By now, you've seen all the reaction to the PMG's press conference a couple of days ago. To reassure us, PMG Potter has a few reminders for us as employees. In his video message, he said this:
- Stay focused on the basics. You know what they are.
- Keep service strong.
- Help us find ways to pull costs out of the system.
- Treat customers the same way you like to be treated as a customer — that’ll keep them with us.
- Look for new ways to grow the business — no matter where you work or what you do. No one knows our customers better than you do.
- And most important of all, don’t get discouraged.
What do you think? Click here to comment.
16 comments:
It's all BS from upper management. Why doesn't Mr. Potter go on "Undercover Boss" and TRY doing some of the postal jobs and see all the GOOD, HARDWORKING employees we have..instead of sending MPOOs out to chew butt all the time. How un-motivating is that?
Really? this was supposed to be encouraging? About the only place we hear encouragement is on this blog!
Mr. Potter and upper management knows that the crafts are the saving grace of the USPS. They have mismanaged so much, and want more production from the crafts to compensate. Waste continues on so many areas in upper management. Plant managers who receive living assistance for taking positions away from home, should be required to move to the new area. Upper management health insurance benefits can stand a cut. Costly leases on empty properties should be terminated. Craft employees should be allowed to apply for advancement with the proper skills, without being forced to supervise first. Especially, since many positions are given to outsiders who have no idea of the workings of the USPS. I give my all each day, and I won't be digging any deeper.
Start cutting at at the top and work down rather than cutting at the bottom all the time. Reports don't deliver the mail and they aren't used to reward. Quit making excuses for poor performance. They either do the job they were hired to do or leave. I don't care if they have been here 30 years; if they aren't working to keep us in business why do we keep them. I agree that we need to promote those with the required skills, not because we need to get rid of them from some other position. No private sector would keep these people. We shouldn't be a safe haven for slugs.
Mr. Potter wants to close 1,000s of offices and keep only the one which are economical open. How are employees supposed to be encouraged by that! Universal service, but travel to mail your packages - oh wait, everyone has a computer or access so they can use carrier pickup.
Be positive.....we have good jobs and enjoy them....and good benefits....be thankful....and remove the power struggle of the unions.
How can you not be discouraged! Upper management wants you to give more, more more. There isn't much more to give when you are down 1/3 to 1/2 of your complement already, working 6 days every week and more than 8hrs most days. The top is TOO heavy and the logs, reports and telecons have to stop!!! It keeps us from doing the work that needs to be done. Time for a re-org at the top and middle, it is way overdue.
It is difficult not to be discouraged in this uncertain climate. Some employees are being excessed or their positions are being consolidated or outsourced. There are no vacancies being posted so career advancement is a joke. Many OIC positions are filled by favoritism rather than qualifications. We all know there will be changes coming to our pay, benefits, etc. And there is more & more pressure about scanning, SOX compliance, Business/Customer Connect, etc. It almost seems that mail processing and delivery are after-thoughts. There are so many laws & policies and so much oversight it's hard to adapt as quickly as we need to. I agree we have too many managers - if we could count on all employees to do the job they were hired to do we wouldn't need "babysitters." And if we got rid of the myriad reports that we don't really use there would be less work for the managers anyway. Yes, we have pretty good jobs now, but with the future not looking so good you have to wonder if we'll be able to retire with this company. I'm glad I'm not a newer employee because I wouldn't count on having this job in 20 years - I'm just hoping I can make it for another 10.
I started out as a 21-day Christmas casual carrier and now work with high-level executives, most of whom also started out in the crafts and worked their way up. There are good jobs from top to bottom in USPS, and no segment of our workforce has a monopoly on work ethic or any other meaningful characteristic. As much as some employees -- in every organization -- enjoy griping about management, it's totally counterproductive in terms of solving the Postal Service's problems. Management -- too -- has had RIFS, dislocations, etc., without the protection of union contracts that the crafts have. I -- for one -- seriously hope that Congress allows some of their plans to come to fruition, because it affects the future of all of us, including our Nation.
I have said many times that everyone who gets a job at the district level or higher should be required to work at least 30 days in a rural post office so that they have an idea of how the mail really gets delivered and how all their "mandatory" reporting just gets in the way of us doing our job! We know what time to collect the mail out of the collection box...we don't need someone sitting in an office miles away justifying their job by making sure we do ours!!
i agree with less reports.we are about delivery the mail.I also agree with upper management threating us by saying, if you don scan or you missed a scan you will be punished.. that only makes people not want to do what they say.
Well it's not as tho we were'nt notified (in advance) that there would be "CUTS" made. However, it's hard not to be "discouraged" when PTF's can't get a second income job because the USPS demands first choice on their "flexible" hrs. for the the "needs" of the Post Office. The PTF's in our office are now getting about 20hrs/pp and @ this point, their options are to quit their Postal jobs & search for a lesser paying job/working more hrs. in an Economy driven industry that is NOT Hiring !! What a conundrum that is !!
It's getting discouraging as we watch our senior managers unwillingness to change to the situation. They are spending millions chasing the EXFC score, paying millions in OIC costs instead of filling jobs, paying mystery shoppers, paying a company to drop bundles just to check if we are making collections, and constantly requiring us to print useless reports. Until they come to the realization that we can not operate like we did 10 years ago, we are headed down the long dark tunnel. They have to accept the fact that they simply don’t need to manage every second of our day, it’s simply to costly to do that!
The hiring freeze is the biggest problem. My level 16 office is down 2 on compliment and what I'm paying in OT and mileage to borrow in could easily pay for me to have 3 more PTF's on my rolls. I'm going in early; staying late and working 6 days a week for 40 hours pay. Sometimes I can't believe I worked so hard to get to where I am for this. I made more money when I was the PTF who worked 50+ hours a week. I went everywhere they needed me and did every job I was ever asked to do. So many of the PTF's today want to work only their 2-4 hours a day and aren't interested in advancing because they see those of us in middle management bogged down by reports. With the MTEL labeling I am spending enough on paper; ink and tape to pay someone's salary. I'll never make budget with these added requirements.
I agree with some of the above comments. I, too, worked to get a level 16 postmaster position. Then I had people retire or leave and it took forever to replace them. At one point I had no clerks when I was supposed to have 3. So after a couple years of working 6 days a week, 10-12 hours a day & still getting no help filling the vacant positions but getting yelled at when I made some error due to being burned-out, I decided to go back to a lower-level office. I don't really like the job as much but I don't want to go through the stress I previously was under. I also agree that management pays for OICs instead of posting & filling vacancies. Plus they choose someone who lives farther away & they have to pay mileage than choose a qualified person who lives close enough they wouldn't have to pay any mileage. Why? Because they're friends with that person or friends with the manager of that person & it's easier than actually looking through the files to find the most qualified person. Then they have the nerve to claim they can't approve a requisition for supplies because of budget. No wonder morale is in the toilet!
What more could be said? It is all legitimate gripes. Does anyone have the nerve to take it to their MPOO, District Manager? If so, and if we all could, maybe we could get something done. I have always heard that there is power in numbers. Who knows? I think it is too bad that the unions have backing and we cant even get backing by our MPOO. I think they should be our voices and we should not be afraid to talk to them about these issues. They should be our support and our sounding boards instead of our enemies. But they are so beaten down by their managers, all they can do is pass it on. These are some tough mental and times for all of us.
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