Ken Parks
Past Chairman
UPS titles: VP of Human Resources
Director of Workforce Planning
Region HR Manager – SW
NE Region
NW Region
Location when hired: East Orange, NJ
First position: Hired as a PT Loader unloader
How did you get your job at UPS?
“I was drafted into the military – my buddy was trying to find PT jobs and he found the UPS job in the paper and told me about it.” 2-year tour of Vietnam
It reminded me of the military – very regimented – everything happened on time – hierarchy was very structured – but I was comfortable in it – I was used to it – very structured – I wanted to be focused on a career at that time – for me it was perfect – UPS was giving me what he needed – I was very focused – I was very good at following directions – and as time went on I became a full time supervisor –
I was in a position of authority – dealing with union workers – I kept asking myself – how I handle leadership – do I behave as an authoritarian – or as a consensus builder – I was a 20-year-old supervisor! – Managing 40-50-year-old men – how do I get them to do it?
