Dejection after nearly 33 years

[par4mrl]

I am coming up to nearly 33 years service but I am going to admit that I have never felt more dejected in this job at any one point than now. One word that always jumped off the page to me that describes RM to a tee is inconsistency and how much there is of it. The company in my honest opinion is very very poorly run from the top down. Trying to save hours ( yet pay postman to ghost ), managers having the bonus carrot dangled in front of them which averts their attention from their main attention of their very job. Poor morale and lack of communication from every angle that certain posties get and others are deemed unworthy of. I truly have seen it all and it will get even worse. I am sorry if this is down beat but I just wanted to see if others are also affected. I always felt I was glass half full but am beginning to doubt that now. I will also admit that I have never been a big supporter of union affairs and how postman are meant to be fully supportive of something that in my opinion are no better than RM management…..rant over

[nutcracker]

I feel your pain, I’m only 10 years in but I’ve met a ridiculous amount of assh***s in this company.

Met quite alot of executives/managers and most were promoted well above their abilities. They got lucky to be in a monopolistic sector and then later with the pandemic…however they’re starting to squirm as the benefits of those events fizzle out.

Keep your chin up and know that your standards will follow you through all parts of your life. The butt kissers, snakes and bullies bring all their ways of being back to their friends/families, and live in a living karmic circle of pain.

[markarronsmith]

I am coming up to nearly 33 years service but I am going to admit that I have never felt more dejected in this job at any one point than now. One word that always jumped off the page to me that describes RM to a tee is inconsistency and how much there is of it. The company in my honest opinion is very very poorly run from the top down. Trying to save hours ( yet pay postman to ghost ), managers having the bonus carrot dangled in front of them which averts their attention from their main attention of their very job. Poor morale and lack of communication from every angle that certain posties get and others are deemed unworthy of. I truly have seen it all and it will get even worse. I am sorry if this is down beat but I just wanted to see if others are also affected. I always felt I was glass half full but am beginning to doubt that now. I will also admit that I have never been a big supporter of union affairs and how postman are meant to be fully supportive of something that in my opinion are no better than RM management…..rant over

Spot on. Poor management and the way RM operate is ridiculous. Called in yesterday cos there was a van “available”

Gave me a van, not in yard. Gave me another, not in yard. Gave me a third van, engine failure. Finally gave me one after waiting around for an hour

They was trying to make out like it was my fault the vans wasn’t there and trying to make it my fault it had an engine problem! One manager said “oh you have to find that one” how can I find it when it’s not even there?!! Madness.

[POSTMAN]

It's hard not to hate this firm, for nearly 24 years I have been involved in this s**t show and 15 on this site and nothing amazes me now with the goings-on.

[DS5388]

I’m not looking to troll here or cause an argument but if it’s so bad why are you all here still? 30 years,10 years,24 years? There is plenty of other jobs out there paying similar if not more money?

[SpacePhoenix]

I am coming up to nearly 33 years service but I am going to admit that I have never felt more dejected in this job at any one point than now. One word that always jumped off the page to me that describes RM to a tee is inconsistency and how much there is of it. The company in my honest opinion is very very poorly run from the top down. Trying to save hours ( yet pay postman to ghost ), managers having the bonus carrot dangled in front of them which averts their attention from their main attention of their very job. Poor morale and lack of communication from every angle that certain posties get and others are deemed unworthy of. I truly have seen it all and it will get even worse. I am sorry if this is down beat but I just wanted to see if others are also affected. I always felt I was glass half full but am beginning to doubt that now. I will also admit that I have never been a big supporter of union affairs and how postman are meant to be fully supportive of something that in my opinion are no better than RM management…..rant over

Spot on. Poor management and the way RM operate is ridiculous. Called in yesterday cos there was a van “available”

Gave me a van, not in yard. Gave me another, not in yard. Gave me a third van, engine failure. Finally gave me one after waiting around for an hour

They was trying to make out like it was my fault the vans wasn’t there and trying to make it my fault it had an engine problem! One manager said “oh you have to find that one” how can I find it when it’s not even there?!! Madness.

Why don't RM put tracking on absolutely every van and lorry?

[Woody Guthrie]

I’m not looking to troll here or cause an argument but if it’s so bad why are you all here still? 30 years,10 years,24 years? There is plenty of other jobs out there paying similar if not more money?

Lots of reasons.

Fear of change.
Financial insecurity.
Lack of alternative skills, education.
Institutionalisation.
The loss of a large group of friends.
Not wanting to be the new guy at a new firm again.

Some like me still love the overall job but hate the (unnecessary) s**t that goes with it. It's just a shame the level of management capability is so poor, it was never great but it's worse than I can ever remember in 30+ years.

[clashcityrocker]

.... it was never great but it's worse than I can ever remember in 30+ years.

Which is surprising really.
When you go back to the Hooper Report a lot of things have come to pass - the resolution of the pension deficit, the rationalisation of the MC network (and to a lesser extent the DOs as well.) and the need to improve efficiency.
But it was quite clear that the lack of professionalism among the mangers was going to be an obstacle to dealing with the massive changes necessary.
I've worked under graduate fast track managers and "professional" managers and all they have sought to do is mimic the stupidity and incompetence of the line managers beneath them.
Something better change.

[SpacePhoenix]

.... it was never great but it's worse than I can ever remember in 30+ years.

Which is surprising really.
When you go back to the Hooper Report a lot of things have come to pass - the resolution of the pension deficit, the rationalisation of the MC network (and to a lesser extent the DOs as well.) and the need to improve efficiency.
But it was quite clear that the lack of professionalism among the mangers was going to be an obstacle to dealing with the massive changes necessary.
I've worked under graduate fast track managers and "professional" managers and all they have sought to do is mimic the stupidity and incompetence of the line managers beneath them.
Something better change.

I don't think we've even really seen the start of office rationalisation, probably few more MC closures (most likely ones in not fit for purpose buildings merged into larger ones. For MC closures it'll be down to how successful the new hubs are. I think that we'll see at some point a massive wave of DO mergers, moving them out of town centres and onto industrial estates, possibly noit even in the same town they cover

[Racingpostie]

I've only been here 2 mins compared to you guys but the lack of communication really is stand out. As a new starter your often left to suss things out and have little communication with managers, when you do they rotate them that often between depos and their days off you don't no who to report back to anyway. The van scenario someone mentioned is very annoying, often no vans about so in the car and on the odd occasion their is a van I am better off in the car. The amount of people who take van keys home on a Saturday so us new starters who Have to work Sundays then go into the office to try to get the keys to the vans that are easiest to get out only to be meet with sorry keys are not in

[SpacePhoenix]

When I first started, you had the H&S stuff, then it was basically, here's the frame, here's the work, get on with it

[yellowbelly]

I am coming up to nearly 33 years service but I am going to admit that I have never felt more dejected in this job at any one point than now. One word that always jumped off the page to me that describes RM to a tee is inconsistency and how much there is of it. The company in my honest opinion is very very poorly run from the top down. Trying to save hours ( yet pay postman to ghost ), managers having the bonus carrot dangled in front of them which averts their attention from their main attention of their very job. Poor morale and lack of communication from every angle that certain posties get and others are deemed unworthy of. I truly have seen it all and it will get even worse. I am sorry if this is down beat but I just wanted to see if others are also affected. I always felt I was glass half full but am beginning to doubt that now. I will also admit that I have never been a big supporter of union affairs and how postman are meant to be fully supportive of something that in my opinion are no better than RM management…..rant over

Spot on. Poor management and the way RM operate is ridiculous. Called in yesterday cos there was a van “available”

Gave me a van, not in yard. Gave me another, not in yard. Gave me a third van, engine failure. Finally gave me one after waiting around for an hour

They was trying to make out like it was my fault the vans wasn’t there and trying to make it my fault it had an engine problem! One manager said “oh you have to find that one” how can I find it when it’s not even there?!! Madness.

Why don't RM put tracking on absolutely every van and lorry?

Thought all vans now had trimble (or should have) so any competent manager should
be able to identify last known location......LOL

[Chelseablue]

Same in our offices, morale worst its ever been, a,, lickers, back stabbers, grassers , constant lies , harrasment to do lapsing , and joke revisions done purely for greed . The sick absence through the roof , Union told us everything was rosy , its a mess. All gonna come to a head once again, that union photo at the gates prob not far away again. My rant over now too lol

[Dorset Plodder]

Some like me still love the overall job but hate the (unnecessary) s**t that goes with it. It's just a shame the level of management capability is so poor, it was never great but it's worse than I can ever remember in 30+ years.

Totally agree WG.

As a Business I feel we really need to improve the standards certainly of Low Level Management, and probably Middle Management as well. I'd like to think they offer attractive enough packages to temp High Quality Executives at the Top .... but I'm sure we could do with some improvements there as well?

I believe one of the problems is there is no incentive for experienced Delivery Staff to move into Delivery Office Management. Most DOMs (from my experience) are Failed Postmen, who simply see the move as an Easy Alternative to working outdoors in all weathers, with the option to do as little as possible and knock off as early as possible.

As well as providing more "relevant training" for DOMs (instead of just telling them to phone their mates and get some tips on how to muddle through a problem) I really think this business needs to understand the necessity of employing extra staff who can cover for Long Term Sickness and Assist Failing/Struggling Offices. Our DO was working pretty well then we had some Retirements... a couple of Long Term Sick ..... and a delay in getting Recruits into Duties .... and the whole place is a bloody disaster zone! TBH the DOMs fighting with one hand tied behind his back because he's short of staff and the only tools they seem to have is Lapsing and Failing Walks.

[hawkeye622]

It's sad for me to see such posts from the 'old timers'. I'm only in the business two years and completely understand why there are so many disgruntled staff throughout. I do enjoy the job, but the abysmal mismanagement is forcing the postmen off on sick or out of the company completely. Sad times!