Simon Thompson video on workplace : Is it worth watching?

[ssdd]

Well I really don't know what to make of the video. First off, you really can't fault the man for his presentation skills. Very clear, concise and, dare I say, engaging. I can see why POSTMAN made the teacher reference. It's further compounded when Simon starts talking about the 3 Rs.

I found the content of the video to be a little contradictory at times.
He talks about Recruitment. It all seems to be quite positive what he says. Apart from 'Team' are struggling. Does that mean more recruitment for recruitment? Or just more work for them also?
He talks about Revisions. Balancing the workload, investing in staff contract hours yet reducing the amount of additional resource. "As we enter Peak, we will be relying on our regular Team, with overtime opportunites, to deliver most of the work that's going to be there". So more work then?
He talks about Reporting. It's all very well being able to report any discrepancies, but how is the average Postie even going to know what the DOM is/isn't reporting? And even if it is found there is a discrepancy, is this not going to require even MORE investment?

I agree with Woody, above, in that the pace of change and management culture are the real sticking points. Ostensibly this is due to fierce competition, and the need to show 'quality of performance' in order to 'win' contracts. Yet on the other hand we have Simon saying that the 5% margin by 2024 is expected to be exceeded.
With the management culture, how do you change that? I think Simon needs to send managers back to school! They could have a curriculum of the 3 Rs also. I haven't figured out what the other two would be, but I know what the first one is... RESPECT! Respect the Posties, and their knowledge!

[Chelseablue]

They dont listen to the ppl who have done the job for years, just hellbent on pushing undoable revisions (nr xmas pressure) for the promise of bonuses. Take out dutys in the office then expect us to get out of the mess with o/t . Customers missing out on birthday cards etc, important letters , appointments and more. Customer service has gone, sad times.

[tomtallis]

Refuse Renege Retaliate ?

[2yearpostie]

Honestly, cant fault the man, hes had the guts to come and talk us and ask for pointers

Can we get back to earlier starts ( ie 6am in delivery for ips) so we arent rushing around like rats fleeing a sinking sink come 10am?
Review the 9am and 1pm specials, if we arent going out till 10am I think that should be self explanatory.
Vans, if we are going to stay with shared vans please may we have some vivaros to replaces the small Doblos.

Cheers.

[SpacePhoenix]

Can we get back to earlier starts ( ie 6am in delivery for ips) so we arent rushing around like rats fleeing a sinking sink come 10am?

No chance. Don't know about elsewhere but our final dispatch out to the DOs is 06:30 and with the way we're often struggling to clear the Tracked, I can see that final dispatch time being made 07:00 or maybe even 07:15 in the near future

[ssdd]

Refuse Renege Retaliate ?

What about the manager's back to school curriculum....
RESPECT
R.................
R.................

[ssdd]

Refuse Renege Retaliate ?

What about the manager's back to school curriculum....
RESPECT
R.................
R.................

Okay...Shall I fill in the blanks?
RESPECT...The Posties and their knowledge of their work. What works/What doesn't.
REFLECT....Are you placing to much pressure on the workers, expecting too much?
RE-CONNECT...Developing a genuine rapport with your colleagues. They're not just workers.

It's simple really. You get the best out of people when you trust their ability and knowledge, and let them carry out their duties willingly and without pressure.
If anyone's found to be 'taking the biscuit' (I don't know how under these new revisions), then PDA actuals can be used for a short session of RE-PROGRAMMING or RE-ASSIGNING elements of work. By all means invite your manager to accompany you on your duty to RE-ASSESS your actions whilst you work at a comfortable pace.

Simon. Are you getting THIS.

[noggin1969]

P

[Woody Guthrie]

I think another major problem Royal Mail has is an almost religious zealot level over-reliance on computer software to manage resource and workload.

The tools are limited in their capability to produce an efficient and effective work plan but managers either through ignorance or laziness have come to worship at the feet of these false idols as tellers of the ultimate truth. This is not a factory environment where you feed X into one end and can expect Y out of the other.

Every tray of mail, every hood of parcels, every street and every customer is different.

These tools are dumbing down an already shallow pool of managers who can think for themselves and resource an office on sight and experience. It's a skillset the business is losing rapidly.

[ssdd]

[worktotime]

very interesting that theres been in dip in quality over the last 3 or 4 months so i wonder if that has anything to do with summer lapsing kicking in ? which is 6 days a week regardless to traffic figures and its all to cover the vacancies in the office, and also staff being told to leave mail or stand parcels down on there OWN delivery to do it and still it continues , REVISIONS we got told that we can only have a 1 in 4 duty pattern as everything else doesnt fit into there savings and efficiency plan , REPORT whats going on in your office so why doesnt he have a confidential email where you can actually tell him whats going on in your office

[tomtallis]

.

[sindba]

Am I right in thinking that the recent agreement gave the green light to these horror show revisions happening every year?

God help us.

[yellowbelly]

Dear Simon,

regarding hiring new staff - how about ensuring you RETAIN staff that are recently hired?

All too often we experience newly hired staff leaving after days/weeks/a few months because
the reality of what they experience is not what they were told at job interview.

It is not explained to them that workloads are unmanageable, they will probably be put
on the crappiest, longest walk in the office, lapsing/absorption is expected from day one and overtime
above 37/38hrs does not attract delivery supplement or pension payments. Don't expect
to get home to pick your kids up from school even though your finish time is 1500, don't
expect 1 in 6 Saturdays off, don't expect to be able to book leave if you start halfway through
the leave year as 'all the leave slots are booked up', expect every Tuesday off, expect your
overtime payments to be incorrect or challenged every week.

There ought to be an post departure questionnaire sent out by an external agency to people who leave the business within
say 6 - 12 months of starting to find out why they have left, I'm sure you'd find out some home truths.
It must cost RM a fortune to put people through the hiring process only to lose them within a year.

[POSTMAN]

Here's another one that dumbfounds me, maybe someone knows the answer.
I feel we're like the NHS, billions invested and still not getting anywhere.
I remember as far back as Crozier and before the billions quoted spending on modernisation, and look where we are now, how many billions on our s**t IT system, pda's, trolleys, various kit that no one uses.
The news stories are on here somewhere.
How much money has this company wasted over the years on failed s**t, how's world class mail getting on?
It's criminal.