Related Posts
Bowl Leader
More Posts
Has anyone ever had their salary reduced?
Pro
I agree wholeheartedly:
Enthusiast
Additional Posts in Logistics & Supply Chain Management
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
It seems like the norm in most warehouses. The office staff looks down on us warehouse workers because we're "lowly" laborers, and we resent them for being "above" us. It's a toxic cycle that just breeds contempt.
It's not unusual for there to be resentment between warehouse and office staff. However, it's important to remember that we're all on the same team. We all want what's best for the company, and we all need to work together to make that happen. Let's try to focus on our common goals, and let go of any petty resentments. We're all in this together!
I wouldn't say the norm, but very common. it makes sense though. you have corporate: trying to make drastic or small changes within warehousing to lean processes out and save money, sometimes without good enough knowledge on the intricacies of warehouse processes. you have warehouse workers that have extensive knowledge of how things work, doesn't like huge change/risk of downsizing, and have been screwed over in initiatives that were supposed to be beneficial but instead causes more work for the warehouse floor. I'm a consultant now and just told corporate that the initiative they pushing will save some money, but it's too much extra effort for warehousing and many will 100% just go back to the old process to save time. They still making those changes, which will definitely cause more animosity in the near future.
I see, it's obviously a complex problem with many layers to deconstruct, but do you think there's anything that could help remedy this issue? I feel the corporate side should have some experience in working warehousing so they can understand the repercussions of their actions, but maybe that's too much of an ask? Or perhaps it could be useful to have a warehouse representative who has to approve the decisions made by corporate before they get implemented?
I am a regional GM also standing in as country director. My CX peer had a disagreement with my team on whether we should adhere to policy. He skipped me and scheduled a call with my boss, who dropped me back in. While in the call he yelled at my boss with disgust “I’ll never take instruction from simple warehouse people. I’ll cost them their job if they try it. Tell your team to sort it out.” (Btw he wanted to scrap policy but lost that argument).
That’s the mentality I’ve seen everywhere I’ve been. In my current company over 90% (objectively measurable) of innovation and new tech/metrics is conceptualized and built by warehouse people because we aren’t afforded the resources we need. I’ve learned to code bc we don’t have analysts or engineers and the IT/tech team refuses to partner with those warehouse people. We also drive ~98% of the company’s revenue but have the lowest funding of the 4 divisions.
We are seen as dumb brutes, despite the fact that we have a disproportionate number of people with advanced degrees and certifications.
Unfortunately, if you want to live in the SCE world, especially within the warehouse side of it, you can expect that most places will see you as a simple caveman moving boxes.
That’s pretty much it. We have to set the standard of professionalism and hold to it when others don’t, because the warehouse folks will always be scrutinized to a different level. I’ve got an ops manager in one of my warehouses who came in knowing how to do basic math formulas in excel and a year later has taught himself to build complex spreadsheets with vba and custom formula, tableau reports, wms launch and api integration, etc… he’s still looked down on, despite having to hand hold our tech and ops ex teams through constant project constraints.