MRM.COM : Salford DO 5.8% increase in productivity 58% reduction in sick absence since an award-winning manager took the helm earlier this year.

[Celgar]

There are of course exceptions but in my experience the best managers in RM all seem to be female. Most male managers are below average in competence and would rather stand around chatting and drinking tea.

As regards productivity I'm not convinced Postie's in DOs can affect this. If we do in terms of rushing our arses off or working additional time unpaid then we are shooting ourselves in the face. The end result is then that RM jobsworths want more lapsing, absorption, or walks removed completely.

I expect the main reason the above office increased productivity would be that morale improved and 'sickness' was reduced as a result. As a general rule DOs can just clear the mail in their office. It's the RM sales department hopefully trying to get us more contracts to deliver companies mail that increases productivity.

Yes, "the best managers in RM all seem to be female" and Moya proves that.
As for "productivity" we all have our way of working and the pace at which we work and I very much doubt if whatever manager we get, and they change often enough, makes the slightest difference whatsoever.

The person of which you speak is the exception to the rule and my opinion of her cannot be aired here. Suffice to say most recent problems with the business began the day she crossed the threshold.

[fishtank]

Structure improves productivity, people knowing what they are supposed to do every day. It's very simple. Line managers don't like structure because a well run structured office makes it very obvious how little they're actually needed.

If you watch your average line manager they'll spend the first hour of the day pulling any structure apart moving postie A to duty B and postie B to duty C then postie C to duty B for no particular reason other than to create "work" for themselves. They will then expect a pat on the back for resolving these "issues". This is where a great deal of Royal Mail's efficiency problems arise from. If you tried that at the likes of Amazon or DPD they would be told to clear out their desk. Nobody hides incompetent managers like Royal Mail.

[toomuchcoke]

‘Their views were the foundation of the action plan, and their goals are the same as mine - to feel happy in the workplace and proud of the work they do,’ she said.
‘Communication was a big factor. They wanted to know what was going on and to have their views included in the revision.
‘I’ve introduced daily huddles where I’ll share what I know. I’ve always been honest with them, and they appreciate that.
‘Another goal was to be more positive. It’s important to say thank you every day; make it clear that you appreciate what they do on a regular basis. It means a lot.’

Sounds like she's exactly the sort of manager, doing exactly the sort of management, that the Royal Mail should be insisting on ... Except that if they did, it would likely become a box ticking exercise and actually be counter-productive!

The posties are the people who know whether the rounds are equal, laid out in a sensible fashion, if frames that tend to get a lot of missorts between them are next to each other or at opposite ends of the building, if there are delivery or collection points that should be moved between rounds[1] and so on. Now each of those changes is likely to be of a small impact in and of itself, but collectively and over a year could amount to quite a bit.

So yeah, communication is a big factor but the two-way nature of it has to include communication about why proposed changes aren't/haven't occurred[2]. No-one's going to suggest changes if they think they'll just be ignored. Management also have to sound like they mean it, saying "Thank you!" daily is probably overkill IMHO and better saved for days when things haven't gone entirely to plan and people really have worked hard - otherwise it can come across as "Manager reading script which says 'Say thank you' at the end of it".

[1] e.g. it's not sensible for a shared-van delivery to drive into the geographically neighbouring round to empty a box, especially not when they get there about the same time as the person delivering that street - and this isn't a hypothetical example I'm using!
[2] I once proposed a change. I was in favour of it, the duty holder was in favour of it, the DOM was in favour of it and so was the DOM's manager ... and yet nothing happened! Why? Well apparently the total grumpy guts who occasionally did that round declared "I'm not doing that!" and that was the end of it ... But I didn't find that out until 6 months later, and not from any manager.

[t3mcIUQWE2]

‘Their views were the foundation of the action plan, and their goals are the same as mine - to feel happy in the workplace and proud of the work they do,’ she said.
‘Communication was a big factor. They wanted to know what was going on and to have their views included in the revision.
‘I’ve introduced daily huddles where I’ll share what I know. I’ve always been honest with them, and they appreciate that.
‘Another goal was to be more positive. It’s important to say thank you every day; make it clear that you appreciate what they do on a regular basis. It means a lot.’

Sounds like she's exactly the sort of manager, doing exactly the sort of management, that the Royal Mail should be insisting on ...

Can only comment on my office. It's widely regarded as the worst in RM, regularly being brought up at board meetings. As soon as we had a DOM that did this he was gone...

It would be interesting to know how she managed to survive long enough.

[Spedley]

Putting those very suspect figures into a spreadsheet you can see there are very few options on staffing levels.

I calculate that Salford DO has 98 staff of which 12 were off sick. 7 have returned to work giving a reduction in sickness of 58.3% and an increase in productivity of 5.81%

There are other numbers which fit (e.g. 156 staff and 19 sick) but I suspect their maths might not even be that accurate and they've just divided 58% by a hundred-ish.

[CPTNemoUK]

I live near the that office but don't work there thank God lol. I have spoken to a few posties that work there. What I here from them is the opposite to what that propaganda says.

[toomuchcoke]

Can only comment on my office. It's widely regarded as the worst in RM, regularly being brought up at board meetings. As soon as we had a DOM that did this he was gone...

Well I believe the "correct" solution to all problems in DOs is to move the start time later and/or fiddle with the indoor working? (And if these fail to work, then obviously you didn't move the start time or fiddle enough?)

It would be interesting to know how she managed to survive long enough.

She managed her manager equally well? i.e. Either said that they where doing all the times that they where told to do, even if they where actually not or did things that where entirely consistent with what they'd been told to do but perhaps not with what their manager had exactly meant! (The latter relying on the fact that very few managers are going to put things in writing like "Don't bother communicating with your staff any more than you have to!", they will instead write "Prioritise effective communication!".)

[t3mcIUQWE2]

or fiddle enough?

Latest DOM, or the one before, or the one before that, got found out. Now, if I say I need to leave a whole walk, it's yes sir.

[Lincox]

Successful management is all about give and take. Making sure that your staff are REALLY all treated the same. Proper rotas for holidays, days off, week ends. Making allowances when an employee has a real and genuine personal matter that has to be sorted out. Give a proper and understandable reason when you cannot support such action.
Helping out when you see an individual is under stress. Making sure that new starters are properly supported.
People will support management when they feel that they are being supported themselves and will muck in to support when problems mentioned above occur.
It,s not rocket science, it is natural human behaviour, and this is where productivity improves because everyone feels part of a team and do not want to let the rest of the team down. Yes, you will always get the awkward sod who is just awkward for the sake of it. This is again where a manager should sort this out for the good of the team and he/she will be supported for doing it.

[eastie]

Structure improves productivity, people knowing what they are supposed to do every day. It's very simple. Line managers don't like structure because a well run structured office makes it very obvious how little they're actually needed.

If you watch your average line manager they'll spend the first hour of the day pulling any structure apart moving postie A to duty B and postie B to duty C then postie C to duty B for no particular reason other than to create "work" for themselves. They will then expect a pat on the back for resolving these "issues". This is where a great deal of Royal Mail's efficiency problems arise from. If you tried that at the likes of Amazon or DPD they would be told to clear out their desk. Nobody hides incompetent managers like Royal Mail.

I also find a lot of the moving about of posties by line managers is to give the docket kings easier rounds and move the 25 hour P/T staff to the heavy walks

[rubberbond]

Structure improves productivity, people knowing what they are supposed to do every day. It's very simple. Line managers don't like structure because a well run structured office makes it very obvious how little they're actually needed.

If you watch your average line manager they'll spend the first hour of the day pulling any structure apart moving postie A to duty B and postie B to duty C then postie C to duty B for no particular reason other than to create "work" for themselves. They will then expect a pat on the back for resolving these "issues". This is where a great deal of Royal Mail's efficiency problems arise from. If you tried that at the likes of Amazon or DPD they would be told to clear out their desk. Nobody hides incompetent managers like Royal Mail.

Whilst I do not count myself as a defender of management,I do like to consider myself a fair and reasonable person, in that context I would suggest that a lot of the moving around of personnel comes about due to short term unplanned absence ,sick leave,call it what you will,as for the underlying cause of said absence ,that is a topic for another day.

[DGH]

Successful management is all about give and take. Making sure that your staff are REALLY all treated the same. Proper rotas for holidays, days off, week ends. Making allowances when an employee has a real and genuine personal matter that has to be sorted out. Give a proper and understandable reason when you cannot support such action.
Helping out when you see an individual is under stress. Making sure that new starters are properly supported.
People will support management when they feel that they are being supported themselves and will muck in to support when problems mentioned above occur.
It,s not rocket science, it is natural human behaviour, and this is where productivity improves because everyone feels part of a team and do not want to let the rest of the team down. Yes, you will always get the awkward sod who is just awkward for the sake of it. This is again where a manager should sort this out for the good of the team and he/she will be supported for doing it.

Absolutely right.

[Interested-seeker]

Good on her, she has the right attitude!

Morale will always be low if no thanks or appreciation is given.

[Interested-seeker]

I live near the that office but don't work there thank God lol. I have spoken to a few posties that work there. What I here from them is the opposite to what that propaganda says.

Oh wow. I guess that you can sort of tell from the photo. All of the posties in it aren't exactly smiling!

[rogersh]

Not yet had the action plan. Perhaps a few other offices are still awaiting theirs ?
Maybe a survey of the survey is needed to find out if management engagement is 100%.