New Part Time Postie but not enjoying it!

Post by **Jevster** » 26 Feb 2008, 15:39

Hi everyone, I'm still a newbie at all this postie lark having being here 6 weeks but still feel like there's a lot of info I'm not clued up on.

The first day was ok as it was just an induction day of basically watching videos telling you how great it was to work for Royal Mail.

I turned up the second day expecting some sort of training to take place but was told to go on a round with someone after been given a waterproof jacket due to the bad weather (as I was told I would get soaked in what I was wearing). This wasn't a major problem for me and despite the crappy rain I quite enjoyed it as putting mail through letterboxes was pretty easy to pick up. At the end of the day the guy I had been shadowing (who was my trainer) told be to come in to work around 6.30-7.00 in future. Again I had no problem with this as I expected an earlier start than this but assumed it had all changed as the hours on my contract were 9am to 2pm.

The thing that bugged me was that I wasn't told how to sign in, what the procedures were for picking and bagging your mail or introduced to the Union Rep as was described on a sheet I was given on the induction day which was supposed to be ticked and countersigned when each 'lesson' had been done.

After 3 more days of shadowing this guy I was then told I would start on my own round the following week.

Now this is where it started to dawn on me that my training hadn't exactly been comprehensive as half the things I had to do when picking up missorts, flats and parcels and planning my route hadn't really been explained to me.

The end result was that I didn't finish my round until 4.30pm, partly because I was still learning the area and partly because the frame on which the mail was sorted didn't really flow in a logical way resulting in me visting the same streets more than once.

I hadn't been told how you logged your overtime and found out that you don't fill in your own time sheet, you tell your line manager every day! Maybe I'm just being sensitive but this seems a very intrusive way of doing things as the manager if often in the middle of sorting office with lots of people around who can overhear.

I slowly got better as the week progressed but was told by who I assumed to be my line manager (I havn't been actually introduced to them) that I had better start speeding up as the hours of overtime I was putting in where too much and were being questioned. I was told that the round had been timed as a 4 hour walk and shouldn't take any longer than that.

Now this really ****** me off as I had only been doing the round for 1 week and only knew where I was going because I had printed a map from the internet (no one asked if I had a map).

I eventually got better in my second week and could manage to do the whole round in 4 hours as long as I didn't stop for lunch, which I was told I could claim back as overtime.

Now it's a few weeks later and I'm still not really up to speed. I'm nearly always the last to leave as I'm on a different walk pretty much every week and where at first there used to be quite a lot thrown in for me before I started, I now have the whole lot to do.

I use my car to get to the walks I do and from what I read this is frowned upon? I was talked into it by the guy who trained me and it seems like a large number of the posties here do it. To be honest the only reason I used it is so I can get home earlier after I finish and not have to wait 30 mins to an hour for a bus.

I've read bits and bobs on here about starting at your official time but this has never been mentioned to me so i don't know if I've shot myself in the foot there, but to be honest I don't mind starting a bit earlier if it means I finish earlier.

Most of the other posties have been really helpful, it's just the managers that don't seem to do that much.

Does it get better? Other people I've spoke to say that I will get faster, that one day it all just 'clicks', and they love the job, but with all I keep hearing about the changes it's making me wonder if it's worth the effort.

And to top it all off, today I lost a recorded item. I think I must have left it on my frame but it wasn't there when I checked after I'd finished so got to tell my line manager tomorrow so will be in trouble. Really wazzed off about it as I can't for the life of me think where it has gone!

Sorry if I've rambled, hope I put this in the right place and you guys can tell me where I'm going wrong.

brodie35 · Post by **brodie35** » 26 Feb 2008, 15:57

yes I know exactly where you are coming from
the level of training is shocking nowadays,
when I started 10 years ago at a small office I was shown how to do everything such as signing in overtime dockets etc and then we got at least 3 days training on any new job we were placed on and it worked well,no stress and certainly no 4.30pm finishes but since moving to a much bigger city office 4 years ago I was stunned that on my first day in a new city I was given one day training on the round and also told that all the stuff I had done before was wrong and they did it differently here.....when I questioned the lack of training on jobs I was told that as I was an experienced postie they didnt think I needed it......thats ok in my case but I see all the new guys coming in at regular rate recently and they are treated exactly the same just thrown on a job one day then the same again the next.....the company always spouts on about mis deliveries but what do they expect with this level of training.
what people say about it just clicking one day is probably right and I remember that it took me a good 6 weeks to get used to the job so stick in hopefully you will start to enjoy what can be a really good job.
and finally as for you line manager .....do what I do and ignore him and only speak when spoken to.

Post by **rhino49** » 26 Feb 2008, 16:08

I wonder if this"trainer" who took you under his wing is one of the workplace coaches who gets paid Â£30+ per week to have someone new get him home early? They are not all like that - ours is pretty good and all the new staff we have had are clued up and have settled in well. Find out who your rep is (although I would have thought a good one would have found you by now) and express your concerns about knowledge gaps and don't be afraid to ask experienced staff questions. If you hear terms or expressions that you don't understand - ask what they mean. Appearing dumb only lasts a short while and we've all got over it eventually - then one day YOU will be answering someone's questions.

DGP1 · Post by **DGP1** » 26 Feb 2008, 16:15

rhino49 wrote:I wonder if this"trainer" who took you under his wing is one of the workplace coaches who gets paid Â£30+ per week to have someone new get him home early? They are not all like that - ours is pretty good and all the new staff we have had are clued up and have settled in well. Find out who your rep is (although I would have thought a good one would have found you by now) and express your concerns about knowledge gaps and don't be afraid to ask experienced staff questions. If you hear terms or expressions that you don't understand - ask what they mean. Appearing dumb only lasts a short while and we've all got over it eventually - then one day YOU will be answering someone's questions.

The trainer in my DO is now acting up as a manager so I get to do most of the training for no extra money

mrjlver · Post by **mrjlver** » 26 Feb 2008, 16:21

You will get the hang of it and get up to the same speed as everyone else. Even if it gets on top of you, stick with it because strangely, one day out of the blue it will just all click into place. Some people take a few weeks, some a few months but suddenly everything just speeds up and you've mastered it!!

Post by **Lounge Lizard** » 26 Feb 2008, 18:02

Jevster. Nearly all you recall is familiar to me ( except losing a Recorded Delivery ) and probably to most of us on here. It does get better in time, and it might be worth applying for any vacancy that comes up at your DO as you could stand a chance with the least popular ones which would soon become familiar to and thus easy for you. Someone that started the same day as me gave it up after a week and now, with me having a full time walk after six months, regrets not having persisted longer.

axeman · Post by **axeman** » 26 Feb 2008, 18:49

and your walks should be no more than 3 1/2 hours if over this you will be into o/t

Phantom · Post by **Phantom** » 26 Feb 2008, 19:04

The only advice i will give you and that is to look for another job, your hours will not increase which means no decent wages unless you do extreme amounts of overtime.

Seriously though, this is not a company you want to work for now as it is being engineered to fail.

pop it in pete · Post by **pop it in pete** » 26 Feb 2008, 20:00

Phantom wrote:Seriously though, this is not a company you want to work for now as it is being engineered to fail.

Quite possibly the most truthfull thing ive read on this site. Sums up Royal Mail in one sentence.

Night Tonic · Post by **Night Tonic** » 26 Feb 2008, 20:34

Fine except thats a secondary point. The guy is doing his best and (I would have thought) should be able to count on support from his comrades - not a 'get out now' by someone who still works for RM.

The job does click into place buddy and as those above have said - just ask if you're stuck :)

BELIAL · Post by **BELIAL** » 26 Feb 2008, 21:11

"get out now" is as valid as the other advice and cannot really be dismissed as non-supportive. In the current climate ,and as a new starter ,perhaps now would be the best time to try other options, before you become locked in.
Pay,hours, overtime,attendance procedure,pensions, all are going down at an ever increasing rate, and only someone on a management bonus will tell you any different.

To an increasing degree RM will rely on people like you, new starts, casuals,one hour contracts. RM will exploit your inexperience,your lack of a work network, your isolation ,your desire to fit and to make the grade.You will be exploited and as you have already discovered management will not shy away from bullying and intimidation to push you into working unpaid; in some ways, their bonuses depend on it.

If you wan't to stay, find your Rep, learn the rules ,and stick to them, work your hours ,don't use your car.Good luck

Post by **Jevster** » 26 Feb 2008, 22:03

Cheers for the replies guys.

I'll probably give it another month or so to see how it goes.

That's if I'm not sacked for losing that rec del today.

Really can't understand how I lost it but will come clean to my line manager tomorrow.

Unfortunately this is the same one that moaned about my overtime so not looking forward to it.

Post by **Jevster** » 26 Feb 2008, 22:23

If they start giving me too much grief I'll ask for a union rep.

Thing is they seem to share the same office as the managers....

Post by **rhino49** » 26 Feb 2008, 22:27

Jevster wrote:If they start giving me too much grief I'll ask for a union rep.

Thing is they seem to share the same office as the managers....

old adage - keep your friends close and your enemies closer !

madelin4 · Post by **madelin4** » 26 Feb 2008, 22:27

pop it in pete wrote:
Phantom wrote:Seriously though, this is not a company you want to work for now as it is being engineered to fail.
Quite possibly the most truthfull thing ive read on this site. Sums up Royal Mail in one sentence.

Why do they want the company to fail? who is it going to benifit? at the end of the day, people still get mail and the other mail carriers dont wanna do residential, if they do then we go work for them?