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XPO | Culture Matters

radman said:
The thing about LEAN that I did like was "listening to the voice of the customer". The problem is management never listens to drivers. The collective wisdom and knowledge of the drivers for out weighs that of management and yet what we think is not important to management,especially upper management. We had the VP of ops come through our barn during the past union scare and you should have heard him dance around our questions and suggestions. He is representative of our past leadership, I am not sure if he is still with us our not, I know whats best and your thoughts and opinions will not change the course we are on. We need to invest all of our money in equipment, facilities, pay, and benefits. We need to handle freight less and haul as much of it as possible with our own people. We need to set our city drivers up for success everyday so that they can take of our customers. Thats it in my opinion. That will take us to the top and forget about the driver shortage because if we do that drivers will be lined up to come and work here.
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Well said driver! Well said indeed! You expressed my exact sentiments and assessment of our past, present, and future here at Con-way... uhhhmm..I mean XPO Logistics brother. I couldn't have said it any better!!!
Northern Flash said:
A lot of management people would never "empower" or give their employees the freedom to make decisions for themselves, because once those employees have accepted the empowerment and responsibilities of getting the job done efficiently and correctly.........the management are no longer needed. So some of those mgt. types micro-manage their employees to make themselves feel like they're actually doing something constructive, when in all actuality, they're getting in the way and making themselves look stupid for micro-managing.
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radman said:
Merit pay is not going to work with drivers. Way too complicated to come up with metrics to judge performance. How do you judge linedrivers? How do you judge a guy on a liftgate route with lots of residentials or inside deliveries against another who has got a van in a industrial area that bumps docks all day? Its impossible, I think too much is being read into it, that sounds like how management gets raises or somebody in a wharehouse who picks orders. I wouldn't worry about it.
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radman said:
Merit pay is not going to work with drivers. Way too complicated to come up with metrics to judge performance. How do you judge linedrivers? How do you judge a guy on a liftgate route with lots of residentials or inside deliveries against another who has got a van in a industrial area that bumps docks all day? Its impossible, I think too much is being read into it, that sounds like how management gets raises or somebody in a wharehouse who picks orders. I wouldn't worry about it.
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You're soooooo right! This merit pay thing just doesn't make any sense. It's just NUTS!!!...being applied to drivers for sure. If this indeed will be the case... then I want to stick around to see how he's gonna pull it off.
 
Merdock said:
To soon to tell... town hall meeting attendees report the new LTL company will be all about profit and loss. How deep this methodology impacts the service centers is still a mystery. Will employees be an asset to the company or a cost of doing business in the LTL sector?
There are service center manages that would give up a kidney to have their scorecard top in their region at the end of this year. I think most of you would agree that the scorecard as we know it destroys employee engagement.
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referring to these scorecards,our previous scm got our s.cards into the 80's over night!then our new scm continued the trend,the previous years we were always at the bottom with 40's&50's. just after xpo bought us now you see 4-5 barns all in green every week.so i asked are we playing with "NUMBERS" again or have we just lowered the bars? and yet NOTHING has changed to warrant the rise!,our city guys get out late, we overload trailers, cant get all stops off, all while we have one guy sitting!!!! now we're told to go to p.a.f at 4pm give them what we couldn't deliver(plus the 20%they get to take the freight 2 miles down the road).this way in the computer it shows delivered.this display of integrity is why mr.jacobs should get mr.detter in there as a suggestion box not stottler!remember the high 80's operating ratio we used to have running emptys,and only c-way dsr's hauling our freight!now it's sub-standards no running of emptys and 90's op-ratios! my 5th grade math skills tell me something not right here boys.catnip is to cats as sub-standards(crack) is to management
 
catchTHErabbit said:
referring to these scorecards,our previous scm got our s.cards into the 80's over night!then our new scm continued the trend,the previous years we were always at the bottom with 40's&50's. just after xpo bought us now you see 4-5 barns all in green every week.so i asked are we playing with "NUMBERS" again or have we just lowered the bars? and yet NOTHING has changed to warrant the rise!,our city guys get out late, we overload trailers, cant get all stops off, all while we have one guy sitting!!!! now we're told to go to p.a.f at 4pm give them what we couldn't deliver(plus the 20%they get to take the freight 2 miles down the road).this way in the computer it shows delivered.this display of integrity is why mr.jacobs should get mr.detter in there as a suggestion box not stottler!remember the high 80's operating ratio we used to have running emptys,and only c-way dsr's hauling our freight!now it's sub-standards no running of emptys and 90's op-ratios! my 5th grade math skills tell me something not right here boys.catnip is to cats as sub-standards(crack) is to management
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One more shipment - tell your regular customers to just call in a pick-up with no projections. You pick up the regular freight and get credit for "one more shipment" - Our management and account executives knew about this and seemed fine with it.
 
radman said:
We used to have a board up in the breakroom that told us how much money our service center made the company month by month. Those were numbers we could all understand and get behind. The scorecard replaced that and no one understands that thing.
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Is it still communication if you don't get the message ?
 
Merdock said:
To soon to tell... town hall meeting attendees report the new LTL company will be all about profit and loss. How deep this methodology impacts the service centers is still a mystery. Will employees be an asset to the company or a cost of doing business in the LTL sector?
There are service center manages that would give up a kidney to have their scorecard top in their region at the end of this year. I think most of you would agree that the scorecard as we know it destroys employee engagement.
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Your gut, man. What is your opinion ? You solid with this or worried of it ?
 
vetran peddleman said:
Starting in 2017, employees will be given an annual review that will assess, among other things I would presume, work performance and productivity. "Raises will not be automatic, but rather be based in part on individual merit," according to info on the XPO employee portal. So hopefully this info will motivate some of the dead wood to pick it up, get engaged, and really begin to start earning their pay checks by actually doing something...like work... for a change.
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If you have a brain in your head you know how a program like that would work with our management, Having said that seniority and the butt kissers will always come out on top, our company has ran on koolaid and snitches for so long they don't know any other way, as long as they same management remains I dought this company will ever change much!:heykoolaid::horseshit:
 
616jimmy said:
If you have a brain in your head you know how a program like that would work with our management, Having said that seniority and the butt kissers will always come out on top, our company has ran on koolaid and snitches for so long they don't know any other way, as long as they same management remains I dought this company will ever change much!:heykoolaid::horseshit:
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Koolaid and snitches.

I know the seriousness , but thinking about that makes me chuckle because I've faced it for so long.
 
The merit pay thing could never work because of the favoritism and politics that would make the determination as to who gets a raise and who doesn't. So based on my experience, the only other option that keeps things even close to "fair" to the employees, is to have supervisors and managers that have the "onions" large enough to challenge those who are too lazy to produce like the good workers do. You can work safe, smart, and be productive without damaging freight and getting injured. Either put in a fair days work for a fair days pay or................:kickedoutsmile:

But that takes strong leadership to accomplish, and that's something that most companies are lacking.
:coffee1:
 
Merdock said:
and for the old-timers discussing the way things used to be... when did we go from a Y to an X?
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Merdock, One thing you need to think about is that sooo many of the people that are on Truckingboards were not at this company 15, 20,25 years ago. You are correct in your thinking with this post except one thing. I think you are wrong with your theory of going from a X to a Y environment. I think that it is the other way around. We went from a Y to X. Back when I hired in 17 years ago this was the place to work for, it was hard to get a job here. Why? They treated their drivers with respect and dignity, the management let you do your job because you knew how to do your job and it got done efficiently. I would go to the old XCW reship and they would get King of the Hill for loading trailers. What happened? We would get a cookout. Not hamburgers and hotdogs, but Sirloin steak. We as employees had unpaid healthcare, a good pension a real bright future in this company. The emplyee's work ethics reflected it along with good positive attitudes. So what happened? In comes Miller. The man that started the downward spiral just like when you flush a toilet. That is the point when the micro management started and the management's attitude started that they know how to do your job better than you do. Bad attitudes started and the mistrust in the management started. The crash happens, 2008. We were almost sold to UPS, No one told us for almost a year. We were told that the company had to tighten their belt and make cuts? Why? Not because they had to, because YRC did. The company was very financially stable. We lost our pension, cut our pay and other things. In the employees opinion it went from a career to a job. This company used to be a employee orientated company. Before the buy-out it was all about the stockholders and the management lining their pockets and the upper management’s golden parachutes. What do we have now? **** poor attitudes, People doing the minimum and below. Hiring sub-standard drivers. No Merdock, we went from Y to a X company.
 
Northern Flash said:
The merit pay thing could never work because of the favoritism and politics that would make the determination as to who gets a raise and who doesn't. So based on my experience, the only other option that keeps things even close to "fair" to the employees, is to have supervisors and managers that have the "onions" large enough to challenge those who are too lazy to produce like the good workers do. You can work safe, smart, and be productive without damaging freight and getting injured. Either put in a fair days work for a fair days pay or................:kickedoutsmile:

But that takes strong leadership to accomplish, and that's something that most companies are lacking.
:coffee1:
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BINGO!!!
give that man a cigar
look in and around our industry... are there any hourly workers involved in a merit pay program? Fellas don't waste your keyboards on this concept. To engage our employees and develop a true participative culture the focus must be on management and supervision. Les Landes writes on the concept of the supervisor being the hourly worker's connection to developing ideas and continual improvement. The supervisor's scorecard could/should include his/her's efforts to be open minded and approachable to immediate ideas of task and ideas of improvement.
Theory X requires babysitters and dock cops. Theory Y requires coaches and teammates. Which ones are utilized at your location these days?

This discussion has been amazing so far, positive and involved responses. Discussions are measured on the distance they cover to reach a destination, a consensus. Arguments are too often measured with a scoreboard, visual management of winners and losers.
 
It's always more economical for a company to IMPROVE their existing employees, versus firing their bad eggs and starting the training process all over again with a new employee. Obviously, some employees refuse to accept coaching to improve their production, so they need to be culled from the herd at some point. But good management people that know the job and have proper people skills can improve their "least best" employees with a little time an effort. And those employees who refuse to accept the better methods need to have a progressive disciple paper trail started on them. So when they finally get whacked, they have no recourse since the paper trail proves that they had been coached and warned multiple times, but refused to change their ways.
But again, this requires strong supervisors and managers with people skills.
 
Dodge Ram said:
Merdock, One thing you need to think about is that sooo many of the people that are on Truckingboards were not at this company 15, 20,25 years ago. You are correct in your thinking with this post except one thing. I think you are wrong with your theory of going from a X to a Y environment...
... No Merdock, we went from Y to a X company.
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You are 100% correct, I had it backwards and did not catch the mistake until it was too late to edit.
We have slipped from a Y to an X in stages. In my opinion the last step down the ladder of negative transition was January of 2014. All of the empowered, capable employees on our docks were drivers and seasoned dock workers up until this bid change. At this time the Theory Y culture of our docks was eliminated. Supervisors were not prepared for the change in the abilities of their subordinates. Immediately numbers had to to maintained and achieved. Standard work became the tool of compliance as Theory X was applied to build a compliant workforce.
Look at the number of good people, hourly and salary, that left our company in the first eight months of 2014. Frustration? Disappointment?
Empowerment embraces imagination and free will...Enablement breeds on the lack of imagination and free will
 
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Dodge Ram said:
Merdock, One thing you need to think about is that sooo many of the people that are on Truckingboards were not at this company 15, 20,25 years ago. You are correct in your thinking with this post except one thing. I think you are wrong with your theory of going from a X to a Y environment. I think that it is the other way around. We went from a Y to X. Back when I hired in 17 years ago this was the place to work for, it was hard to get a job here. Why? They treated their drivers with respect and dignity, the management let you do your job because you knew how to do your job and it got done efficiently. I would go to the old XCW reship and they would get King of the Hill for loading trailers. What happened? We would get a cookout. Not hamburgers and hotdogs, but Sirloin steak. We as employees had unpaid healthcare, a good pension a real bright future in this company. The emplyee's work ethics reflected it along with good positive attitudes. So what happened? In comes Miller. The man that started the downward spiral just like when you flush a toilet. That is the point when the micro management started and the management's attitude started that they know how to do your job better than you do. Bad attitudes started and the mistrust in the management started. The crash happens, 2008. We were almost sold to UPS, No one told us for almost a year. We were told that the company had to tighten their belt and make cuts? Why? Not because they had to, because YRC did. The company was very financially stable. We lost our pension, cut our pay and other things. In the employees opinion it went from a career to a job. This company used to be a employee orientated company. Before the buy-out it was all about the stockholders and the management lining their pockets and the upper management’s golden parachutes. What do we have now? **** poor attitudes, People doing the minimum and below. Hiring sub-standard drivers. No Merdock, we went from Y to a X company.
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Very well said, but remember (Miller) has been gone a long time, things didn't have to be this way except for one reason,(GREED)!
 
In my opinion, That was when I seen the downfall. Like I said a lot of the drivers were not around to see that way back then. Shoot, how much of the management is still around? Barely none. What does that tell you?
 
Merdock said:
You are 100% correct, I had it backwards and did not catch the mistake until it was too late to edit.
We have slipped from a Y to an X in stages. In my opinion the last step down the ladder of negative transition was January of 2014. All of the empowered, capable employees on our docks were drivers and seasoned dock workers up until this bid change. At this time the Theory Y culture of our docks was eliminated. Supervisors were not prepared for the change in the abilities of their subordinates. Immediately numbers had to to maintained and achieved. Standard work became the tool of compliance as Theory X was applied to build a compliant workforce.
Look at the number of good people, hourly and salary, that left our company in the first eight months of 2014. Frustration? Disappointment?
Empowerment embraces imagination and free will...Enablement breeds on the lack of imagination and free will
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Can it be undone ? How do you pick up an army that has been defeated ? With so many more looking to leave. Angered even further from the sale. Resentment across the ranks. How do you undo this ?
 
I know that loyalty runs deep with some people, and they'd rather have kept the Conway name, but why would there be resentment when nothing bad has even happened, from what I've heard?

And I'm sure that you realize that lots of people threaten to leave........but never will.
 
Northern Flash said:
I know that loyalty runs deep with some people, and they'd rather have kept the Conway name, but why would there be resentment when nothing bad has even happened, from what I've heard?

And I'm sure that you realize that lots of people threaten to leave........but never will.
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Lots of bad happened before the sale though... I think that's what he's getting at.
 
(Naive) Troll here. Whatever happened to we're grown men (& women). We take a job and do the work to get the pay. Managers used to fix problems. Customers, equipment, squabbles amongst co workers, the stuff we need help with or can't handle at all. Liaisons from the frontline to the top. Good managers have great workers. Great workers have little need for managers. X's & Y's. Cats & Kool aid. I guess that's why I'm night linehaul.
 
Dodge Ram said:
The resentment goes far back, the damage was done before the sale. The way I see it the management turned their back on the employees for cooperate greed.
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Agree, Dodge. I was only there three years. I took the job out of necessity back in 2009 during the 'depression' but vowed it would only be a temporary stop-over until I got back on with a Union carrier. The company took EVERY advantage they could of us because they knew they had us all by the balls as we, naturally, needed to work. I've been in the workforce for 40 years, have had numerous jobs, but never was treated so badly in my entire life. I hope the best for all at the new XPO, as I have many friends still there.
 
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