe that the center team has autonomy, I have not seen it here.

There is a difference between UPS and my business. UPS has employees, and offers something for everyone. I tend to focus on a very small segment, mostly those that can afford what I do. Each project is a work of art, none are the same as the others. Largely it is creativity. Something you can not train someone to do. They either have it, or they dont. So for the most part, I do most of the work myself, with help from my son.

d PS, let me add this. I would love the honor of getting to spend some time with either/both of you. I know that your experiences would give me a lot of insight.

 

[whiskey]

PTSUP0438,

Can you access it on UPSers.com?

Sincerely,
I

I have a policy book in my possession. The soft cover is a sky blue. The text contained within is of an extremely high standard and equally as compelling from a business standpoint. Two thumbs up. A thoroughly enjoyable read. Why every UPSer does not have a copy is beyond me.

 

[Serve]

HEFFERNAN,

It is not huge. It is 61 pages.

I see no evidence that the UPS Policies are null and void.

Just because a company is full of individuals who violate policy does not render the policies null and void.

Sincerely,
I

Actually, that is exactly what it means. If you have a policy at burger king that all the employees have to wear red hats, and none of them are wearing red hats, your policy is now null and void, as it obviously no longer applies. A policy is a plan or method adopted by a group. The group is not adopting, you have no policy.

 

[gorilla75jdw]

Integrity , my policy book is the contract , period point blank , Thanks have a nice day .

 

[gorilla75jdw]

@Integrity , obviously your a member of management or a scab that adheres to the policy book , get a grip , pay some dues , or sit back and get rolled on , this aint Wisconsin buddro.

 

[Integrity]

Actually, that is exactly what it means. If you have a policy at burger king that all the employees have to wear red hats, and none of them are wearing red hats, your policy is now null and void, as it obviously no longer applies. A policy is a plan or method adopted by a group. The group is not adopting, you have no policy.

Serve,

I don't agree with your take on this.

It could be very possible that the whole Burger King francise could be in violation of Burger King red hat wearing policy.

Corporate Policy is adopted by a group very high in an organization.

Maybe by the Board of Directors or the Management Committee or a subcommittee of one of these boards.

Sincerely,
I

 

[Integrity]

Integrity , my policy book is the contract , period point blank , Thanks have a nice day .

gorilla75jdw,

The contract is not a policy book, it is a collective bargaining agreement.

The policy book does reference the agreement, it explains how it is policy for every employee to honor labor agreements.

@Integrity , obviously your a member of management or a scab that adheres to the policy book , get a grip , pay some dues , or sit back and get rolled on , this aint Wisconsin buddro.

I do not understand your above statement.

Sincerely,
I

 

[gorilla75jdw]

@Integrity , you dont understand *.