Pros
The idea of what we were doing - providing information logistics and serving as the business services arm of FedEx - sounded exciting and important. On a day-to-day basis, we were able to really and truly take care of customer needs, and make a quick impact on someone's day, someone's career, or someone's life. When the process worked, it was a good feeling, and we shared a very strong sense of teamwork. A handful of other pros: • Some very dedicated Team Members and Managers • No two days were the same (this could be both interesting and insane at the same time) • Great benefits package • Decent pay, but getting incentive/bonus is extremely difficult now
Cons
When FedEx acquired Kinko's, it brought a flood of change to the business. While in many respects these were positive changes (reinvestment of capital in technology, physical store appearance, customer access points), the long-term effects of this change continue to haunt employees. Neverending policies, procedures, amendments to those procedures, last-minute changes to the hot sheet that reinterpreted the changes to the last procedures, etc. On top of that mountain of bureaucratic nonsense was a fear-based culture of auditing, reauditing, and writing corrective action plans. Often, the most challenging part of the job was not balancing the needs of customers and Team Members, but rather successfully navigating the barriers to success thrown up by the company. At the core of this was a lack of trust in employees and managers. Everything had a log or checklist, each checklist had to be signed and dated, and all the while you have to worry about making a small mistake. The upshot for DMs and other senior managers is that this never-ending supply of documentation provides an easy way to counsel or terminate someone - and it can be called a violation of standards of conduct! Although sold to the employees as being nimble and reactive to the market, FedEx Office also has a seeming obsession with change - in process, in strategic focus, in organizational alignment. Many times the cycle has been repeated where senior leadership decides the sales team is ineffective, 'redirect' a large number of sales professionals (with no thought to exisiting customer relationships), then wonder why we can't hit our sales goals. The latest answer? Trying to turn an army of front-counter Team Members into salespersons to help fill the gap. Instead of trying to land large corporate accounts with competitive pricing, we had to offer an overpriced USB flash drive to each customer. Yep, that would turn things around. In the end, the job was not at all difficult. Once upon a time, a Center Manager felt like the owner of his or her own small business. With that came a sense of pride and ownership. Now it seems, however, to be a test of one's will and ability to withstand punishment. Innovation and creativity have been replaced with the ability to adhere to one playbook and to follow the bouncing ball. Constant payroll cuts and the drive to 'do more with less' will continue to erode morale, and more and more talent will flee this company. To do well at this job means to be on call 24/7, to constantly be putting out fires, and to come home late every night feeling beat up and beat down. It's a shame, because it used to be a special place to work.