Temporary Ops Manager Program

[MassWineGuy]

My dogs just sit around in the house all day and crap in the yard...occasionally barking at a passing car. Is this what you mean?

No. They work harder and put more hours in than I would ever would.

 

[Stat41]

No. They work harder and put more hours in than I would ever would.

Sounds like the have a "Ruff" life.

 

[Maui]

When they waltz into the program thinking that all they have to do is staff the operation as best they can, launch all the routes, go home at noon or so, and get everything delivered, they're in for a shock. Maui is right in that it gives candidates a more practical approach to training.

The funniest part about these discussions is that they bounce from one extreme to the other. Either managers don't do anything and go home early or they're just overwhelmed and worked like dogs, whichever cliche fits the narrative at the moment.

I know managers on both ends of that spectrum. Some that don’t work 40 and some that are mandated on weekends and PM or AM. The truth is that usually you make your own schedule within some parameters, but sometimes extra hours are required for myriad reasons.

 

[Operational needs]

I know managers on both ends of that spectrum. Some that don’t work 40 and some that are mandated on weekends and PM or AM. The truth is that usually you make your own schedule within some parameters, but sometimes extra hours are required for myriad reasons.

I know managers that are on both spectrums also. A lot of times it depends on the demands of a SM. At my old station, managers many days worked 12-14 hours. Where I am now, I’m lucky to find a day Mgr still around when I come off the road.

 

[Maui]

I know managers that are on both spectrums also. A lot of times it depends on the demands of a SM. At my old station, managers many days worked 12-14 hours. Where I am now, I’m lucky to find a day Mgr still around when I come off the road.

And it’s those seniors that turnover more managers or struggle with SFA. If it were me I wouldn’t work managers like that on the regular. It should be results driven. If you get everything done and station perfusion good then go home. I’ve actually seen seniors tell managers to leave. A director said it doesn’t matter what time you leave there’s always more.

A manager should plan an 8ish hour day and stick to it. Create a routine and keep getting better at the job. Then when a late accident happens or you have to cover a PM/weekend you makeup for it by leaving early or some seniors have comp days. There’s no uniformity to comp days though. I think if the AM is NEVER available on RTB they should occasionally plan a later day that’s communicated so they can handle afternoon issues.

The personal life stuff is geared toward the times that higher management wants 2 all day check rides every week and daily checkin for drivers. That’s out of Senior control and is awful. No one should be subjected to that and be expected to complete their regular duties. It should NEVER be a thought of executives. No reason for a manager to stay in position for that.

 

[Stat41]

I know managers that are on both spectrums also. A lot of times it depends on the demands of a SM. At my old station, managers many days worked 12-14 hours. Where I am now, I’m lucky to find a day Mgr still around when I come off the road.

Same here. Most days the AM managers are gone when I get in. And the PM managers are nowhere to be seen.

 

[Stat41]

And it’s those seniors that turnover more managers or struggle with SFA. If it were me I wouldn’t work managers like that on the regular. It should be results driven. If you get everything done and station perfusion good then go home. I’ve actually seen seniors tell managers to leave. A director said it doesn’t matter what time you leave there’s always more.

A manager should plan an 8ish hour day and stick to it. Create a routine and keep getting better at the job. Then when a late accident happens or you have to cover a PM/weekend you makeup for it by leaving early or some seniors have comp days. There’s no uniformity to comp days though. I think if the AM is NEVER available on RTB they should occasionally plan a later day that’s communicated so they can handle afternoon issues.

The personal life stuff is geared toward the times that higher management wants 2 all day check rides every week and daily checkin for drivers. That’s out of Senior control and is awful. No one should be subjected to that and be expected to complete their regular duties. It should NEVER be a thought of executives. No reason for a manager to stay in position for that.

I hear what your saying and intellectually your are right. BUT, it is difficult for me as an employee to have that manager tell me I am forced to work days off, and when I get off the road, they are already at home having dinner with their family. A leader leads by example, and in my opinion, that is not a good example. And it does not encourage the "Team" culture that Fedex so often talks about.

 

[MassWineGuy]

Ah, the joys of being part time. They can only ask me to work extra days.

 

[El Morado Diablo]

And it’s those seniors that turnover more managers or struggle with SFA.

I don't think our location has EVER had a manager stay more than 2 years.

I hold our current Sr Mgr responsible for a lot of the turnover. Most transferred, one was fired and our current one is ready to quit. I can honestly say a couple of them were good at their job and many of them had no business being managers (but were hired by the current Sr Mgr). The ones who transferred didn't want to put up with him any longer and I don't blame them. It seems, when we talk to ops managers and people who don't work for our Sr Mgr that we are asked to do a LOT of things that everyone else isn't doing.

This is probably one of the main reasons our location often has bad SFA scores. If they replaced the Sr Mgr they would probably see things improve across all the stations under his control.

 

[59 Dano]

Some managers don't do anything and go home early, and its one of the reasons other managers are overwhelmed and work like dogs. I see one extreme and the other on a daily basis at my station. As with couriers, Fedex seems to reward bad behavior and punish good behavior, even in the lower management ranks. The bad ones get it easy, and the good ones have to pick up the slack. It is really disappointing to us couriers to see this happening. If Fedex cant solve the inequities in the management ranks, we know we don't have a chance. So, if I at one time say that some managers don't do anything, and in a different context, say some managers work like dogs, I would be saying the truth. And you would judge me as "fitting a narrative at the moment?" Instead of hop-skipping through months of posts in different contexts, and judging all in one swoop, perhaps it would be best for you to address each issue on its own.

In normal times, bad managers are pressured like you wouldn't believe to get it together.

The hot button metrics when I was an ops manager were safety, service, SPH, P/FTE, YoY improvement in both SPH and P/FTE, and adhering to the labor budget. There were others, but those weren't much of a priority and tended to fall into place if you hit the ones I mentioned, as they are the ones that usually drive everything else.

A "good" manager shouldn't have to do that much (unless he's understaffed), as he's deploying his allocated resources effectively to meet the expectations placed upon him and his workgoup. In my experience, the "bad" managers are the ones who are working like crazy most of the time (again, staffing issues excepted) because they don't have control over their operations. They are also the ones who, when they quit, step down, or get fired, have lots of his subordinates coming to bat with comments like, "At least he cared" and "At least he tried."

To most folks who don't know any better, metrics are a bigger deal than performance.

 

[59 Dano]

I hear what your saying and intellectually your are right. BUT, it is difficult for me as an employee to have that manager tell me I am forced to work days off, and when I get off the road, they are already at home having dinner with their family. A leader leads by example, and in my opinion, that is not a good example. And it does not encourage the "Team" culture that Fedex so often talks about.

I understand the sentiment, but how many time have you guys clocked out and gone home, knowing that you could have stayed and helped out with pressing operational issues? "I'm not a manager, not my job" is a real phrase.

 

[floridays]

Some managers don't do anything and go home early, and its one of the reasons other managers are overwhelmed and work like dogs. I see one extreme and the other on a daily basis at my station. As with couriers, Fedex seems to reward bad behavior and punish good behavior, even in the lower management ranks. The bad ones get it easy, and the good ones have to pick up the slack. It is really disappointing to us couriers to see this happening. If Fedex cant solve the inequities in the management ranks, we know we don't have a chance. So, if I at one time say that some managers don't do anything, and in a different context, say some managers work like dogs, I would be saying the truth. And you would judge me as "fitting a narrative at the moment?" Instead of hop-skipping through months of posts in different contexts, and judging all in one swoop, perhaps it would be best for you to address each issue on its own.

The clown is a joke, he only tries to pick low hanging fruit.

I'm still waiting for the citation of a court case he claims affirms Federal Express is an airline.
Told me it was settled, that assertion has never been filed in any court, much less argued or decided.
He's an empty shirt on many subjects, hasn't got the talking points yet.

 

[59 Dano]

The clown is a joke, he only tries to pick low hanging fruit.

I'm still waiting for the citation of a court case he claims affirms Federal Express is an airline.
Told me it was settled, that assertion has never been filed in any court, much less argued or decided.
He's an empty shirt on many subjects, hasn't got the talking points yet.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1996/10/02/labor-wants-to-end-fedexs-railway-act-protection/6b55a503-8df1-449b-8522-c9ab124471e1/

After years of hearings, the National Labor Relations Board consolidated the two cases in late 1994 and ultimately rejected the UPS bid. It ruled that FedEx was still an airline and sent that case to the National Mediation Board, its counterpart under the Railway Labor Act.

Last summer, the U.S. Court of Appeals here upheld the NLRB rulings.

Yawn. I'm sure that that's not good enough, even though it is.

Like I said, one of us knows plenty about this issue, and the other one of us is you.

 

[floridays]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1996/10/02/labor-wants-to-end-fedexs-railway-act-protection/6b55a503-8df1-449b-8522-c9ab124471e1/

After years of hearings, the National Labor Relations Board consolidated the two cases in late 1994 and ultimately rejected the UPS bid. It ruled that FedEx was still an airline and sent that case to the National Mediation Board, its counterpart under the Railway Labor Act.

Last summer, the U.S. Court of Appeals here upheld the NLRB rulings.

Yawn. I'm sure that that's not good enough, even though it is.

Like I said, one of us knows plenty about this issue, and the other one of us is you.

Give me the citation.

According to you I have a little education.
Give me the citation, we can read through it line by line.

 

[59 Dano]

Give me the citation.

LOL, I figured it wouldn't be good enough!

Really, what's the point? The court points out over and over that Express is an airline, and references yet another case that points out that Express in an airline. UPS vs NLRB.

If you think I'm going to spend hours with you going over every syllable while you spit out all sorts of silly reasons why the court didn't say what it said, you're nuts.

 

[floridays]

LOL, I figured it wouldn't be good enough!

Really, what's the point? The court points out over and over that Express is an airline, and references yet another case that points out that Express in an airline. UPS vs NLRB.

If you think I'm going to spend hours with you going over every syllable while you spit out all sorts of silly reasons why the court didn't say what it said, you're nuts.

The point is it was an action brought by UPS to gain the same classification as Fedex.

I've read it, The whole damn thing that you cannot site.

The case does not have anything to do with the proper classification of Fedex, the coprt did not address this question.
Period.
The court relied on previous and current definitions.
The question was not whether Fedex was an airline it was UPS attempt to get a portion of it's company treated as an airline under RWLA provisions.

The fact is no, none of any ground operations, couriers, station any part of the ground portion of the airline portion has sought relief or a judgment pertaining to that segment of the whole, total operation of Federal Express, at that time or FedEx currently.

This buster is my lane, the claims you have made (court cases) are unsubstantiated and cannot be provided.

My limited education is directed in one lane.

 

[Stat41]

Give me the citation.

According to you I have a little education.
Give me the citation, we can read through it line by line.

317 NLRB 1155. Apparently the NLRB decided not to make a decision in the matter, but instead to continue to recognize the designation that the National Mediation Board (NMB) made in the mid 70s. And that designation was that Federal Express was not covered under the NLRA. Most of the ruling had to do with the jurisdictional issues involved. Seems like they really went out of their way to sidestep the issue at hand. The pertinent wording can be found on page 1158, upper right, first paragraph. It did leave the door open for this issue to be revisited if Fedex went more to a ground model. (Ahem) As far as I can tell, there was and is no official governmental ruling, but only a recognition of precedent. The NLRB ruling was, they would make no ruling. Hope that helps.

 

[Cactus]

I understand the sentiment, but how many time have you guys clocked out and gone home, knowing that you could have stayed and helped out with pressing operational issues? "I'm not a manager, not my job" is a real phrase.

Drama Queen.

 

[Stat41]

The point is it was an action brought by UPS to gain the same classification as Fedex.

I've read it, The whole damn thing that you cannot site.

The case does not have anything to do with the proper classification of Fedex, the coprt did not address this question.
Period.
The court relied on previous and current definitions.
The question was not whether Fedex was an airline it was UPS attempt to get a portion of it's company treated as an airline under RWLA provisions.

The fact is no, none of any ground operations, couriers, station any part of the ground portion of the airline portion has sought relief or a judgment pertaining to that segment of the whole, total operation of Federal Express, at that time or FedEx currently.

This buster is my lane, the claims you have made (court cases) are unsubstantiated and cannot be provided.

My limited education is directed in one lane.

Sorry but I just read your post AFTER I researched the issue. But it is helpful to know that you and I did the research and pretty much arrived at the same conclusion. No ruling on Fedex. I do find it strange that they spent so much time asserting their jurisdiction in such matters, but deferred to the designation of a lesser body when it pertained to Federal Express. Emphasis is on designation, not an official ruling.

 

[Maui]

I hear what your saying and intellectually your are right. BUT, it is difficult for me as an employee to have that manager tell me I am forced to work days off, and when I get off the road, they are already at home having dinner with their family. A leader leads by example, and in my opinion, that is not a good example. And it does not encourage the "Team" culture that Fedex so often talks about.

Similar sentiment here. It should go both ways and have communication. In normal times get staffed and stop mandatory OT. That’s a problem with your operation as there are usually enough people that want hours. I’ve worked in several stations and only real mandate time was Mother’s Day; except peak.
As Dano said the long hours workers are often inefficient and cause it themselves in regular times. Additionally many weak managers just want to use as many people as possible no matter the budget.

Managers have to follow policy for draft hours and staffing now is challenging. Ordinarily if an employee has a NEED to be off early they should communicate and management should figure a way to make it happen. Just don’t abuse it and it works for everyone.