Working from home

AvgJoe

Member
Evidently there is a work from home program in Ramsey G&A to allow select IT personnel to work from home up to 3 days per week. This has had some success in Morristown and now they want to give it a try in Ramsey. How is someone selected for this and will it be rolled out to other IT and Corporate groups? What are the thoughts behind setting this program up? Is it to help save the environment by keeping commuters off the road? Improve employee morale and / efficiency?

What I thought was ironic was that during our big NJ snow storm today, these select folks would not have to come into the office. It was a normal work day at home. Others not in this select group had to burn a discretionary day if they did not want to brave the weather. As it turned out, they allowed the NJ IS workers to go home at 1pm (after they closed the cafeterias and sent those workers home first). At least that gave an excuse to most of us who would otherwise feel guilty for not toughing it out for the entire day.

While I'm on the subject of bad weather, what was up with the "normal" work day on the IS x3000 emergency line most of the day? What was normal was that many other businesses in the area closed for the day. There was much absenteeism in Ramsey today and driving was trecherous. How productive were our workers that commuted to the IS NJ facilities today vs those that connected and worked from home? For those that braved the elements and commuted to one of the Tri State area buildings, I hope you made it home safely.
 

air_upser

Well-Known Member
I remember they declared a state of emergency years ago yet still made us come in. 3 hours to work...stayed for an hour...then they told us to go home....another 3 hours in the car. I'm not sure where this mentality comes from....possibly from people who came from the operations. I totally respect the operations and the drivers who brave terrible conditions to deliver packages, which IS our company. But, it makes no sense for me to come in, spend 6 hours on conference calls and meetings and read/write emails for the remainder of the mandatory 9 hour cube time. The micro-management is getting worse, and the mistrust that Seymour apparently has for all of his employees becomes more evident every day.
 
A

an anonymous guest

Guest
Unscheduled off?

Always keep your mind as bright and clear as the vast sky, the great ocean, and the highest peak, empty of all thoughts. Always keep your body filled with light and heat. Fill yourself with the power of wisdom and enlightenment.

Then you will realize grasshopper, that working from home or telecommuting is a matter of trust between leader and team. It works when you measure the process, not the person.

Go UPS!
P71
 

AvgJoe

Member
Air_upser is right on. Why do we have this old school or package car center manager mentality? I give the drivers all the credit in the world for the very difficult job they have but we perform and entirely different and important job in IS. How efficient is it for an employee to spend hours commuting on a bad weather day when they can be much more efficient working from home for the day? We are all on instant messenger, email, cell phones, etc.. so wouldn't it be fairly easy to hold an employee accountable to complete their assigned work? Would it make business sense if the employee was in an accident due to the terrible road conditions and hurt themselves or others? What would that cost be? We love to brag on how "green" a company we are. If the 3,000+ ISNJ employees worked 1 day from home, how much fuel does that save?

I thought it was interesting that DS put an email out after my original post explaining the working from home program. I give him credit for asking for solutions for coming up with a better idea to handle this in the future. Portfolio Mgrs - here's what not to do: Don't update the info line with "business as normal" BS when the weather forecast is calling for 100% certainty there is signficant snow amounts. If we can't get by the mistrust issue and allow people to work from home - Don't offer to buy breakfast the FOLLOWING DAY for employees who came to the office on the snow day. You are only alienating those that thought it was too dangerous to drive in. It wasn't even offered to all that worked in Ramsey - only IT. Instead, buy donuts / coffee the DAY OF the next snowstorm. That being said, I'm glad they decided to pay the hourly folks for the entire day if they came in the day of the snowstorm. That was a good decision.
 

whiskeyagogo

Well-Known Member
Don't offer to buy breakfast the FOLLOWING DAY for employees who came to the office on the snow day. You are only alienating those that thought it was too dangerous to drive in. It wasn't even offered to all that worked in Ramsey - only IT. Instead, buy donuts / coffee the DAY OF the next snowstorm. That being said, I'm glad they decided to pay the hourly folks for the entire day if they came in the day of the snowstorm. That was a good decision.

Someone bought breakfast the next day for people that came in? What, to reward their stupidity? Complete BS to post 'business as normal' when all weather stations are calling for blizzard conditions. All that does is encourage accidents and bad attitudes.
 

AvgJoe

Member
OK...here we go again with another significant snow storm. I bet it will be "business as normal" on the x 3000 info line. I know some are planning to book hotel rooms tonight as everyone is expected in tomorrow. You know police, fireman, doctors, nurses and UPS IS employees are all emergency workers that must report to work tomorrow no matter how bad the weather conditions. We also need to bring in our browns to help the local package centers deliver to all the businesses that will be closed tomorrow.
 

Catatonic

Nine Lives
OK...here we go again with another significant snow storm. I bet it will be "business as normal" on the x 3000 info line. I know some are planning to book hotel rooms tonight as everyone is expected in tomorrow. You know police, fireman, doctors, nurses and UPS IS employees are all emergency workers that must report to work tomorrow no matter how bad the weather conditions. We also need to bring in our browns to help the local package centers deliver to all the businesses that will be closed tomorrow.

Your concerns all pale in comparison to not being able to complete ITAS on a daily basis. :funny:
 

whiskeyagogo

Well-Known Member
You know police, fireman, doctors, nurses and UPS IS employees are all emergency workers that must report to work tomorrow no matter how bad the weather conditions.
The funny thing is real emergency workers can receive transportation from National Guard or other rescue services upon request. We IT shmucks drive our own vehicles...
 

whiskeyagogo

Well-Known Member
So now inclement weather was ever declared. Orange County NY declared a snow emergency around 3PM, meaning it is illegal for civilian traffic to use the roads. We are making our Orange Country partners break the law if they want to go home tonight.
 

AvgJoe

Member
Just listened to the stupid info line again. Next update at 11pm? Who controls the message? Does DB sit there like the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain? Schools are cancelled tomorrow and state of emergency declared in 2 NY counties so far. What else are they waiting for to tell employees to stay home safe? How much work was done in the office today with people talking about the storm constantly, staring out the window at all the people stuck in the Ramsey parking lot or sliding up/down Hilltop Lane? Many people worked a full day today out of fear, stupidity or because that info line said "business as normal" all day. Some are staying at a hotel so that they don't catch the wrath of DS if they are late or god forbid take a "last minute" discretionary day tomorrow. Other companies in our building sent their employees home in the early afternoon. No, not UPS. We are just as important as snow plow drivers. It was a very dangerous drive home - many accidents and trees / powerlines down. Once again...there is no trust from upper mgmt to make the right call and send people home early today. Let's see what happens tomorrow.
 

ismahchyk

Active Member
Listen folks, life is WAY TOO SHORT! I knew of someone who did go to work one time in weather conditions similar to today and she was left a quadraplegic - for 20 years.

Ok the economy is terrible HOWEVER one can make their own good fortune. Yes it is worth seeing what's out there. Things arent as totally dry as UPS mgmt wants you to believe! There is work however the competition is fierce - be prepared for that.

One can start to live or wait to die - we ALL have that choice!
 

whiskeyagogo

Well-Known Member
Loved the hotline message this morning "UPSers should use extreme caution while driving to work". Really? And here I was planning on being exceptionally reckless today! What a buzzkill.
 
What bothers everyone the most is that the portfolio manager (district level manager) does not come in now that his wife's car is the only 4wd in the family. This is the same guy that was on his soapbox 2 years ago saying how if he could make it in then everyone should. The last 3 storms the guy was a no show in Mahwah...
The past storms also saw his direct report managers leaving at 11am and at 1pm without saying a word to anyone.
Like rats fleeing a sinking ship.... more hypocrites on the payroll...
If someone would just "man up" and say, "if your people can work from home then tell them to do so". I see enough people walking around with laptops, they should be able to work from home. There would still be critical positions that need to be staffed and for those positions it would have to be a work day, but once at work they could at least be put up in a local hotel.
There are plenty of ways to conduct business in a storm, maybe when this round of "leaders" moves on the next batch won't be so spineless.
 
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