Runners moaning about lapsing.

[SierraOscarBravo]

On Saturday all the runners in the office got back an hour or more early - some finishing 12.30pm. Supposed to start at 7am but when I come in at 7am most of the office has been in since 6 or 6.30 am.

Then today - no surprise - management decides we need to lapse. Guess which idiots can be heard moaning the loudest - the same idiots that come in early, cut every corner going so they can finish early! Why? Why? Why?

If people started at the correct time and worked the hours they are supposed to and basically did the job properly, the job would not be the sorry state it is now.

[redneck]

It's simple, but they will never get it.

[woopesh]

Personally, I don't think its a rational thing. Its an ego thing. They would do it no matter what the situation so they can feel good about themselves. ie. I am well hard and well fast and harder and faster than that slow coach loser over there. When I chat to them they talk about the job in these terms. They are also proud about ghost overtime, getting one up on the system etc.

Its a terrible shame that generally in RM, the ones who take pride in their work, and focus on public service / doing a good job get a lot of flak. OMG the stuff the runners say about the few posties who take their breaks... you would think they stayed in bed all day and claimed benefits rather than sat down for 20mins to drink some water and eat a sandwich.

[Pompey Boy]

Personally, I don't think its a rational thing. Its an ego thing. They would do it no matter what the situation so they can feel good about themselves. ie. I am well hard and well fast and harder and faster than that slow coach loser over there. When I chat to them they talk about the job in these terms. They are also proud about ghost overtime, getting one up on the system etc.

Its a terrible shame that generally in RM, the ones who take pride in their work, and focus on public service / going a good job get a lot of flak. OMG the stuff the runners say about the few posties who take their breaks... you would think they stayed in bed all day and claimed benefits rather than sat down for 20mins to drink some water and eat a sandwich.

Spot on mate It's the same in our office too. Those who suffer from it most at our place are the older guys who came over from distribution (some who have never done a walk before) and the newies on a 30 hr contract. Shame is the guvnors love this because they can accuse a "slow" person of being crap at their job, rather than because they have been given too much to do

[woopesh]

Shame is the guvnors love this because they can accuse a "slow" person of being crap at their job, rather than because they have been given too much to do

And then use slowness as an excuse to withold overtime payments! Tis the RM way it seems.

[Postie45]

i dont think its about showing which postie is best, i think in their head they HAVE to finish earlier than whatever time theyre supposed to finish to believe theyre getting something out of the job.

[bustedflush]

i dont think its about showing which postie is best, i think in their head they HAVE to finish earlier than whatever time theyre supposed to finish to believe theyre getting something out of the job.

Trouble is that's the only way you ever get the feeling you're 'winning' at RM. The less time you spend there, the happier you are.

[SierraOscarBravo]

Personally, I don't think its a rational thing. Its an ego thing. They would do it no matter what the situation so they can feel good about themselves. ie. I am well hard and well fast and harder and faster than that slow coach loser over there. When I chat to them they talk about the job in these terms. They are also proud about ghost overtime, getting one up on the system etc.

Its a terrible shame that generally in RM, the ones who take pride in their work, and focus on public service / going a good job get a lot of flak. OMG the stuff the runners say about the few posties who take their breaks... you would think they stayed in bed all day and claimed benefits rather than sat down for 20mins to drink some water and eat a sandwich.

Exactly right. You hear them bragging to each other about how fast they are and how slow others who actually do the job properly are. You hear them boasting to all and sundry about how they got paid 3 hours overtime and it only took them half that. All of these people I know have confidence issues. They are excessively loud and annoying. They think everyone should hear them. Like little kids crying out for attention. We're not just talking about 20-25 year old runners but grown men in their 50s. To them it gives them a sense of achievement that they are 'fast'.

All of us work at pace in this job. None of us are slow. It's just if you do the job properly and do things like delivery to neighbour and allow customers time to get to the door it will take you a bit longer. It doesn't mean you are slow. After all which postie is 'best'- the one who races around walking across lawns etc and gets back early bringing a dozen parcels or more returns OR the postie who gets back bang on time or over time BUT brings nothing back because they have waited for people to answer the door or made the effort to leave items with neighbours?

[woopesh]

the one who races around walking across lawns etc and gets back early bringing a dozen parcels or more returns OR the postie who gets back bang on time or over time BUT brings nothing back because they have waited for people to answer the door or made the effort to leave items with neighbours?

The runners I know doorstep, miss out difficult floors in liftless blocks and bump mail. They bring back very little. Otherwise how could they be the lino / doms favourite?

[woopesh]

None of us are slow. It's just if you do the job properly and do things like delivery to neighbour and allow customers time to get to the door it will take you a bit longer. It doesn't mean you are slow.

This is also exactly right. Once I had to be somewhere so I deployed runners tactics. Yes I did literally run through patches of dead ground. I finished one and a half hours early on a fairly heavy day. The Lino saw me back at the office and seemed visibly excited. Shame for him I went back to my old ways (trying neighbours etc.) on my next round.

[woopesh]

Personally I think its encouraged by having a job and finish system. Its weird and inefficient:

1) You don't get the most out of efficient workers because they finish and they go home!
2) It encourages people to break the rules to finish quickly because that's the only extra compensation they can get out of the system.

Other places I worked, you couldn't just go home when your work was done. They gave you more work! And the guys who did the most work got rewarded with bigger bonuses at the end of the year... in the thousands of pounds in some cases.

It would be interesting if RM made everyone wait till the end of their contracted hours before they were allowed home, even if it meant they sat in the office twiddling their thumbs. I bet the quality of service would quickly shoot up, people would take their breaks etc. People who were genuinely fast could be made to do a bit more work, maybe a lapsed walk outside the office and get rewarded for this with a bonus at the end of the year that could be withheld if doorstepped parcels went walkies etc. Less pressure would be put on slower staff (generally older / fatter / newer) etc.

[Judgee]

Personally I think its encouraged by having a job and finish system. Its weird and inefficient:

1) You don't get the most out of efficient workers because they finish and they go home!
2) It encourages people to break the rules to finish quickly because that's the only extra compensation they can get out of the system.

Other places I worked, you couldn't just go home when your work was done. They gave you more work! And the guys who did the most work got rewarded with bigger bonuses at the end of the year... in the thousands of pounds in some cases.

It would be interesting if RM made everyone wait till the end of their contracted hours before they were allowed home, even if it meant they sat in the office twiddling their thumbs. I bet the quality of service would quickly shoot up, people would take their breaks etc. People who were genuinely fast could be made to do a bit more work, maybe a lapsed walk outside the office and get rewarded for this with a bonus at the end of the year that could be withheld if doorstepped parcels went walkies etc. Less pressure would be put on slower staff (generally older / fatter / newer) etc.

If staff were made to go back to the office every day all they would do is string it out and cut off. Finishing early is the carrot that pushes the work rate in deliveries at RM. No early finish and it will all go tits up. As RM is finding out more and more with their all year round absorption plan. When people realise no matter how fast they work they will finish at the same time they just don't bother trying, no improvement of service just more cutoffs!

[DB1100]

Does anybody take note of what Dingo say's on this forum,well worth a read,runners and ghost overtimer's beware.

[IloveMYredTROLLEY!]

To an extent, I can see why the runners moan about lapsing, because they can be saving RM at least 30 minutes most days be simply frog marching to the next address while grabbing mail for that address from the bundle. When we are supposed to stand still while "filtering."

If the runner does the lapsing and then only finishes 15 minutes before their contract hours (disregarding any other time saving tactics they are adopting), they might feel that really, RM have gained 15 minutes out of them for no extra pay.

But as we should all know, many OPGs don't just save RM time (overtime money) by "filtering" on the move, so the ones following protocol the most are often the ones on the manager radar, because they are the ones claiming the most overtime for delivering all their delivery plus the lapsing and/or refusing to do the lapsing (and even complete their own delivery) on overtime.

Until managers enforce national standards instead of encouraging corner cutting, probably by getting rid of depot performance bonuses for managers, the OPG race to the bottom will continue.

[BeamishStout]

Does anybody take note of what Dingo say's on this forum,well worth a read,runners and ghost overtimer's beware.

Looking for it - link?