This is a company where some managers very openly let people know that they are replaceable and irrelevant. At the previous company, at least I had a manager who was a little more respectful.
I'm leaving, but I'm still interested in whether there is ANYTHING that could make this leadership respect and value their employees a little more?
Managers are the laughing stock of the company
We go days without seeing any managers and I am at a big terminal. If we do see one it’s usually helping a crew do a set out or pickup. Testing is pretty much non existent. Probably afraid someone will sc--w up and they can’t afford to get rid of anyone so they just bury their heads in the sand and pretend everyone is following the rules. I’ve often wondered what a typical day looks like for a MTO or whatever they call them now. Crews move cars and yard masters come up with the plan. Not sure what they do but I do know that if everyone above a yard master were to not show up trains would still move.
Managers don’t do much at work but run their mouths about how great they were in the past id--ts
@2yst I laughed at my manager all the time. What would make you think that some people don't? I'm guessing you're a manager or an informant for one, based on your post. Are the folks at the UP supposed to be in fear of the management there? Oh yeah I did quit after 20+ years, but thank you anyways for the great advice. I was threatened with termination so many times, but was never fired. Can you guess why I never took the management seriously? There's still one question that has yet to be answered. WHAT DO THE MANAGERS DO EXACTLY? I'm not calling out the management for being lazy, but I just didn't see them do much at all. Can you tell us what they do on a daily basis? I believe a lot of us want to know that.
I’m not lazy I’m just not motivated and yes I do laugh at my manager to his face. If this is such a great and desirable place to work then why can’t we hire people to work here. I’m tired of working like a dog because people aren’t applying because of bad reviews, pay, etc. I still do as I’m told to a T after I’m instructed to do something that I know is wrong because hey job insurance doesn’t pay for insubordination and I can’t be fired for doing something st—id if the boss told me to do it. Now do you get it?
@1gpi, it’s easy to act tough on a forum where nobody knows who’s posting. I don’t believe for one minute you laugh in your managers face. If you don’t like your job quit. No one is forcing you to work anywhere. You talk about managers being lazy, not knowing what they are doing, etc. You make no mention of train crewmen that have yo literally be ran out of the crew room to go to work, that bring in food and sit down to eat before printing out their paperwork all while on duty. There is enough blame to go around in hind company. No group is superior to the other. There is a malaise over the whole company and EVERYBODY has bad attitudes. You aren’t superior to anyone and you need to realize this.
They are actually hiring anyone that will apply from the craft as managers if they apply. Usually it’s the guys that are terrible at their jobs, lazy, or have no clue how to actually railroad. It’s laughable seeing these guys try and act like anyone actually respects them and they just get laughed at to their faces or behind their backs. Nobody respects managers anymore because most have no clue and it’s obvious.
Respect goes both ways and I see little from either side at UP.
On the operations side they need to stop hiring incompetent diversity hires. They are supervising people who know a lot more about railroading than they do and it frustrates them and they lash out in the form of treating their subordinates poorly.
I can think or two things that could be done. One would be to eliminate and or replace the current management the UP has with folks who actually give a damn about the business, instead of the shareholders feelings. The other thing that could be done is to keep the current management they have, and continue watching the company implode. If or when that happens, then you'll see interested parties crawl out of the woodwork and ask why it all went to he-l. I'll bet you'll see a massive change in the management and how they conduct themselves. In either scenario, it's time for this management to go. The current management is responsible for the problems at the UP.