LTB 154/21 - PATHWAY TO CHANGE - CULTURE AND THE JOINT BIG TRUST SURVEY

[POSTMAN]

https://www.cwu.org/ltb/ltb-154-21-path ... st-survey/

LTB 154/21 – PATHWAY TO CHANGE – CULTURE AND THE JOINT BIG TRUST SURVEY
No. 154/21

8th April 2021

Dear Colleagues,

PATHWAY TO CHANGE – CULTURE AND THE JOINT BIG TRUST SURVEY

Branches will be aware that the business recently held an independent online Trust Survey throughout Royal Mail Group from 22nd February to 2nd March 2021. Whilst the Union had input into the questions set and the length of the questionnaire, the advanced publicity and timing of the survey dictated that the Union’s involvement was late in the day and limited to discussions about the questionnaire therefore it was considered inappropriate for us to jointly promote this initiative.

The Trust Survey had a 16% response rate which included various levels of managers and the results were presented to the Postal Executive at a meeting on 17th March 2021 by Rachel Blackett, Head of Engagement at Royal Mail Group. Whilst 80% of respondents felt proud to work for the company, only 36% felt valued by Royal Mail Group and only 37% had trust in the Senior Leadership.

Clearly the new CEO, Simon Thompson has placed trust and culture at the centre of ongoing strategy and we, the CWU have made it clear that they are crucial factors in deploying our agreements successfully. The identification of those issues being joint priorities throughout the engagement at all levels and especially in the workplace is totally consistent with our policies and illustrate a marked change in managerial thinking.

The results of the first and independent trust survey had a far more honest and authentic feel to them and were quite brutal in the exposed thinking and feelings of the employees in RMG. Culture was a fundamental issue in our disputes over recent years and at last there was evidence that the surface had been scratched.

We fully appreciate people will be very cynical that surveys and questionnaires never result in action however we are determined to change the culture and we have to start somewhere and this is an early opportunity to influence and move that policy forward.

Against that backdrop, the Postal Executive agreed that joint activity of this type and encouraging the greater participation of our members could well be an important catalyst for improving culture, trust and the working environment going forward. As a result, further meetings were held with the business in order to have input into an additional survey that could be jointly promoted.

Royal Mail Group is committed to conducting an annual research exercise to inform both their Annual Report & Accounts submission as well as their Annual Corporate Social Responsibility Report. Historically this data has been gathered through the Employee Survey (ES) that the Union has had little opportunity to shape. Whilst the business has continued to conduct the ES across the whole of RMG and some of the questions are mandatory in terms of benchmarking with external companies, it has had little credibility with our members or link with our joint agenda to improve both culture and the working environment.

On behalf of the DGS(P) Department, Postal Executive members Shelley Banbury, Katrina Quirke and David Wilshire met with Rachel Blackett, RMG and her team on both 23rd and 26th March 2021 to discuss how an agreed, revised and slim-line survey could be jointly conducted and supported.

The attached questionnaire has now been agreed and the survey is due to run from 19th April until 9th May 2021. Branches will appreciate that this Big Trust Survey is far removed from the previous Employee Survey with the twenty-four questions (attached) being under half the previous size. The survey is accessible via QR code, weblink or the RMG People App and is being promoted jointly in order to maximise the number of participants. Whilst pay numbers are not required this time, the unit or shift where the feedback has occurred will be identified through the QR code therefore allowing for future joint targeted questions and analysis to take place with additional joint work where certain themes are identified.

Examples of some of the agreed joint briefing material to be used locally are also attached and Branches will see that in line with the joint commitments in the Pathway to Change Agreement these contain the key messages about improving culture, the working environment and trust. The joint questionnaire includes our key culture question that was asked during the joint workplace visits to circa 65 sites in 2019 “I would recommend RMG to family or friends as key place to work”.

The results from this survey will enable us to drill down into every single site in the country and it is therefore important that the participation from our members is maximised. Branches should note that time will be allowed during work time for members to complete the Big Trust Survey and that a postcard containing the unique unit code will be sent to home addresses. In addition, a joint Facebook Live Session will take place in the same week as when the survey begins.

The data that is gathered and jointly assessed will help to inform our goal of delivering improved culture and trust and enhancing the workplace environment for our members. In advance of this, further discussions are continuing to agree a protocol for developing joint action plans at a unit or shift level in order to address the issues that relate to the specific workplace.

The intention is to follow the main annual survey with smaller joint pulse surveys and the DGS(P) Department are also in discussions regarding how joint activity of this type can be taken forward and utilised on a quarterly national basis or at a regional, divisional and local level if required.

We believe it is very important to promote this survey and encourage as many of our members as possible to express their views with the confidence that they will not be identified as individuals and can absolutely help us make a difference.

Further developments will be reported in due course.

Any enquiries in relation to the content of this LTB should be addressed to the DGS(P) Department.



Yours sincerely,



Terry Pullinger

Deputy General Secretary (Postal)

Attachment-1-to-LTB-154-21.pdf

Attachment-2-to-LTB-154-21.pdf

Attachment-3-to-LTB-154-21.pdf

Attachment-4-to-LTB-154-21.pdf

https://www.myroyalmail.com/news/2021/0 ... -and-terry

CEO Simon Thompson and CWU’s Terry Pullinger are jointly hosting a Workplace Live event to answer your questions, in the week we launch our Big Trust Survey, writes Paul Smith.

Simon and Terry – the CWU’s deputy general secretary (postal) – will be live on Workplace on Tuesday 20 April from 6.30pm.

The Big Trust Survey kicks off the day previously, giving colleagues the opportunity to have their voice heard and feedback on what it’s like to work for Royal Mail Group, with Simon and Terry urging everyone to take part.

On the Workplace Live event – the first of its kind since we rolled the platform out for all colleagues at the end of March – Simon and Terry will share their views as to why it’s important to take part.

Have your questions ready and be prepared to post them into the live feed, for your chance to have them answered.

Make sure you have registered for Workplace before the event so you don’t miss any of the action. Download Workplace from your smartphone App Store and login using the details shared in your final March payslip.

[worktotime]

another boring tick box exercise , which we all know nothing will happen or change so its f***ing pointless , if they are serious of changing the culture in offices , take all grievances and b&h cases away from managers wiping other managers arses and have an independant body deal with them .

[Dexydog]

16% response rate-that tells you all you need to know.
Anyone that's been with RM for over 10 years knows what a waste of time it is responding.

[Cucumber]

"Have your voice heard"

Why would an online questionnaire/survey listen to people when local management and union won't?

I've only found out about our revision on here, despite assurances that our rep has been given all the info regarding it. Trust levels couldn't be any lower.

[SpacePhoenix]

Absolutely no trust in RM to take any notice of what's said. Just a box-ticking exercise

[worktotime]

i think they missed a question off there list , and it is , WOULD YOU TAKE EVR ? , f***ing yes please , and do they expect posties to do this in there own time using there own phone or laptop ?

[fb1969]

Ah "culture" mentioned yet again. And as usual the CWU tow the RM line and don't call it BULLYING AND HARASSMENT

[Phantom]

A 16% response rate tells you everything you need to know.

[aiden01]

A 16% response rate tells you everything you need to know.

Maybe the response rate will jump a few % now cwu are involved.

[Grumpyoldmailman]

So no pay number but a QR code. Is the response genuinely anonymous as that has always been the barrier in our office.

[Martin Walsh]

The 16% turn out was from Managers and during the 2000 managerial redundancies. The outputs from that survey has shocked the new CEO who has now agreed with the CWU to do one for all CWU grades.

Why would someone who is concerned about culture and not happy with the direction take part in this process.

I know that both parties are genuine in trying to improve culture in the workplace and that is difficult when you have 1400 delivery offices , 37 Mail centres , 9 RDCs , 60 collection units and over 30 VOCs.

We are one of the biggest employers in the UK and there are different issues within many offices which will take time to resolve , there is not a light switch we can turn on to improve everywhere.

This is why the survey is good starting point to understand the scale in each office of concerns and obviously we need a reasonable turn out to ensure we get the representative feed back.

[Grumpyoldmailman]

Martin, can this be completed in works time. They came round today telling us all about this and then said but it needs to be done in your own time. Typical Royal Mail, do they want this survey doing or not?

[clashcityrocker]

Given the numbers of people in the job who have had hernia operations I think a big truss survey would get more respondents.

[P13]

Martin, can this be completed in works time. They came round today telling us all about this and then said but it needs to be done in your own time. Typical Royal Mail, do they want this survey doing or not?

Yes it can be done in works time

[DGH]

I know that both parties are genuine in trying to improve culture in the workplace . . . This is why the survey is good starting point to understand the scale in each office of concerns and obviously we need a reasonable turn out to ensure we get the representative feed back.

The roots of the 'cultural problems' are pretty straightforward to understand.

They're a combination of badly-applied and outmoded 'management techniques' and a business model that is stupid enough to rely on 'budgets' as a way driving 'efficiency'. How stupid this is is pretty apparent when DOs regularly have to hand sort letters and flats that could have been sequenced/walksorted because the Mail Centre's budget is the Mail Centre Manager's main worry (rather than presenting the mail to his DOs in a proper and timely manner).

And there's line managers and DOMs who are browbeaten by their area managers and higher for not meeting unrealistic targets. The weaker of these managers - and the weaker are legion - take this out on their staff (especially newer staff), often using the same tired cliches and in the tone with which they have been browbeaten themselves.

There's a fundamental dishonesty in the business. Senior management is forever saying how wonderful we all are on a Tuesday and then berating us for failing on a Thursday. They refuse to invest in technology properly - either through incompetence or penny-pinching or both. Example: the new PDA van checks. Why are faults highlighted on the checks not simply sent straight to the local repair centre? Why are we still filling in PMTs? It's just stupid. Instead of staff looking at the checks as a potential time saver (I won't have to fill in a PMT and the van'll get fixed), there's a tendency to view them as just another hoop to jump through. They're badly thought out as well - how do you check the wheel nuts are tight on a hire van when you'd not allowed to remove the hub caps? How do you tick that the hydraulic fluid for the steering is fine on a van that has electric power steering?).

There are endless 'new initiatives', ever more silly acronyms, videos spouting patronising bullshit that we all know isn't heartfelt. There's no dialogue, just a lot of 'listening' and then parroting of the company line as a response. Look at double slots for frames, for instance. With no D2Ds, they're not too much of an issue. As soon as you bring D2Ds into the equation, they're a pain. If you have lots of them and lots of D2Ds, they're a nightmare. Really it's an either/or situation. Either you ditch D2Ds and double slot to your heart's content with little issue (except where you've lots of named houses. of course), or you continue with D2Ds and just accept the limited organisational issues that arise from having single slots (big fittings, basically).

I could go on. But honestly there's no point, Martin. People may well be 'prepared to listen' but they're not prepared to face reality.

If the CEO wants to find out what's wrong with the business, he should have half a dozen of his directors go incognito as new starters for three months. I absolutely guarantee he'd be informed exactly what's wrong in very short order.