Partnership ? for management new & old

[Thebrowntruth]

With the bitterness of the 1.6 MIP aside I was wondering how many other management people have been preached the "partnership" legacy over the past year.

With the recent posts i find it unbelievable that some are able to work only 9 hours per day (except in Atlanta of course). Now i know that is what corporate has claimed the goal to be but how many are still influenced by the "career" and "partnership" comments and how that requires 60 hours a week. 9 hours for an on road sup doing a full day ride is almost impossible. Not a whole lot of 8 hour planned days going out and with 45 minutes needed before and after the ride I dont see anything less than 9.5 in this part of the world.

 

[traveler]

With the bitterness of the 1.6 MIP aside I was wondering how many other management people have been preached the "partnership" legacy over the past year.

With the recent posts i find it unbelievable that some are able to work only 9 hours per day (except in Atlanta of course). Now i know that is what corporate has claimed the goal to be but how many are still influenced by the "career" and "partnership" comments and how that requires 60 hours a week. 9 hours for an on road sup doing a full day ride is almost impossible. Not a whole lot of 8 hour planned days going out and with 45 minutes needed before and after the ride I dont see anything less than 9.5 in this part of the world.

I hate to break it to you but I was first an "on car" supervisor in 1967 and corporate was working hard to reduce the supervisor's hours from 60 or more to 45 hours per week. I'm not complaining but just stating a fact.

 

[Thebrowntruth]

I hate to break it to you but I was first an "on car" supervisor in 1967 and corporate was working hard to reduce the supervisor's hours from 60 or more to 45 hours per week. I'm not complaining but just stating a fact.

Ummmm great...some progress on things takes a little longer than others i guess

 

[BrownBlackandBlue]

TBT,
I was on car for 7 years until I was moved to preload and I will say it is much easier to control your hours on the preload where your operation is very defined.
The first thing you have to realize is that no one cares how many hours you work except you and your family. You could work 20 hours a day and no one would care. When you understand that, you will see that no one is going to help you control your hours except for you.
I know about our culture of hard work and long hours and I know that you feel guilty when you leave early because you feel like you are letting down the people you work with.
I also understand your concern about career advancement being tied to hours of work. To some degree that is true. I have seen many people give UPS every waking hour, including the 2 hours every day they spend reminding the boss how much and how hard they work, and they are usually rewarded for it with a promotion.
My advice, though, is to constanly work to find balance between work and home. Of course some days you have to work 13-14 hours, but there are also alot of days you could leave after 7 or 8 hours. Get past the guilty feeling and take advantage of those oportunities. When you have too much to do in one day, do what absolutely needs to get done and leave the rest for the next day. I had times when I ran a small center alone that it took me a month to catch up to where I had everything done that needed to be done. I always made sure to tell my division manager what was not getting done and what I was doing to catch up. Then it was up to him to get me help if he thought I needed it (He sent me help 1 time when I had to run a route for a week).
If you are asked to work Saturdays in addition to your already full week, say, "Sure, but how about I take Monday off since I won't see my kids this weekend now." You might not get Monday off this time, but it will make your manager think about what he is doing to you and will make him reconsider next time.
Hopefully this gives you some ideas on what it takes to control your hours. Just noting that it is a problem on the ERI is not going to help.

 

[Anonymous Former Partner]

The partnership became null and void when top executives and Wall St. investors sold us out and started making all the money off UPS stock. It's a shame, because UPS used to be a unique company with a unique partnership culture. We all worked hard and reaped the benefits - management and teamsters alike. We got our butt kicked often but there was comradery and financial reward for employees who stuck it out. I'm a 20 yr manager and still working at UPS, but my partnership status has changed to "former partner." I truly like the people I work with but I no longer bleed brown. I let the partnership thing go and have committed to myself that I'm going to be content and pray like crazy that I never get promoted. My advice to all is to diversify out of UPS stock (regardless of the incentive), be content, stop belittling everyone in meetings, conference calls, etc., enjoy the people you work with, and leave after 9 hours even if you have things hanging. UPS won't fold if you quit, so we'll survive if you cut your hours down. Since we're making less money, lets make it a better place to work.

Oh yeah...and lets get rid of the upper management...every strategic move they've made over the last number of years has been bad. That billion+ we spent on rebranding really did it for us eh?

Well, time to go, I've got to go work on positive operating leverage! LOL