Gary Host
Tactical Mouthpiece Ops
This email was the product of a collaboration of UPS Freight employees. It was sent in response to an email we received from the regional director saying how a couple supervisors jobs were in jeopardy, at some other terminal, for 'pencil-whipping' a security checklist:
***Disclaimer: I’m not claiming to have all the answers, or that I know how to run a billion-dollar company. The goal of this email is strictly to shed some light on a dark situation.***
Re: Security Audit,
Those supervisors are going to be fired? and you are saying that it’s justified?...that they deserved it? Interesting. 237 supervisors later, and you’re still getting away with kicking us under the bus. I do agree with the part about those 2 having a grim future with this company, but unfortunately, it had nothing to do with them. It has everything to do with the work culture maintained by upper-management.
UPS BREAKING NEWS: “United Problem Solvers” is our new company slogan!
Have you ever been concerned about the turnover issue? You should be, cause it’s a problem (one that we should solve). Even with all your combined years of experience and schooling, the best solution you guys can come up with, for the rest of your problems, is: “They’re just not working out. Again. Get some more interviews in here”? While we are forced to work with what little we have, you guys have the luxury of an endless pool of scapegoats.
Take *REDACTED*'s email for example. Has anyone, including *REDACTED*, validated the building's processes or verified them like he asked? That is literally the very least someone could have done, if they were genuinely concerned about the security or our processes here. Well, I'm concerned, but not just about security. I put a rough proposal together to cheaply address this situation before it becomes a serious problem. Please see the attached proposal: "Remote-view Surveillance"
Anyways, I don't know what all is on that security checklist, but I do know that this is a picture of the EOS mini-hub checklist that I date and staple to the front of the reports every night. Notice that I didn't say “I check it off”. That's because I was trained to always use these pre-checked photocopied sheets, to date and attach one, and to make more copies when I get low. That is how my trainer was taught to do it and the guy before him, etc. You guys knew that, right? Note: If you didn’t, I’ve included some other little tidbits about the training processes in the attachment: “Training-Woes” These play a considerable part in why we never work out.
At the bottom, it says we armed the fence. Never done it, don't even know how. I'm willing to bet, that if something were to happen, a supervisor would be at fault somehow. *REDACTED* would cry for answers, *REDACTED* would blame *REDACTED*, *REDACTED* would blame us, but you would all be equally-to if not more to blame for the negligence.
You see, it’s not exactly a secret, that that is exactly how upper-management operates here. It doesn’t help that the culture maintained, by your demeaning/intimidation-style of management, has led to subordinates being scared of speaking up or asking questions. *REDACTED* and I have no idea what a QIP is, I get lost any time *REDACTED* mentions PCM or rattles off a bunch column headers on his spreadsheet, and while he’d love to burn *REDACTED* for this...it’s equally his fault that we don’t know. The last time one us said something about being unaware of observation reports (one of the many facades) we eventually got scolded for saying that. Allow me to enlighten you all about accountability, not real quick.
Accountability is about delivering on a commitment. It’s responsibility to an outcome, not just a set of tasks. It’s taking initiative with thoughtful, strategic follow-through. Not popping off an intimidating email, firing the next round of supes, or implementing changes strictly as a facade to appear like you are concerned, too. None of that works, but you already knew that. Maintaining this endless-cycle of supervisors is wreaking havoc on this company and the stuff being done strictly to 'appear' as if you care, isn’t helping. The only employees sticking around are either: the email-warriors who have enough scapegoats beneath them, or the extra stubborn individuals that have yet to convince themselves of the truth.
The truth is, somewhere along the line, the core principles and policies that drove UPS's small pack success, failed to transition over during the Freight acquisition. In fact, the culture couldn’t be more opposite compared to what it’s like at Small Pack. I was literally laughing out loud while doing the career-management class:
-“UPS has always placed value on people as our greatest resource”....Good thing they’re a renewable resource, right!?
-“We want employees that willingly contribute ideas and solutions that help the company work more effectively” ….
Two months ago today, I popped off an email containing a short proposal on the benefits of upgrading the lighting to LED’s (see attached email “Just a thought”). It was valued so much that I didn’t get a single word replied back to me about it. After taking some personal time to put something together, in hopes that I could contribute a little ‘something extra’ to my company, it wasn’t even deemed worthy of a response. Welcome to UPS Freight. Frankly, at this point, I fully expect all of this to fall on deaf ears.
I’m just mad I couldn’t hack it, right? I admit, my performance isn’t where it should be, but it’s impossible to stay driven in this situation. You don't have to take my word for any of this, I took the liberty of compiling some of the reviews left by current and past employees of yours. It's only a small portion of them, but I went through and tried to condense them down to the issues that seemed to be a common theme and/or of great concern. It's still pretty lengthy, but I’ve attached them to this email as: "The List of Major Concern". They are also available for anyone to see on glassdoor.com.
I remember being ecstatic when I got a job working for UPS. I was full of drive, motivation, and a desire to positively impact anything and everything I could. My steam quickly ran out after realizing this wasn’t the UPS everyone else thinks it is. Employees have all become jaded from the constant threats, being stretched too thin, demeaning replies, disciplinary actions, and/or being ignored. The few of us still on the payroll are all actively looking elsewhere for employment as well as a future.
***Disclaimer: I’m not claiming to have all the answers, or that I know how to run a billion-dollar company. The goal of this email is strictly to shed some light on a dark situation.***
Re: Security Audit,
Those supervisors are going to be fired? and you are saying that it’s justified?...that they deserved it? Interesting. 237 supervisors later, and you’re still getting away with kicking us under the bus. I do agree with the part about those 2 having a grim future with this company, but unfortunately, it had nothing to do with them. It has everything to do with the work culture maintained by upper-management.
UPS BREAKING NEWS: “United Problem Solvers” is our new company slogan!
Have you ever been concerned about the turnover issue? You should be, cause it’s a problem (one that we should solve). Even with all your combined years of experience and schooling, the best solution you guys can come up with, for the rest of your problems, is: “They’re just not working out. Again. Get some more interviews in here”? While we are forced to work with what little we have, you guys have the luxury of an endless pool of scapegoats.
Take *REDACTED*'s email for example. Has anyone, including *REDACTED*, validated the building's processes or verified them like he asked? That is literally the very least someone could have done, if they were genuinely concerned about the security or our processes here. Well, I'm concerned, but not just about security. I put a rough proposal together to cheaply address this situation before it becomes a serious problem. Please see the attached proposal: "Remote-view Surveillance"
Anyways, I don't know what all is on that security checklist, but I do know that this is a picture of the EOS mini-hub checklist that I date and staple to the front of the reports every night. Notice that I didn't say “I check it off”. That's because I was trained to always use these pre-checked photocopied sheets, to date and attach one, and to make more copies when I get low. That is how my trainer was taught to do it and the guy before him, etc. You guys knew that, right? Note: If you didn’t, I’ve included some other little tidbits about the training processes in the attachment: “Training-Woes” These play a considerable part in why we never work out.
At the bottom, it says we armed the fence. Never done it, don't even know how. I'm willing to bet, that if something were to happen, a supervisor would be at fault somehow. *REDACTED* would cry for answers, *REDACTED* would blame *REDACTED*, *REDACTED* would blame us, but you would all be equally-to if not more to blame for the negligence.
You see, it’s not exactly a secret, that that is exactly how upper-management operates here. It doesn’t help that the culture maintained, by your demeaning/intimidation-style of management, has led to subordinates being scared of speaking up or asking questions. *REDACTED* and I have no idea what a QIP is, I get lost any time *REDACTED* mentions PCM or rattles off a bunch column headers on his spreadsheet, and while he’d love to burn *REDACTED* for this...it’s equally his fault that we don’t know. The last time one us said something about being unaware of observation reports (one of the many facades) we eventually got scolded for saying that. Allow me to enlighten you all about accountability, not real quick.
Accountability is about delivering on a commitment. It’s responsibility to an outcome, not just a set of tasks. It’s taking initiative with thoughtful, strategic follow-through. Not popping off an intimidating email, firing the next round of supes, or implementing changes strictly as a facade to appear like you are concerned, too. None of that works, but you already knew that. Maintaining this endless-cycle of supervisors is wreaking havoc on this company and the stuff being done strictly to 'appear' as if you care, isn’t helping. The only employees sticking around are either: the email-warriors who have enough scapegoats beneath them, or the extra stubborn individuals that have yet to convince themselves of the truth.
The truth is, somewhere along the line, the core principles and policies that drove UPS's small pack success, failed to transition over during the Freight acquisition. In fact, the culture couldn’t be more opposite compared to what it’s like at Small Pack. I was literally laughing out loud while doing the career-management class:
-“UPS has always placed value on people as our greatest resource”....Good thing they’re a renewable resource, right!?
-“We want employees that willingly contribute ideas and solutions that help the company work more effectively” ….
Two months ago today, I popped off an email containing a short proposal on the benefits of upgrading the lighting to LED’s (see attached email “Just a thought”). It was valued so much that I didn’t get a single word replied back to me about it. After taking some personal time to put something together, in hopes that I could contribute a little ‘something extra’ to my company, it wasn’t even deemed worthy of a response. Welcome to UPS Freight. Frankly, at this point, I fully expect all of this to fall on deaf ears.
I’m just mad I couldn’t hack it, right? I admit, my performance isn’t where it should be, but it’s impossible to stay driven in this situation. You don't have to take my word for any of this, I took the liberty of compiling some of the reviews left by current and past employees of yours. It's only a small portion of them, but I went through and tried to condense them down to the issues that seemed to be a common theme and/or of great concern. It's still pretty lengthy, but I’ve attached them to this email as: "The List of Major Concern". They are also available for anyone to see on glassdoor.com.
I remember being ecstatic when I got a job working for UPS. I was full of drive, motivation, and a desire to positively impact anything and everything I could. My steam quickly ran out after realizing this wasn’t the UPS everyone else thinks it is. Employees have all become jaded from the constant threats, being stretched too thin, demeaning replies, disciplinary actions, and/or being ignored. The few of us still on the payroll are all actively looking elsewhere for employment as well as a future.
