Women center manager's and DM's

W

Weekend Warrior

Guest
Just curious how many people here have a female center manager or division manager. How do you feel they compare to men who have been in their same position? I've dealt with a couple women division managers that were pure hell on wheels... Is this the general attitude and personalities of most women at their level? Any thoughts?
 

over9five

Moderator
Staff member
In my almost 20 years in the same center, we had one female center manager. She seemed nice, but lasted less than two weeks before they moved her on. Haven't seen her since.
 

rod

Retired 22 years
I had a female center manager for about 4 years. I can honestly say she was the worst boss I ever had. She not only was full of the same bull that most center manager's are full of- she wasn't even a good liar. Last I heard the company had sent her packing. I also had a good looking blonde DM but the last I heard of her she had "worked" her way up the chain farther.
 

Ms Spoken

Well-Known Member
Once had a DM that could make the center manager & Sups squirm. She was all business and and told you exactly how is was going to be. She was all for not working over 9.5 but of course she retired and now we are working 11 hr days.
 

over9five

Moderator
Staff member
"...last I heard of her she had "worked" her way up the chain farther."

Via her hard work and dedication, I'm sure you mean...
 

Fishbulb

Well-Known Member
had 1 female center manager, she lasted about 4 months then she got moved to being the preload sup. Whether that was her choice or not I dont know, at the time we were going through center manager's left & right. In the past year we've had 4 different center manager's. The last one we had seemed like he was going to be a good guy. About a month into the job he gave his 2 weeks notice & went to work for Fedex, lol! She was tough though & definitely had a personal problem with me. Wrote me up for an accident when I broke another drivers mirror pulling out of the building & on about 5 seperate occassions tried to write me up without a shop steward being involved. I was happy to be rid of her & the preload has never been worse.
 

LPGuy

Member
There are exceptions to every rule. Typically, however, UPS (like so many organizations) are on this PC kick about being able to report that it is "diverse" and loves to advance the careers of females. Check UPSERS.com and you will see all of the programs that are in place to make certain that women have an advantage. Don't get me wrong, what I think is important to UPS is that it "appears" that they are doing every thing under the sun for women's advancement. More so than with males, we see females being placed in jobs that they are not ready for. The way I see it, this practice is bad for the company and the inexperienced female manager. I am sure that each one of you know of a strong supervisor who has been around for years and brings good management skills and knowledge to the table. You have probably also wondered why this person has never progressed to a manager or higher. They exist in all of the districts. If you knew the truth, you would find out that many of these people have had the proverbial carrot placed in front of them on different occasions and decided, years before, to make a career out of UPS. At some point these men accept that they are not going to be promoted regardless of the lies that are told to them. The problem for that individual leaving the company is that during those years that he believed that his hard work and dedication would help him to get promoted, his personal lives became filled with obligations, wife, children, house, etc. Now that supervisor looks at the last 25 years of his life with regret but believes that he could not now take the financial consequences of leaving the job. At the same time, you meet your new female manager and think something like, "wasn't she an OMS a couple of years ago? She must be really good to have only worked here for five years and be in this position. I thought they were going to promote _________ who has more experience than three of his peers."

LPGuy
 

mis_load

Active Member
I have had both, center manager and DM women. I seen them make every squirm. Then with the women center manager, told us the only reason she was a center manager was because she was a woman, that's the one I almost quite under. Glad I held out, she gone now. The DM women have had more sense than the men but a gone in two to three years. But thats life at UPS, I generally get along with anyone the but in these positions.
 

LPGuy

Member
Absolutely! The so-called "good ole boy network" which helped careers of undeserving, unqualified persons, was replaced by diversity. I suppose the logic was to correct a wrong with another wrong. With every unfortunate, bad promotion choice, more of the burden is placed on the backs of people (regardless of demographic) who know what they are doing. These good management people are beginning to find opportunities in other companies. As a result, UPS is losing good talent on a consistent basis. Don't ask what the game plan will be when the majority of the decent management people leave and the leadership that remains do not know their %$# from a hole in the ground.

The pool of good management candidates, from within, has been diminished. When I began with UPS, most of my fellow grunts were in situations similar to my own. We were college students who made at least twice as much as our college friends. My $9 per hour in 1982 could attract people who had potential. UPS demanded a lot for this wage. Most of us accepted this culture because of not wanting to work at the A&W for $3.50 per hour. As I understand it, my starting wage in 1982 would be about $17 in 2007 dollars.

Through several contract negotiations, there seems to have been no one looking out for new, part-time employees. This has had a direct impact on where we are now, speaking of potential management people. What does the company do now? At the present starting wage, good luck finding someone who can spell their name, much less someone who can manage a group of employees.

Enter the modern part time supervisor. This is someone who got hired and because he only missed work one day a week and not three days a week, he got promoted after 3 months. This is good, of course, for his employees because they all ride the bus and hang out with their old pal, who is now their supervisor. They also know that he will not inform on them for stealing. After hanging in there for a couple of years, this part time supevisor becomes a full time supervisor because he is the right type of person at the time that the need arises. Two years after that, he is a center manager. Isn't life grand.

Another kind of person in management is the Northwestern, generation x or y graduate who thinks he contributes something by virtue of his presence and pedigree. These people are usually swooped up by corporate to hold jobs as bureaucratic intermediaries. We have all seen them. They walk into the hubs with their best starched shirt and a laptop. He has this look on his face that says "I can't wait to get back to my cube and send messages to my fellow intermediaries about my recommendations to fix things." This person knows that "His Greatness" has a lot of fixing to do. Meanwhile, the 25 year sort supervisor, who is being scrutinized, has to worry about whether enough of his awesome workforce will come to work that day.
 

browniehound

Well-Known Member
of coarse:)

Rod, i'm sorry to be the grammar police here, but when you write like this it strengthens managment's perception that we are a dumb and uneducated labor force. When you write "of coarse", you really mean to write "course". Coarse would be the grit of sand paper you use to finish your wood working project. :confused:1
 

LPGuy

Member
Sorry about the misspelled word. My spelling is inversely proportionate to the number of beers I have consumed. I guess that you can also determine by that mistake that I did not go to Northwestern myself, but instead attended community college.

LPGuy
 

HEFFERNAN

Huge Member
We had one women on-car supervisor 2 years ago. She was useless and basically wanted us to work harder because she was female. Lasted about 2 and a half months. Everyone hated her. Not that a woman couldn't do the job, but at least prove that you could do our job first. :thumbdown
 

LPGuy

Member
Absolutely! The so-called "good ole boy network" which helped careers of undeserving, unqualified persons, was replaced by diversity. I suppose the logic was to correct a wrong with another wrong. With every unfortunate, bad promotion choice, more of the burden is placed on the backs of people (regardless of demographic) who know what they are doing. These good management people are beginning to find opportunities in other companies. As a result, UPS is losing good talent on a consistent basis. Don't ask what the game plan will be when the majority of the decent management people leave and the leadership that remains do not know their %$# from a hole in the ground.

The pool of good management candidates, from within, has been diminished. When I began with UPS, most of my fellow grunts were in situations similar to my own. We were college students who made at least twice as much as our college friends. My $9 per hour in 1982 could attract people who had potential. UPS demanded a lot for this wage. Most of us accepted this culture because of not wanting to work at the A&W for $3.50 per hour. As I understand it, my starting wage in 1982 would be about $17 in 2007 dollars.

Through several contract negotiations, there seems to have been no one looking out for new, part-time employees. This has had a direct impact on where we are now, speaking of potential management people. What does the company do now? At the present starting wage, good luck finding someone who can spell their name, much less someone who can manage a group of employees.

Enter the modern part time supervisor. This is someone who got hired and because he only missed work one day a week and not three days a week, he got promoted after 3 months. This is good, of course, for his employees because they all ride the bus and hang out with their old pal, who is now their supervisor. They also know that he will not inform on them for stealing. After hanging in there for a couple of years, this part time supevisor becomes a full time supervisor because he is the right type of person at the time that the need arises. Two years after that, he is a center manager. Isn't life grand.

Another kind of person in management is the Northwestern, generation x or y graduate who thinks he contributes something by virtue of his presence and pedigree. These people are usually swooped up by corporate to hold jobs as bureaucratic intermediaries. We have all seen them. They walk into the hubs with their best starched shirt and a laptop. He has this look on his face that says "I can't wait to get back to my cube and send messages to my fellow intermediaries about my recommendations to fix things." This person knows that "His Greatness" has a lot of fixing to do. Meanwhile, the 25 year sort supervisor, who is being scrutinized, has to worry about whether enough of his awesome workforce will come to work that day.
 

browniehound

Well-Known Member
Rod, i'm sorry to be the grammar police here, but when you write like this it strengthens managment's perception that we are a dumb and uneducated labor force. When you write "of coarse", you really mean to write "course". Coarse would be the grit of sand paper you use to finish your wood working project. :confused:1


By the way Rod, i'm just kidding. I could care less how you spell "coarse".
 

LPGuy

Member
Everyone,

I am sorry about my post showing up multiple times. Most people who know me understand that I am technologically challanged. Hopefully, I will figure out what I am doing wrong so that this does not happen again.

Thanks,

LPGuy
 
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