HighStaff Turnover at RM

[Chasdad]

Just a newbie not startng as a postman for a couple of weeks yet. Saw a comment re the above and wondered why. Is it that it's hard work and people pack it in or what? Any replies appreciated

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Its a lot more physical than people expect, even ex forces and ex brickies say that. I think that not many have the determination to keep going when it gets hard on delivery, and for the 3 - 6 months it takes for your body to adjust. After that its not that bad and it still is the best job I've done.

[Jpro747]

I thought the staff turnover was low? A lot in my office have been there for donkeys years. Plus this is one of the best paid non skilled jobs.

[bustedflush]

I thought the staff turnover was low? A lot in my office have been there for donkeys years. Plus this is one of the best paid non skilled jobs.

Yes, the time-served turnover is low, but new intakes is v.high. Remember the long-timers have been already been 'sorted' as it were.
I was told during my induction that about 1 in 9 in the room would still be doing it after 6 months. I suspect it's a bit less now with manual well-paid jobs being hard to come by, I'd say about 1 in 4 or 5 will last the first 6 months.

[thehobbit]

talking in the canteen today, out of 5 of us not all old farts ,4 of us have been taking pain killers of various types since the park and loop started just to get us through the day, may have something to do with the high staff turn over with the new posties, last lot of ten a month ago only 2 have stayed so far.

[Lounge Lizard]

I thought the staff turnover was low? A lot in my office have been there for donkeys years. Plus this is one of the best paid non skilled jobs.

Yes, ten years doesn't get one far up the seniority list.

[Chasdad]

That's interesting and I thought it might be down to what you've said. I've started (first one yesterday) doing five mile non stop walks at close to 4mph including quite a few steep hills carrying a bit of weight but not much just to prepare myself. It was hard and I'm sore today from doing it. I expected that though. I am 50 next month but I do pretty hard circuit training including some running 4 to 5 times a week, but I imagine the harder rounds can be a real slog day in day out. Guess it must take time to get used to it To be honest I'm in it because I need the work at what it pays and will pay so if it doesn't kill me and they want to retain me beyond the 6 months I will carry on doing it. Bit of a challenge by the sound of it.......

[redneck]

Not everyone agrees, but use your trolley (get the weight off the body) and make sure you get paid for ALL the work you do. Both will take some of the pain away.

[NWpostie]

I remember starting thinking it was like the telly with a Postie carrying a bog off one shoulder and a handful of mail to deliver all day, I had a rather rude awakening no sooner than I got shown what to do on the easiest walk in the office by an old timer on his delivery, I was put on the hardest walk in the Office and it was a b@stard of a delivery being part time I was supposed to finish at 11am I was actually finishing at 2pm every day, sound familiar today, of my intake of 10 I think over time 8 dropped out and yet I persevered the wages got better, the hours more manageable, got fitter but was still on that walk for nearly 2 years before I managed to get off it to a much easier delivery.

A lot of people don't realise how hard it is and it does take a certain mentality to overcome it.

[Chasdad]

I remember starting thinking it was like the telly with a Postie carrying a bog off one shoulder and a handful of mail to deliver all day, I had a rather rude awakening no sooner than I got shown what to do on the easiest walk in the office by an old timer on his delivery, I was put on the hardest walk in the Office and it was a b@stard of a delivery being part time I was supposed to finish at 11am I was actually finishing at 2pm every day, sound familiar today, of my intake of 10 I think over time 8 dropped out and yet I persevered the wages got better, the hours more manageable, got fitter but was still on that walk for nearly 2 years before I managed to get off it to a much easier delivery.

A lot of people don't realise how hard it is and it does take a certain mentality to overcome it.

Did you get paid for the extra hours you put in? Somehow I'm not expecting you to say yes.....still, best to know in advance

[Chasdad]

Not everyone agrees, but use your trolley (get the weight off the body) and make sure you get paid for ALL the work you do. Both will take some of the pain away.

I'll take that advice. So if you finish late when you're getting into the job and maybe n a difficult walk they'll try not to pay you beyond the hours you're contracted for?

[fb1969]

I joined RM at 47 after 20+ years in an office job. Now just turned 50 and am having few problems with the physical side of things, apart from tiredness but that is more due to 0630 starts when it was 0830 when I first started! If you can put up with the crap to start with and are prepared to fight your corner if needed you'll be fine. Doing the walking that you are is a good idea, make sure you include steps and a few twists and turns to mimic gateways etc. And don't worry about taking your time to start with, speed will come to you.

[DB1100]

For the first few weeks keep yourself to yourself,but keep an eye on the people you work with there are some nasty people working for RM who would think nothing of dropping you in the smelly stuff,after a while you will know who to trust and who not to,I would turn down overtime until you have settled in and know the routine and a few of the walks,take your rest days until your body has adjusted and don't rush or try and keep up with anyone,speed comes with time,it's not that bad a job once you get settled in and it's better once you are out of the office.Don't get involved with office politics and ignore the barrack room lawyers and you should be fine,JOIN THE UNION ASAP.

[clashcityrocker]

There is a high turnover of staff because we don't invest enough time, effort and money (despite the £37/week workplace coaches) in training.

[Dorset Plodder]

That's interesting and I thought it might be down to what you've said. I've started (first one yesterday) doing five mile non stop walks at close to 4mph including quite a few steep hills carrying a bit of weight but not much just to prepare myself. It was hard and I'm sore today from doing it. I expected that though. I am 50 next month but I do pretty hard circuit training including some running 4 to 5 times a week, but I imagine the harder rounds can be a real slog day in day out. Guess it must take time to get used to it To be honest I'm in it because I need the work at what it pays and will pay so if it doesn't kill me and they want to retain me beyond the 6 months I will carry on doing it. Bit of a challenge by the sound of it.......

Wouldn't worry about the 4 mph speed Chasdad. You'll probably find you'll actually be "Averaging" only about 2 mph! This surprised me when I first discovered it. But I've been using a Silva Pedometer to measure the distance I walk on most of the duties I cover. By doing a bit of Time/ Distance calculations I've found that often after a 5 hour delivery I've actually only walked 10 miles!

This may sound surprising but when you factor in all the little things: Up & down stairs, opening & shutting gates/porches, knocking on doors, DTN & doubling back to pop a note through the door, knocking on doors and waiting! ( try 100 x DPs x 10 secs), filling in 739s, finding "safe places", doing doorstep checks, emptying letterboxes, hunting through your bags for parcels, hunting through a van for parcels! Waiting while the ignorant gits won't let you out of a side street, waiting while the ignorant gits won't let you out of your van door! You get my point?

It's probably a good idea to get used to walking on a regular basis but I wouldn't assume you'll be covering 20 miles a day. The 4 mph figure was something that was used to plan the new duties, and probably accounts for why so many of them are too long. I'm sure the measurements didn't include driveways, stairs, distances within blocks of flats etc. I know some measuring programs merely cover the distance up the middle of the road! To the "Average" person/planner 4 mph probably doesn't seem to excessive. However we're not going for a brisk walk in the park with the dog.