Why is UPS management considered: "The Dark Side"?

0618

Member
I need to see some pictures before I make a judgment on this. There are different degrees of "cute".
That's exactly what I'm tlkin about. U just confirmed it. And the bad part about it is half of the girls aren't that cute and the guys r still acting like drooling puppies
 

rod

Retired 22 years
id
That's funny, I don't know any Part-Time Managers. I wasn't aware UPS had any.
All the Full-time UPS Management I know that left UPS make a better salary although usually not as good health benefits and no pension but usually better 401k match.
Many have gone into business for themselves and appear to be doing quite well.
They seemed much happier at their jobs and less frustrated.

As for the drivers I know, they were quickly reemployed at lesser paying jobs with almost no benefits ... but they seemed much happier!

Settle down Santa---I meant PT sups. P.S. I had a PT Manager when I first started. He was only at our center 2 days a week. We did quite well without him there.
 

soberups

Pees in the brown Koolaid
I anticipated your fascination with manage in the total sense (Plan, Lead, Organize and Control) or PLOC ... that is why I put Control in parenthesis after the word manage.
Trap set and sprung ...
http://education-portal.com/academy...ng-organizing-leading-controlling.html#lesson
I dont think the OP was interested in acronyms or portals to an education website.

I think he was interested in a real-world assessment of the pros and cons of going into UPS management.

This starts by being honest about the fact that, as a low-level management person, he will be held responsible for any failures in his part of the operation while at the same time being denied the authority or resources needed to fix those failures.

The issue here is "truth in advertising". You arent truly a manager if you cant make a basic operational decision. Call the job what it really is--Plan Facilitator.
 

Catatonic

Nine Lives
I dont think the OP was interested in acronyms or portals to an education website.

I think he was interested in a real-world assessment of the pros and cons of going into UPS management.

This starts by being honest about the fact that, as a low-level management person, he will be held responsible for any failures in his part of the operation while at the same time being denied the authority or resources needed to fix those failures.

The issue here is "truth in advertising". You arent truly a manager if you cant make a basic operational decision. Call the job what it really is--Plan Facilitator.
Perhaps Plan Implementation Manager Person (PIMP) whose responsibility is to Work the Plan.
I remember this from the mid 80's.
The motto back then was Plan the Work and Work the Plan. There was concern even back then that IE usually developed the Planned the Work and the Center management team Worked the Plan.
The biggest difference between then and now is technology and the ability to monitor in real time the Plan versus Actual.

PS - I always value your input Sober.
 

you aint even know it

Well-Known Troll
Troll
All true and that is only the stuff they let you see. Can't imagine what goes on when the door is shut. Can't be good when you see a Center Manager crying at her desk at 8:00 at night.

Never seen a female above the pt sups rank. Its very hard for me to picture a female as a center manager as a result of my experience.
 

Coldworld

60 months and counting
Perhaps Plan Implementation Manager Person (PIMP) whose responsibility is to Work the Plan.
I remember this from the mid 80's.
The motto back then was Plan the Work and Work the Plan. There was concern even back then that IE usually developed the Planned the Work and the Center management team Worked the Plan.
The biggest difference between then and now is technology and the ability to monitor in real time the Plan versus Actual.

PS - I always value your input Sober.
Just pimp the plan..dammit!!!
 

jumpman23

Oh Yeah
That's exactly what I'm tlkin about. U just confirmed it. And the bad part about it is half of the girls aren't that cute and the guys r still acting like drooling puppies
I was drooling earlier today, saw this tall thick chick with a black skirt above the knees with black tites on picking up her car at this garage. I hade to take a double take, i was like danggg that chick was smokin lol. She tore my mind up for a good half hour or so and thats a good thing lol.
 

Rainman

Its all good.
Hourly a have less stress but more wear and tear on the body. Management has much more stress and less wear and tear on the body. Take your pick. Some people handle stress well, others don't. Pick what works for you.
Most of the supervisors I know personally wish they had stayed drivers.
 

UnconTROLLed

perfection
Here's a primer into UPS promotions and the "organizational sociopath".

Abstract only, the full study is linked inside.

Notice that UPS does not reject sociopaths within management ranks, but embraces them -Jim Casey's cultural strategy. This does not mesh well with the bolded, below.

Purpose
– Organisations sometimes select and promote the wrong individuals for managerial positions. These individuals may be incompetent, they may be manipulators and bullies. They are not the best people for the job and yet not only are they selected for positions of authority and responsibility, they are sometimes promoted repeatedly until their kind populate the highest levels of the organisational hierarchy. The purpose of this paper is to address this phenomenon by attempting to explain why it occurs and why organisational members tolerate such destructive practices. It concludes by proposing a cultural strategy to protect the organisation and its stakeholders from the ambitious machinations of the organisational sociopath.


http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/17465680710825451
 
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oldngray

nowhere special
We had one who was the absolute worst manager I worked with in 30 years. We also had one who was pretty darn good.

I only had 1 female center manager and she was one of the best. The really bad ones seemed to get moved out of operations and into other areas. They never got fired though.
 
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greengrenades

To be the man, you gotta beat the man.
I've been a preloader for about 1 year. And enjoy working here at UPS. It's a good fit for me while in college.

Why is management (supervisor, administrative, non-driver, etc.) considered "the dark side"?

Doesn't seem like a bad gig to me? Fair pay, full time job, working administrative duties and so forth.

I've heard: Don't go management--don't sell your soul to the devil.

Realistically, what is so bad about doing that type of work? There are people willing to do it. So it can't be that bad, can it?
First of all, you won't have a fair pay, you won't be full time, and you won't be working administrative duties. You will make mediocre money, you will be part time, and will be treated like a dog until you quit after a few months. Management is full of lying snakes. Don't get me wrong there are a couple of good people in there but not many. You are the 9 millionth person to ask this question, and you won't be the last. UPS part time sups are a revolving door. If you want to move up in the company then you need to suck it up, load the trucks, move to package, then move to feeders. That is the way to go. You may think it will be different for you but it won't. If they asked you to be a supervisor, it's not because you are a hard worker or because you are special, it's because part time supervisors are a revolving door, they just need a sucker to take that persons place. There are part time supervisors who have been in that same spot, that same pay rate for 12 years now, do you really want that? Management is trained to be sneaky, they are trained to be underhanded, they do everything and anything to find something that you did wrong. They are required to find three things you did wrong on every observation they do on you then get onto you. When it should be find something they did wrong help them, then find 10 things they did right and tell them good job. Honestly management can smoke a pole.
 

joeboodog

good people drink good beer
Perhaps Plan Implementation Manager Person (PIMP) whose responsibility is to Work the Plan.
I remember this from the mid 80's.
The motto back then was Plan the Work and Work the Plan. There was concern even back then that IE usually developed the Planned the Work and the Center management team Worked the Plan.
The biggest difference between then and now is technology and the ability to monitor in real time the Plan versus Actual.

PS - I always value your input Sober.
It all makes sense now. If management are, according to you, PIMPS, then what does that make the rest of us?. May I suggest Hourly Operation Employees or HOEs. That means we are all just a bunch of PIMPS and HOEs.
 

HEFFERNAN

Huge Member
Never seen a female above the pt sups rank. Its very hard for me to picture a female as a center manager as a result of my experience.
Oh yeah. Center manager, Hub manager, Division manager. Never meant any one higher so can't say.
We had one who was the absolute worst manager I worked with in 30 years. We also had one who was pretty darn good.

a-few-good-men.jpg

This guy has an opinion on women who are higher ranked !!!
 

Box Ox

Well-Known Member
Quite a few high ranking women in my area. They tend to be very good and well respected due to their clear interest in treating hourlies like human beings. Doesn't make the job easy but it is nice to be able to tell them you're glad they're around and mean it.
 

clean hairy

Well-Known Member
As A Sup, you have 10 trailers in your area to be loaded and 9 loaders.
The Bosses tell you staffing is only 7 for a given day, and they don't want to see any trailers backed up with packages.
The next day, you are greeted with interrigation by your Bosses
"why were the trailers backed up?" Can't you get your loaders to go any faster?"
"If you can't motivate your team to get the job done, say so, and will get someone who can"
"You have 3 more days to get the job done, or you are out the door!"
"Now, you get work NOW on having these folks work and earn their checks! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"
I am hourly, but witnessed this with my Sup and their boss going through this just feet from me.
 
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