Management huistaak 2: people skills

Bert Orlent 8/12/2022

Gebruikte artikels:
1) How UiPath’s CPO uses an “outside-in” mentality to develop their leaders. Gehaald
van https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2022/03/01/how-uipaths-cpo-uses-
an-outside-in-mentality-to-develop-their-leaders/?sh=5342781ee7f5
2) Fired by bot at Amazon: “it’s you against the machine”. Gehaald van
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-06-28/fired-by-bot-amazon-
turns-to-machine-managers-and-workers-are-losing-out

1. Samenvatting van de artikels en link met de cursus

1) Artikel 1
a) Samenvatting
Het eerste artikel dat ik gelezen heb is een interview met de chief people officer van het
bedrijf UiPath, Bettina Koblick. UiPath is een bedrijf dat zich bezig houdt met RPA
(robotic process automation). Het bedrijf startte klein met een team van tien personen in
Boekarest en heeft zich nu uitgegroeid tot de wereldwijde leider in dit vak.
De taak van Koblick bestaat eruit om 800 people managers te overzien die verspreid zijn
over de Verenigde Staten, Europa en een groot deel van Azië. In het interview verklaard
ze op welke manieren ze deze managers kan bereiken en hoe ze jaarlijks er 100 nieuwe
kan aanwerven. Het artikel beschrijft een alternatieve methode die Koblick hiervoor
gebruikt.
De tip die de CPO geeft voor mensen die zicht hebben op een positie als leidingevende, is
om niet ‘inside-out’ te denken, maar ‘outside-in’. Deze methode houdt in om geen druk
uit te voeren van bovenaf, maar door te vuren langs onderaan. Dit wordt weergegeven in
de ‘upside down triangle’.
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Figuur 1: de 'upside down triangle'

Deze methode houdt in dat de informatie stroomt van de medewerkers aan de frontlinie
naar de leidinggevenden. Om dit te doen maken ze in UiPath gebruik van een jaarlijkse
enquête, maar om te zien of het gedrag van de werknemers echt veranderd door nieuwe
methodes van leiding geven moet er vaker gepolst worden. Als er vastgesteld wordt dat
het gedrag niet verandert, wordt er gekeken naar nieuwe methodes.
Dit polsen gebeurt op twee manieren met behulp van een tool. Het kan gebeuren binnen
een bepaald team, dan worden er af en toe vragen gesteld als ‘Heb je recent een gesprek
gehad met je manager’, om bijvoorbeeld te zien hoe interactief deze manager is.
Vervolgens worden er ook, minder frequent, enquêtes rondgestuurd over het volledige
bedrijf. Het doel van af en toe vragen te stellen is om een zicht te hebben op hoe de
leidinggevenden zich gedragen en wat ze al dan niet goed of slecht doen.
Vervolgens worden de leiders aan de frontlinie zo opgeleid dat ze op een interactieve
manier omgaan met hun werknemers. Zoals in persoon duidelijkheid geven over
bepaalde dinge of feedback geven.
In conclusie is wat Koblick doet, niet hard werken maar slim, om nieuwe leiders te
kunnen sturen. Dit slim werken doet ze door enquêtes rond te sturen om een zicht te
hebben op wat de leidinggevenden binnen het bedrijf doen.

b) Link met de cursus

De essentie van het artikel is ‘hoe zit leiderschap eruit binnen het bedrijf UiPath?’. De
CPO maakt gebruik van veel feedback van werknemers om zo een beeld te hebben op de
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leidinggevenden. Door dit te doen is het ook mogelijk om in te spelen op een

veranderende
werkomgeving en hierop de stijl van leiden aan te passen. Daarbovenop worden alle
leidinggevenden (vooral aan de frontlinie) er op aangezet om zo interactief mogelijk te
zijn met de werknemers om zo een aangename en veilig aanvoelende werksfeer te
creëren.

2) Artikel 2
a) Samenvatting
Het tweede artikel gaat erover hoe dat Amazon hun operaties zo veel mogelijk
vervangen door geautomatiseerde methodes als robots en computerprogramma’s. Zo
zijn ze zelf hun human resources aan het vervangen door machines. In het artikel zal het
vooral gaan over de negatieve effecten die het vervangen van HR door machines met
zich meebrengt. De reden dat CEO Jeff Bezos zo veel wil automatiseren is om alles sneller
en efficiënter te laten verlopen om zo een stap voor te staan op de competitie.
De software doet tegenwoordig meer dan enkel het managen van werknemers in een
magazijn. Zo wordt het ook gebruikt voor het overzien van contractuele bezorgers,
onafhankelijke bezorgbedrijven en zelf de prestaties van medewerkers. Dit heeft vooral
invloed op mensen die als ‘Flex driver’ werken voor Amazon.
Het principe van een ‘Flex driver’ is dat mensen zich kunnen aanmelden als bezorger
voor Amazon met hun eigen wagens om zo pakketjes die nog niet in een busje van
Amazon zelf zijn geladen te bezorgen. Op deze manier is het voor Amazon mogelijk om
aflevering op dezelfde dag aan te kunnen bieden aan klanten. Echter, vanaf een Flex
driver begint te werken voor Amazon worden hun stappen van zeer dichtbij gevolgd door
algoritmes die hun vervolgens beoordelen als fantastisch, goed, voldoende of risico.
Op deze manier worden er mensen ontslaan die hun bezorgeisen niet halen, op een
manier waarbij geen menselijke invloed meer tussenkomt. Het systeem herkent ‘fouten’,
bijvoorbeeld te laat leveren, ergens passeren waar je niet zou moeten passeren en
dergelijke. Zo kunnen er dus ook dingen als fout gezien worden die buiten de hand liggen
van de werknemers, bijvoorbeeld een appartement complex dat op slot zit of
vertragingen door weersomstandigheden. Het bedrijf beloofd zelf in sommige gevallen
leveringen binnen de twee uur, wat vaak onhaalbaar is.
Eens ontslagen hebben de werknemers de mogelijkheid om dit aan te vechten voor 200
dollar, dit wordt natuurlijk niet vaak gedaan omdat het meestal resulteert in een
verspilling van geld en tijd. Verschillende Flex drivers die slechte ratings aanvechten
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getuigen dat ze zelf het gevoel hebben dat ze niet communiceren met een persoon maar
met een computer die geautomatiseerde antwoorden stuurt. Als er al een menselijke
manager ingeschakeld wordt, wordt dit haastig gedaan omdat deze mensen zelf ook
bepaalde eisen moeten halen.
b) Link met de cursus
Deze manier van leiding geven is het volledig omgekeerde van het eerste artikel. Hier is
de stijl van managen zelf zo afstandelijk dat het gedaan wordt door computers.
Werknemers worden hierdoor niet echt geholpen als ze het gevoel hebben dat ze
onterecht een slechte beoordeling krijgen. Als er een menselijke manager ingezet wordt
dan wordt er haastig over alles gegaan omdat deze managers ook onder strenge eisen
van Amazon staan.

2. Voorkeur management stijl uit vorige artikels

Persoonlijk, en ik veronderstel de meerderheid van de bevolking, vind de management
stijl van het UiPath stukken beter dan de stijl van Amazon. Bij het eerste bedrijf wordt er
gehamerd op de persoonlijke interacties van de leidinggevenden en wordt er gevraagd
naar hoe de werknemers zich voelen om dit te kunnen reflecteren op de stijl van leiding
geven door de managers. Bij Amazon zal dit volledig het omgekeerde zijn, hier zullen
werknemers zich eerder voelen als een nummer binnen het bedrijf dat beoordeeld zal
worden door een computerprogramma.
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How UiPath’s CPO Uses An “Outside-

In” Mentality To Develop Their
Leaders
Kevin Kruse
Contributor
CEO of LEADx and author of Great Leaders Have No Rules.

Follow
Mar 1, 2022,07:00am EST

Bettina Koblick, UiPath's Chief People Officer

KOBLICK

How do you effectively develop 800 people managers when they are
dispersed across Europe, the U.S., and greater Asia? And of those 800, how
do you onboard some 100 new leaders each year, and how do you reach and
develop the frontline leaders?

These are just some of the many challenges faced by Bettina Koblick, the
Chief People Officer of UiPath. UiPath is an enterprise software company
that builds robots that automate the repetitive elements of people’s work so
they can focus on more high-value and fulfilling work.

I spoke with Koblick to pick her brain about how she develops 800 global
leaders, and more generally, to understand how she thinks about and
approaches leadership development.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

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Leadership Development Should Be Outside-in, Not Inside Out

Kevin Kruse: What advice would you give to someone who is earlier in
their career and moving into a leadership development role for the first
time?

Bettina Koblick: Think “outside-in,” and you will be much smarter, much
more informed about your audience. I wish somebody had told me that
sooner.

Kruse: You mentioned using pulse surveys to look “outside-in.” How does
that work?

Koblick: A leader taught me some time back that you can't just have
pressure from above, you have to have fire from below. I'm a true believer in
the upside down triangle, where information streams from the frontline
employees to the leadership development. Then, they can effectively
support and develop leaders.

The pulse survey is how we open up that valuable stream of feedback from
the frontline. We do our engagement survey once a year, but we have to
pulse more often than that to check if behavioral change is actually
happening. The pulses cover the information and behaviors we really want
to know about. Then, if the behaviors aren’t happening, we can adjust our
approach.

Kruse: How often are you doing a pulse? Is it monthly, quarterly, as-
needed?

Koblick: The tool we use can be pulsed in a number of ways. People can
use it within their teams at any time, but we also have a strategy enterprise-
wide. For example, we use the tool to check that our leaders are doing a
certain behavior (like having conversations with their managers). We
phrase these pulses in a very simple way: “Have you had a conversation with
your manager lately?”

For the enterprise-wide pulses, which are a little bit less frequent, we try to
pair the pulse with important moments in time. So, once a quarter we’ll ask
a question like the one above. We also ask questions like, “Do you
understand what's important in your daily work?” People tend to answer
these simple questions in a way that gives good insights into what our
leaders are doing.

I think of these pulse surveys more generally like this: “How are you going
to bake someone's favorite birthday cake if you don't ask them what flavor
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cake they want?” It's so simple, but you have to ask. We don't know best,
they know best. It’s on us to ask.

Teaching Frontline Leaders to Fish (in Their Own Way)

Kruse: How do you approach frontline leader development?

Koblick: We want to be very clear with frontline managers, and all leaders
frankly, around the experience we want to leave our people with. We also
want to be clear about their responsibility around creating that experience.
The way we frame this is that, fundamentally, we want to make sure people
are heard, treated fairly, and have clarity and context. We build
competencies around those outcomes, but we really try not to train those
competencies in a corporate way.

For example, people need clarity and context from their frontline leaders.
Well, we train people to pick up the phone and call your person when they
need clarity. Same with feedback. Ask for and give feedback when you have
the time and when you need it. These things don’t have to be so structured
all the time. That said, we do give structure and clarity around
our expectations from frontline leaders. Then, the idea is to teach them how
to fish, but to let them do it in their own way and style.

We encourage frontline leaders to practice and apply their learnings in a

way that works for them and for their schedule. But, we also pulse our
employees to ask, “Hey, have you had a good conversation with your
manager lately?” Based on that pulse, we’ll quickly see: “Yes, this group is
doing well,” or, “No, this group over there isn’t doing so well.” We give
freedom in the application, but pay attention to the results. We strip our
goals down to their simplest form.

We also make sure to give our frontline leaders the time to do what's
necessary, which is speak with people, connect with people, give clarity and
context, and treat people fairly. We don’t make them fill out a bunch of
forms or go into a bunch of systems.

How UiPath Onboards 80-160 New Managers Around the Globe Each Year

Kruse: How do you onboard 80 to 160 new managers around the globe
each year?

Koblick: I’m so passionate that none of this learning can happen at a single
point in time. It needs to be part of a bigger system. That means pulling a
thread through the entire person’s journey, and doing so in a way that hits
the key moments the hardest. For instance, there's an interview component,
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our talent assessment before hiring, an onboarding component, and a

promotion to manager component. There will also be, every year, an
opportunity to refresh and take these learnings again.

I’m also passionate that this learning should happen in a variety of different
ways—online, leader-led, traditional training, pulses, ongoing discussions,
“learning teaching, learning teaching,” and more.

So there’s not one clean answer to this question. That’s because first of all,
people don’t learn the same. And second, the learnings have to happen in
the right way and at the right time for each individual. Companies need to
learn to be comfortable with that. It's okay if the learning moment doesn’t
hit leaders right away. Just keep talking about the principles. That's a good
thing.

Working Smart, Not Hard to Develop Leaders

The common theme, and really the solution to UiPath’s great challenge of
developing leaders around the world, is to work smart, not hard. For
Koblick, working smart means surveying employees often to understand
how leaders are doing. Equipped with information about what’s working
and what isn’t, it’s much easier for her to support and develop leaders.
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Fired by Bot at Amazon: ‘It’s

You Against the Machine’
Contract drivers say algorithms terminate them by email—even when they
have done nothing wrong.
By
Spencer Soper
28 juni 2021 om 12:00 CEST
Stephen Normandin spent almost four years racing around
Phoenix delivering packages as a contract driver for Amazon.com Inc. Then one
day, he received an automated email. The algorithms tracking him had decided he
wasn’t doing his job properly.

The 63-year-old Army veteran was stunned. He’d been fired by a machine.

Normandin, an “old-school kind of guy” who say he gives every job 110%

Photographer: Courtney Pedroza/Bloomberg

Normandin says Amazon punished him for things beyond his control that prevented
him from completing his deliveries, such as locked apartment complexes. He said
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he took the termination hard and, priding himself on a strong work ethic,
recalled that during his military career he helped cook for 250,000 Vietnamese
refugees at Fort Chaffee in Arkansas.

“I’m an old-school kind of guy, and I give every job 110%,” he said. “This really
upset me because we're talking about my reputation. They say I didn’t do the job
when I know damn well I did.”

Normandin’s experience is a twist on the decades-old prediction that robots will

replace workers. At Amazon, machines are often the boss—hiring, rating and
firing millions of people with little or no human oversight.

Amazon became the world’s largest online retailer in part by outsourcing its
sprawling operations to algorithms—sets of computer instructions designed to
solve specific problems. For years, the company has used algorithms to manage the
millions of third-party merchants on its online marketplace, drawing complaints
that sellers have been booted off after being falsely accused of selling counterfeit
goods and jacking up prices.

Increasingly, the company is ceding its human-resources operation to machines as

well, using software not only to manage workers in its warehouses but to oversee
contract drivers, independent delivery companies and even the performance of its
office workers. People familiar with the strategy say Chief Executive Officer Jeff
Bezos believes machines make decisions more quickly and accurately than people,
reducing costs and giving Amazon a competitive advantage.

Amazon started its gig-style Flex delivery service in 2015, and the army of contract
drivers quickly became a critical part of the company’s delivery machine.
Typically, Flex drivers handle packages that haven’t been loaded
on an Amazon van before the driver leaves. Rather than making the customer wait,
Flex drivers ensure the packages are delivered the same day. They also handle a
large number of same-day grocery deliveries from Amazon’s Whole Foods Market
chain. Flex drivers helped keep Amazon humming during the pandemic and
were only too happy to earn about $25 an hour shuttling packages after their Uber
and Lyft gigs dried up.

But the moment they sign on, Flex drivers discover algorithms are monitoring their
every move. Did they get to the delivery station when they said they would? Did
they complete their route in the prescribed window? Did they leave a package in
full view of porch pirates instead of hidden behind a planter as requested? Amazon
algorithms scan the gusher of incoming data for performance patterns and
decide which drivers get more routes and which are deactivated. Human feedback
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is rare. Drivers occasionally receive automated emails, but mostly they’re left to
obsess about their ratings, which include four categories: Fantastic, Great, Fair or
At Risk.

Bloomberg interviewed 15 Flex drivers, including four who say they were wrongly
terminated, as well as former Amazon managers who say the largely
automated system is insufficiently attuned to the real-world challenges drivers face
every day. Amazon knew delegating work to machines would lead to mistakes and
damaging headlines, these former managers said, but decided it was cheaper to trust
the algorithms than pay people to investigate mistaken firings so long as the
drivers could be replaced easily.

Flex workers at an Amazon delivery station in Dallas, Texas.

Photographer: Kathy Tran/Bloomberg

So far, Amazon has had no trouble finding Flex contractors. Globally, some 4
million drivers have downloaded the app, including 2.9 million in the U.S.,
according to App Annie. And more than 660,000 people in the U.S. downloaded it
in the first five months of this year, up 21% from the same period a year
ago, according to SensorTower, another app tracker.

Inside Amazon, the Flex program is considered a great success, whose benefits far
outweigh the collateral damage, said a former engineer who helped design the
system. “Executives knew this was gonna shit the bed,” this person said. “That’s
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actually how they put it in meetings. The only question was how much poo we
wanted there to be.”

In a statement, Amazon spokeswoman Kate Kudrna called drivers’ claims of poor

treatment and unfair termination anecdotal and said they don’t represent the
experience of the vast majority of Flex drivers. “We have invested heavily in
technology and resources to provide drivers visibility into their standing and
eligibility to continue delivering, and investigate all driver appeals,” she said.

As independent contractors, Flex drivers have little recourse when they believe
they’ve been deactivated unfairly. There’s no paid administrative leave during an
appeal. Drivers can pay $200 to take their dispute to arbitration, but few do, seeing
it as a waste of time and money.

When Ryan Cope was deactivated in 2019, he didn’t bother arguing or consider
paying for arbitration. By then, Cope had already decided there was no way he
could meet the algorithms’ demands. Driving miles along winding dirt roads
outside Denver in the snow, he often shook his head in disbelief
that Amazon expected the customer to get the package within two hours.

“Whenever there’s an issue, there’s no support,” said Cope, who is 29. “It’s you
against the machine, so you don’t even try.”

When drivers do challenge poor ratings, they can’t tell if they’re communicating
with real people. Responses often include just a first name or no name at all, and
the replies typically apply to a variety of situations rather than a specific
problem. Even if a name is attached, a machine most likely generated the first few
email responses, according to people familiar with the matter.
When human managers get involved, they typically conduct a hasty review—if
they do one at all—because they must meet their own performance standards. A
former employee at a driver support call center said dozens of part-time seasonal
workers with little training were assigned to oversee issues for millions of drivers.

“Amazon doesn’t care,” the former Amazon employee said. “They know most
people will get their packages and the 2 or 3 percent who don’t will get something
eventually.”

Amazon has automated its human-resources operation more than most companies.
But the use of algorithms to make decisions affecting people’s lives is increasingly
common. Machines can approve loan applications, and even decide if someone
deserves parole or should stay behind bars. Computer science experts have called
for regulations forcing companies to be transparent about how algorithms affect
people, giving them the information they need to call out and correct
mistakes. Legislators have studied the matter but have been slow to enact rules to
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prevent harm. In December, Senator Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware,

introduced the Algorithmic Fairness Act. It would require the Federal Trade
Commission to create rules that ensure algorithms are being used equitably and that
those affected by their decisions are informed and have the opportunity to reverse
mistakes. So far his proposal has gone nowhere.

Neddra Lira, of Arlington, Texas, started making deliveries through the Amazon
Flex app in 2017. A 42-year-old school-bus driver and mother of three, she took the
side job during holiday breaks and summers to earn extra money, which she used to
pay for her daughter’s gymnastics lessons. When the pandemic hit and schools
closed, Lira turned to Flex as her primary source of income, delivering packages as
well as groceries from Whole Foods. She liked the flexibility and opportunity
to pocket about $80 for a four-hour route, after subtracting gas for her Chevrolet
Trax crossover.

Lira estimates she delivered about 8,000 packages and had a “great” performance
rating most of the time. Amazon algorithms rate drivers based on their reliability
and delivery quality, mostly measured by whether they arrived to pick up packages
on time, if they made the deliveries within the expected window and followed
customers’ special requests. Flex metrics focus mostly on punctuality, unlike ride-
hailing services such as Uber and Lyft, which also prioritize things like a car’s
cleanliness or driver courtesy. Moreover, Uber and Lyft passengers know when
they’re stuck in traffic, so drivers are less likely to be penalized for circumstances
beyond their control.
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Lira says her firing wasn’t fair. “I almost lost my house.”

Photographer: Kathy Tran/Bloomberg

An Amazon customer has no idea what obstacles Flex drivers encounter on the way
to their residence, and neither do the algorithms clocking them. Lira says
sometimes there were so many drivers lined up outside the delivery station,
she waited as long as an hour to retrieve her packages, putting her behind
schedule before she even started her route. When she spotted a nail in her tire,
Amazon didn’t offer to come retrieve the packages but asked her to return them to
the delivery station. Lira was afraid the tire would go flat but complied to protect
her standing. Despite explaining the situation, her rating dropped to “at risk” from
“great” for abandoning the route and took several weeks to recover.

Time and again, Lira was reassured that her rating was fine. A typical email arrived
on Oct. 1. “Your standing is currently great, which means you’re one of our best
delivery partners,” said the message signed “Madhu S.” But the very next
day, “Bhanu Prakash” emailed to say she had violated Flex’s terms of service. “As
a result, you’re no longer eligible to participate in the Amazon Flex program and
won’t be able to sign in to the Amazon Flex app.”
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Neddra Lira’s Amazon Flex app

Source: Neddra Lira

Lira was provided an email address and invited to appeal the termination within 10
days. She did so and asked why she was deactivated so she could tell Flex driver
support what went wrong. She never got further specifics. She followed up Oct. 18,
explaining that she was a single mother laid off from her regular job due to the
pandemic and that Flex was the only thing keeping her afloat. Lira received what
appears to be an automated response from “The Amazon Flex Team” apologizing
for the delay and assuring her that her situation would be investigated by the
appropriate team.

Three days later, on Oct. 21, she received a message from “Margaret” saying “we
are still reviewing your appeal.” Then a week later, on Oct. 28, an email signed
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“SYAM” said, “We’ve reviewed your information and taken another look at your
history. Our position has not changed and we won’t be reinstating your access to
the Amazon Flex program… We wish you success in your future endeavors.”

Without the driving gig, Lira began to struggle financially. She stopped paying her
mortgage, and her car was repossessed two days after Christmas with donated
presents for her kids still inside. Lira was forced to take a government handout to
pay her electric, gas and water bills. Eventually she started driving the school bus
again and used most of a pandemic stimulus check to get her car back, paying
$2,800 in missed payments, repossession and storage fees.

“It just wasn’t fair,” Lira said. “I nearly lost my house.”

Flex drivers load their vehicles with Amazon packages in Dallas, Texas.

Photographer: Kathy Tran/Bloomberg

The computer engineers who designed Flex worked hard to make it fair and
consider such variables as traffic jams and problems accessing apartments that the
system can’t detect, former employees said. But no algorithm is perfect, and at
Amazon’s size even a small margin of error can be considered a huge success
internally and still inflict a lot of pain on drivers. Amazon Flex drivers deliver
about 95% of all packages on time and without issues, according to a person
familiar with the program. Algorithms examine that remaining 5% for problematic
patterns.
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The Flex algorithms began as blunt instruments and were refined over time. Early
on, according to a person familiar with the situation, designers set too tight a time
period for drivers to get to the delivery station. They had failed to factor in human
nature. Drivers eager for work would promise to arrive by a certain time when they
were too far away to make it. The flaw set good drivers up to fail, the person said,
and was fixed only after a widespread plunge in ratings. The system also uses GPS
to decide how long it should take to reach a specific address but sometimes fails to
account for the fact that navigating a rural road in the snow takes a lot longer than
traversing a suburban street on a sunny day.

The system worked fine for Normandin for years. An Arizona native who
previously delivered pizzas at night and newspapers in the morning, he knew all the
short cuts and traffic choke points. He also drove for Uber and Lyft, but took on
more Flex work during the pandemic when demand for rides dropped and it
became riskier ferrying passengers than carting packages.

Normandin enjoyed stellar ratings and was even asked if he’d like to train other
drivers. He had a well-honed system: sorting packages before leaving the station,
putting his first deliveries in the front seat, the next several packages in the rear and
tucking the last batch deep in the back of his 2002 Toyota Corolla. Normandin has
been medically disabled for more than a decade due to a stomach ailment and back
problems that prevent him from sitting or standing in one place for prolonged
periods. He liked gig work because he could work a few hours at a time.
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An Amazon Hub in Mesa, Arizona.

Photographer: Courtney Pedroza/Bloomberg

Then, starting last August, Normandin had a string of setbacks he maintains were
beyond his control. Amazon assigned him some pre-dawn deliveries at apartment
complexes when their gates were still locked, a common complaint among Flex
drivers. The algorithm instructs drivers in such instances to deliver packages to the
main office, but that wasn’t open either. Normandin called the customer as
instructed—a long shot because most people don’t answer calls from unfamiliar
numbers, especially early morning. He called driver support, which couldn’t get
through to the customer either. Meanwhile, the clock was ticking, and the algorithm
was taking note.

“There are a lot of things the algorithms don't take into consideration and the right
hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing,” Normandin said.

Around the same time, he was asked to deliver packages to an Amazon locker in an
apartment complex but couldn’t open it. After 30 minutes on the phone with
support he was told to return the packages to the delivery station. Then his rating
crashed. Normandin called support again to explain that a malfunctioning locker
was responsible and says he was told the problem would be remedied. “They never
fixed it,” he said, “and it took six weeks for my rating to go back up.”

On Oct. 2, Normandin woke at 3 a.m., showered and grabbed his phone to find a
Flex route but couldn’t log on. He checked his email and found a generic message
from Amazon signed by “Gangardhar M.” It said Normandin’s standing had
“dropped below an acceptable level” and that he was being terminated.

Then began a process familiar to anyone who has found themselves trapped in an
automated customer-service loop—except in this case Normandin wasn’t seeking a
refund for a damaged product. He was fighting to get his job back.

Offered Amazon’s standard 10 days to appeal, Normandin emailed Flex support

and asked that his termination be reversed. He explained that he had already
flagged Amazon about circumstances beyond his control and had been promised
the infractions wouldn’t be held against him

Normandin received a response the next day from “Pavani G,” thanking him for
“providing more context about your history with Amazon Flex.” Normandin
responded to that email with additional information and received the same exact
response promising to look into the issue, but this time it was signed by “Bitan
Banerjee.” The email pledged to provide an answer within six days. Seven days
 Management huistaak 2: people skills
Bert Orlent 8/12/2022

later, “Arnab” emailed to apologize for the delay and promised an update as soon
as possible.

Meanwhile, Normandin wasn’t making any money. He was counting on Amazon’s

annual Prime Day sale, which had been pushed back to October, to make money he
needed to pay bills. With no response by Oct. 19, Normandin messaged Amazon
again, this time copying Bezos.

“I am asking for specific details on how this decision for deactivation of my

account was reached,” he wrote. “I am confident after a thorough review of my
entire delivery history as an Amazon Flex driver will show a consistent history of
performing at the highest level, of a reasonable and prudent person.”

About 12 hours later, he got a response informing him that Bezos had received the
email and instructed “Taylor F” to research the issue and respond on his behalf. On
Oct. 23, Normandin received an email from “Raquel” on the Amazon Flex Support
Team to tell him they were still reviewing his appeal. Former Amazon employees
who worked on Flex said escalating to Bezos is a common tactic among
deactivated drivers but seldom helps them.

The verdict arrived on Oct. 28 from “SYAM,” the same name in the final message
to Lira. The email didn’t directly respond to Normandin’s claims but acknowledged
the job’s challenges, saying: “We understand that every delivery partner has
difficult days and that you may sometimes experience delays, and we have already
taken this into account.” But Normandin still wasn’t getting his gig back.

After the shock subsided, he tried a couple of other delivery services but
instead decided to use his pandemic stimulus money to start a small-engine repair
business. It was time to deal directly with human beings again. Of the people who
designed the algorithms that tracked, rated and eventually fired him, Normandin
said: “It seems they don’t have any common sense about how the real world
works.”