What Traits In A Supervisor Do You Admire/Hate?

[Re-Raise]

Like-able traits are sups that understand to show respect is to get respect, respect is earned by a man/woman not given to a title.

I have no problem with a sup that's gets on an employee for making a mistake just as long as this same sup gives credit were credit is due. Its a two way street.

Its a lot easier to respect a sup that has proven that they could do your job, compared to a sup that thinks they can do your job but really has no clue.

I couldn't agree more with all of this. I have probably had 30 different supervisors in my years here, if you add together the driver sups and center managers.

About 3/4 of the drivers I work with, I have worked over 20 years with if you count pt and full-time. WE KNOW WHAT WE ARE DOING. Just allow us the tools and the time to do it.

 

[Channahon]

As with any successful operation...
A few thoughts come to mind - mutual respect, hard working, and exceptional customer service , for both management and hourly are a winning combination in my experience.

 

[drewed]

Keep the big picture in mind, you have internal as well as external customers to worry about. If your trailers, trucks or air containers dont leave on time it effects the chain of events it takes to get a package to the customer.

 

[scoobypanda]

I like the ones that are honest and respect the contract. I will let you know if I ever find one.

 

[Mike Hawk]

Like honesty and respecting the contract
Hate baggery and disrespecting the contract

 

[chev]

I like any supe or manager can treat ANYone with the respect that they would want in return. I will work hard for someone that will treat me as an equal and not just another body in the collective UPS machine. I like a boss that will communicate with me. One that will let me know why I am to do something so I may understand how it will effect the rest of my work day. I work in a small building and I have to "shift" in the evenings. It is very helpful when my boss at least lets me know when changes are made in the trailer lineup so I can plan ahead. I hate when they decide to change loads around and don't bother to tell me till the night is half over.
So, I would say communication and respect are the top 2 on my list.
Unfortunately those don't seem to be near the top on managements list except when the ERI comes around.

 

[soberups]

I like the ones who have accepted where they are at and are no longer trying to climb the corporate ladder. The climbers are the worst...they would rather generate statistics than produce results, and their noses are so far up the asses of the ones above them that they wont do or say anything that corporate doesnt approve of first. The lifers who have topped out at the on-car level and know it are a lot better to work for because they are willing to use common sense and think for themselves.

 

[chev]

I like the ones who have accepted where they are at and are no longer trying to climb the corporate ladder. The climbers are the worst...they would rather generate statistics than produce results, and their noses are so far up the asses of the ones above them that they wont do or say anything that corporate doesn't approve of first. The lifers who have topped out at the on-car level and know it are a lot better to work for because they are willing to use common sense and think for themselves.

I know what you mean. We have a supe that runs our preload that will stab you in the back in a heart beat if it will further his "clawing" to the top. One thing that cracks me up about him is his "do as I say, not as I do" attitude. I catch him doing really stupid thing that he would be all over one of his part timers for. The other day he got on me about staying on the crosswalk as I was leaving to get in my jeep after work. He was walking through the bay (non-pedestrian) door as he was scolding me. I just turned around and laughed at him. I told him to give me the speech when I'm on the clock and to have a great day

 

[toonertoo]

I respect or disrespect based on the person. Most of them I knew before..
They no longer have any power and are just doing a job, as hourly does. They have no control to fix or change problems, until they ask someone else. So I cannot answer fairly as such a supervisor can no longer be good, better, or best. When they cannot do what they were hired to do, they are just another brownie.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

About 2 weeks ago on a business route I went out heavy, and at my first stop the customer refused delivery of 28 huge packages. I called my sup and told him I was going to have to unload and then reload these things at every stop, he said " I'll see what I can do ". Less than an hour later he was there to take them off my truck. That's a good sup.

Thats also a sup working grievance were i come from.

I'm sorry and I'm sure I will catch flak for this, but where I come from it is called common sense. Red, would you suggest that NSP work around those 28 boxes until he finally had enough room in the pkg car? The sup came out with an empty pkg car and NSP loaded the 28 pkgs in to the pkg car and then continued on his day. The pkgs were brought back to the center to be RTSed. I would agree with NSP that the sup made the right call in this situation.

 

[705red]

I'm sorry and I'm sure I will catch flak for this, but where I come from it is called common sense. Red, would you suggest that NSP work around those 28 boxes until he finally had enough room in the pkg car? The sup came out with an empty pkg car and NSP loaded the 28 pkgs in to the pkg car and then continued on his day. The pkgs were brought back to the center to be RTSed. I would agree with NSP that the sup made the right call in this situation.

Yep you will catch some flak for this, why couldnt they use an air driver and pay top scale?

If you allow it here and there when is it ok? Theres no reasoning for them to work ever especially when we have people laid off.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Yep you will catch some flak for this, why couldnt they use an air driver and pay top scale?

If you allow it here and there when is it ok? Theres no reasoning for them to work ever especially when we have people laid off.

Ours is a small center and our air driver is actually a 22.3 employee who works the preload, drives to the airport and then delivers any EAMs we may have that cannot be delivered by the FT driver. If this driver is still on the clock they would most certainly have sent him to do this. However, when he punches out there is no one else available to do this so should NSP have to work around 28 boxes just so that a supervisor does not touch a package? Calling in a laid off employee for less than an hours work just does not make sense IMO.

Red, I can see your point but hope that you can see mine. Common sense needs to come in to play, not blind adherence to the contract, to keep the operation going. I for one would hate to have to take 28 pkgs off the pkg car, deliver a stop, and then put 28 pkgs back on the car, and so on and so on...until there was enough space to not have to do this.

 

[soberups]

I'm sorry and I'm sure I will catch flak for this, but where I come from it is called common sense. Red, would you suggest that NSP work around those 28 boxes until he finally had enough room in the pkg car? .

I too believe in common sense. The company made a business decision to enter into a contract that requires the our work to be done by members of the bargaining unit. Common sense says that they should honor that contract. Either dispatch an air driver out to retrieve the packages, or have a sup do it and give the highest senior laid-off driver his 4 hr gurantee. Having oversized send agains is part of the business, and it does not entitle the company to violate the contract.

 

[soberups]

Red, I can see your point but hope that you can see mine. Common sense needs to come in to play, not blind adherence to the contract, to keep the operation going. .

If you want the company to be able to use "common sense" as a justification for violating the contract, then this same privelege ought to extend to the hourly employee as well.

I will be more than happy to give the company a free pass on sups doing our work in the interests of "common sense"...as long as we the drivers get the same free pass whenever we get into accidents, have mis-deliveries, DR claims, complaints, or anything else that may result in diosciplinary action for using what we also genuinely believe to be "common sense".

Cant have your cake and eat it too.

 

[705red]

Ours is a small center and our air driver is actually a 22.3 employee who works the preload, drives to the airport and then delivers any EAMs we may have that cannot be delivered by the FT driver. If this driver is still on the clock they would most certainly have sent him to do this. However, when he punches out there is no one else available to do this so should NSP have to work around 28 boxes just so that a supervisor does not touch a package? Calling in a laid off employee for less than an hours work just does not make sense IMO.

Red, I can see your point but hope that you can see mine. Common sense needs to come in to play, not blind adherence to the contract, to keep the operation going. I for one would hate to have to take 28 pkgs off the pkg car, deliver a stop, and then put 28 pkgs back on the car, and so on and so on...until there was enough space to not have to do this.

In this case i do recall him saying one of his first stops, so the union employee could have been sent. As sober has said i have seen people fired for not using common sense or mis-using it. Simple mental lapses but have to sit at home for weeks waiting.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Both you and Sober make excellent points which I cannot dispute as I am in agreement. If a Union employee is available then by all means he must be used.

 

[dilligaf]

Respect for me, of course goes a long way. For me, it is really important to have a good sense of humor.

If these guys cannot laugh at some of the crap that UPS does, what can you laugh at??

TB

I agree on this but add that I like a sup that knows the difference between joking and not joking and can take a joke.

 

[dilligaf]

The sup that I can't stand is the one that will stand there and look you square in the eye and blatantly lie to you.

 

[freeloader]

When I worked at UPS, I had many supervisors and managers but only a few stand out as exceptional in either direction.

Had an awesome sort manager who ran good numbers the right way, gave days off when people needed them, interacted well with the employees, very well liked all around. I think he took one of those management buyouts back in the late 80's / early 90's and probably went very far with those positive traits.

Had another manager who was very effective and emotional, spoke his mind but was a great listener. If I called him, we would talk for an hour and if he was busy, he would say so and call back when he was able to.

Had a supervisor who was the opposite of the manager described above. She lacked people skills, was very materialistic and holier-than-thou. Her attention span was about 2 seconds. You could tell she was not a listener because she couldn't wait for her turn to speak. Oh and a huge number chaser, didn't care how things got done just as long as they got done.

To me the best traits are someone sincere and genuine, who gives respect for hard work and realizes that mistakes can happen. They also listen and respect your point of view and defend their employees when necessary. Also someone who doesn't micromanage the crap out of you is nice as well.

 

[Apollo]

What traits/characteristics do you admire/hate in supervisors if any? What makes a supervisor good and bad? What makes a supervisor someone you want to work for and someone you want to drag your feet on?

Honest to god, I had one supervisor who wasn't just the best sup. i've had at UPS. He's the best bosses/supervisor I've had at any of my jobs. He just knew how to run everything. I mean, he didn't play favorites, he was fair. He didn't stick anyone in solid irregs ALL DAMNED NIGHT, like some sups. As a team, we came down fast and clean every night. We're aloud to run 8 people on Unload A in my hub (we had like 12 people though), and there was a time that everyone on unload's A's average ran at 1800 PPH or better. Some of us averaging over 3000 PPH. I look at the PPH numbers now, and there isn't a single person running higher than 1500 PPH, and that's out of like 15 guys. It just goes to show ya how good of a sup he was.

He motivated us, talked to us, let us have fun! The fun part was a biggie. We used to sing, and dance, and holler out. Now none of us do it. Either because we're too pissed off, hot, or bored to have any fun. Or we lack motivation. Also, he seemed to sincerely care, ya know? He would talk to us about stuff if we looked like we were feeling down. He wouldn't get mad if one of us asked to go home a little early cuz we weren't feeling good. He'd joke with us, come into the trailers and talk with us. He acted more like a friend than a boss. Which i think made all the difference.

As for qualities I don't like. Take that sup, and turn everything around. My current sup. plays EXTREME favorites with 3 unloaders on my side. He Gives them nothing but good doors, and that leaves the rest of us with irreg and hub loads. The worst part about it, is those 3 aren't even that fast. Sure, there numbers on the PPH list are high, but so would yours if you were in a high-vollume trailer all week long. The fastest i've seen one of them go in any trailer is 2500, and i've gone over 5000 in some trailers, and i'm not even one of the faster guys.

I realize i'm a big guy, 6'4-5" and 210, but that doesn't mean I should get all the irreg doors does it? In the past month, i've been in 3 non-irreg doors. I just don't think that's fair. He'll put guys that can't even reach the tops of trailers on a load stand in barn-doors, and expect them not to stretch. He'll write you up for not using a load stand even if you're in a trailer where every wall is falling on you. He bitches about load stands and being 1-2 minutes late, but doesn't give a damn about igress.

We had a guy whose parents got divorced, and was, well, pissed off that day. The sup got in his face and started yelling at him for dropping a box, and screaming out the "friend bomb." I mean, yeah he's mormon, but hell dude, have you been to the hub recently? Everyone gets p.o.ed!

He's almost the exact oposite of the first guy. So i can pretty much say i've had one of the best and worst sups. at UPS. And i've only been there a year.