Delivery to Neighbour Trial Report

[wannabeek]

With the high percentage of successful deliveries before the 'leave next door' trail and also the statement that it's not taking any longer to complete deliveries during the trial, it seems pretty clear that many posties were already delivering to neighbours before the trial even took place.

I know for sure that this 'trial' would make no difference to some of the distant village rural rounds I cover - I already rarely bring back more than one or two parcels, usually because they're specials.

[CORTINA]

Makes no difference to us as we do not..naff about walking around knocking at several peoples doors........

[IcanthelpthewayIam]

Makes no difference to us as we do not..naff about walking around knocking at several peoples doors........

Why not?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Makes no difference to us as we do not..naff about walking around knocking at several peoples doors........

Why not?

Probably because at the moment its against the security procedures. Only trial offices can "leave with a neighbour" and when it comes in the Postal Officer can use his discretion.

[IcanthelpthewayIam]

Makes no difference to us as we do not..naff about walking around knocking at several peoples doors........

Why not?

Probably because at the moment its against the security procedures. Only trial offices can "leave with a neighbour" and when it comes in the Postal Officer can use his discretion.

I think you will find he is implying that when it does come in he won't be "naffed about walking around knocking at several peoples doors" not that its against current procedure

[skull]

What type of manager or postie would prioritise the offloading of packets on to neighbours rather than meeting the universal service obligation. Offloading packets will only happen on the quietest of days.

[IcanthelpthewayIam]

What type of manager or postie would prioritise the offloading of packets on to neighbours rather than meeting the universal service obligation. Offloading packets will only happen on the quietest of days.

So your only going to do it if you have time? Rather than do the job properly?

[DGP1]

What type of manager or postie would prioritise the offloading of packets on to neighbours rather than meeting the universal service obligation. Offloading packets will only happen on the quietest of days.

So your only going to do it if you have time? Rather than do the job properly?

Yep, unless my manager takes work off me (which wont happen), so what are YOU going to do about it? Write an e-mail to Moya and tell her that all those bad posties don't want to work over their time for free to knock on loads of doors to ask if they'll accept a packet for someone that they may not know or even like..........go on, let me know how that works out.

Better still, maybe you could go to all the offices and do the packets that the rest of us can't get done, you seem to have plenty of time.

[IcanthelpthewayIam]

What type of manager or postie would prioritise the offloading of packets on to neighbours rather than meeting the universal service obligation. Offloading packets will only happen on the quietest of days.

So your only going to do it if you have time? Rather than do the job properly?

Yep, unless my manager takes work off me (which wont happen), so what are YOU going to do about it? Write an e-mail to Moya and tell her that all those bad posties don't want to work over their time for free to knock on loads of doors to ask if they'll accept a packet for someone that they may not know or even like..........go on, let me know how that works out.

Better still, maybe you could go to all the offices and do the packets that the rest of us can't get done, you seem to have plenty of time.

So you only do the job properly when you have time? thats what you are saying

who said anything about working over their time for free? all i am saying is everyone should be doing the job properly, there is no reason not to, and anyone who isnt willing to do the job properly really should think about a career change or if they dont i hope the ones who are too lazy and arent willing to do things right who spoil everything for everyone else get caught and conducted appropriately

[skull]

Packet offload will be discretionary, I will be doing the job properly.

[IcanthelpthewayIam]

Packet offload will be discretionary, I will be doing the job properly.

Its discretionary as in if you can find someone suitable to take it, you are stating you will only do it if you have time, that's not doing the job properly its cutting corners

[Ozzvaldo]

I was under the impression that the dummies that masquerade as "management' in DOs are there to make executive decisions on our behalf when matters which our tiny brains have difficulty coming to terms with arise.....they're not paid more than we are simply because of the entertainment provided by their dreadful taste in ill-fitting striped shirts and nasty ties. Let them earn it.

Within a very short time of this wild west medicine show hitting my office, I can foresee that I, like the vast majority of duty holders in our P&L office, will probably have to serve up these two scenarios for my management "team" to preside over....either of which would be absolutely fine by me.

Would they;

a) like me to continue to embrace the new system and attempt delivery of packets to neighbours (and if so how many before I give up the ghost and shove a P739 through) and accept the likelihood that the extra time expended will come at a cost to the business i.e. OT for myself or another member of staff willing to take out the mail I return to the DO when I cut off at my due finishing time....in practice, however, undelivered mail usually remains precisely that until the following day in my office.

or

b) Prefer me to perform my duties as per current regulations with the probability that more items will be clogging up the Callers Office than in scenario a), but with the upside that I will almost certainly complete on time (or at least work less OT to complete) or cut off with less mail to return to the office than in scenario a)

I don't really care which of these is enforced in my office, or even whether the decision is reached by hard-nosed debate and analysis or the usual toss of a coin, but my instinct/cynicism would tell me that scenario b) is an absolute shoe-in for the long term solution if my DOM is allowed to ditch the new wisdom for operational reasons i.e the potential increase in OT costs and undelivered mail in scenario a).

Bear in mind that we are currently operating at the time of the year when traffic volumes are historically at their lowest and the ramifications of scenario a) will have a much bigger impact on DO budgets/managers' blood pressure/idiots coming in early, having no break, belting around duties to complete etc once the Autumn months set in.

I suspect that my office will be given a run at the new way of working before scenario b) is quietly ushered back in....with or without the permission of even higher beings.

[IcanthelpthewayIam]

I suspect that my office will be given a run at the new way of working before scenario b) is quietly ushered back in....with or without the permission of even higher beings.

so its ok to start cutting corners when it suits, union rep should be ensuring that in the eventualty you predict that its raised as high as it needs to so that either the system is removed nationally or implemented nationally

[Ozzvaldo]

I suspect that my office will be given a run at the new way of working before scenario b) is quietly ushered back in....with or without the permission of even higher beings.

so its ok to start cutting corners when it suits, union rep should be ensuring that in the eventualty you predict that its raised as high as it needs to so that either the system is removed nationally or implemented nationally

I don't think that I actually said anywhere in my post, and my apologies if I did, that I thought it was "ok" to cut corners. I don't. What I did say was that I will be quite happy to carry out my duties by whatever means my office Stasi (i.e. my immediate superiors) see fit.....it will then be their responsibility to debate the rights and wrongs of the ramifications when their own management at area level are questioning the functioning of the office.

When I contend that scenario b) will in all probability make a comeback in my office, I'm not referring to it happening as a result of willful disobedience by delivery staff, but rather as a consequence of "executive action" implemented by the local management. I suspect that the management in my office are not alone in their ability to interpret the details of national policies in their own unique way....particularly when the word "discretion" is bandied about willy-nilly in the protocols....and the experience of working under these particular clowns for years was used as a basis for the opinions/conjectures expressed in my previous post.

These are the idiots, after all, that within a week of P&L starting were positively advocating the ditching of LWTs and the reintroduction of carrying pouches (albeit containing an unspecified "smaller amount of mail" than we used to carry under the old system) whilst at the same time hassling those who stuck to the new world order and booked OT/took mail back to the office. They saw the light/got a good bollocking from above on the LWT situation, but they still invoke an inquisition when posties submit their duties for relief in a system that's actually been designed by those who know better than us to fail as soon as traffic climbs above "model week" volumes.

All the best to you, zx135.

[fishtank]

So you only do the job properly when you have time? thats what you are saying

who said anything about working over their time for free? all i am saying is everyone should be doing the job properly, there is no reason not to, and anyone who isnt willing to do the job properly really should think about a career change or if they dont i hope the ones who are too lazy and arent willing to do things right who spoil everything for everyone else get caught and conducted appropriately

I still don't understand how it can be considered "cutting corners" and "not doing the job properly" when according to Royal Mail it adds no extra time,it would appear no extra time will be provided and the default position of P739 and returning the item will still be both acceptable and at the discretion of the OPG.

If again according to Royal Mail it takes no extra time your use of the word "lazy" is irrelevant,if it is at the discretion of the OPG "doing things right" is also irrelevant,hoping that members get conducted over guidelines that are at best vague and at worst absolutely incomprehensible is quite frankly pathetic.

The serious issue behind this is the degradation of the service,not only on the front line but in the inevitable drive for savings behind the scenes.
Dave Ward,rather idiotically in my opinion called for Royal Mail to be allowed the same discretion when leaving parcels as our competitors have.What Dave fails to realise is that we have two things our competitors don't have....the trust of our customers and a huge network of post offices and delivery offices in every town and most villages in the country where customers can collect their items.
A Stupid,ill-thought through,half-assed reduction in Royal Mail's quality standard like this will hasten the end of both of these two things.
This isn't doing the job properly it's shooting ourselves in the foot...properly.