CEO please read this. How to fix Royal Mail?

[Munchboii]

Please add your ideas as to how we can fix royal mail. My first suggestion is to make all part timers up to 40 hours per week with no nonsense other hours immediately. Quite clearly enough work there

Anyone else feel free, maybe the CEO or big shareholder will read this thread

[iHateD2Ds]

Offer Voluntary Redundancies for over 40s….Mass Exodus

[postiewhite]

Make duties realistic or at least span the mail/packets evenly over the six days instead of a quiet mail days monday/tues/sat and the rest being heavy. When its virtually impossible to get out before 10am after your break, 15 mins to drive to duty and 15 mins to drive back to the office with 10 further mins to consolidate then that leaves the delivery time 3hrs 50mins. How can a 4hr 26min duty fit into 3hrs 50mins? But some stupidly sacrifice their break to fit it all in.

[ssdd]

Let the Posties have more say and input into what's achievable regarding duty structures.

[postslippete]

1. 35 hour working week on a 4 day week. Full-timers to reduce their hours with no loss in pay and part-timers to increase their hours to a maximum of 35 (unless they prefer to work a 3 day week or less)

2. Recruit more staff to cover the duties. More staff on Royal Mail's books obviously increases the possibilities of getting the duties covered. There will also be more staff on fixed duties and fewer floaters.




A 35 hour working week would equate to roughly an 8 hour working day (excluding breaks). The idea that there is less indoor work and therefore bigger duties needed to accommodate a 4 day week is laughable. There are full-time posties regularly doing early IPS or prep for 2 hours before their actual start time. The indoor workload has not changed one bit and in fact as we are now scanning all the tracks that come in - its actually increased in delivery offices.

A 4 day week gives posties 3 days of rest and an added opportunity for overtime for those that want it but its really a question of what posties really want isn't it. Working 5 days or 4 every week?? I know which I would prefer.

[postieblueshirt]

As said earlier offer packages to people who have done 25 years plus il take my chances elsewhere but I ain't going without the dosh...

[Norfolk 'N' Chance]

As said earlier offer packages to people who have done 25 years plus il take my chances elsewhere but I ain't going without the dosh...

I can certainly understand an appreciate where your coming from and these thoughts/wishes are not unique to RM. Ive seen it before in several large organisations with long term workers. As there must be thousands of staff with considerable years of service, that would all like to be offered a VSS package (and probably bite managements hand off to take it too). You have to question what is the business benefit of this? - None! so I cant see RM management paying people to leave as that creates an even bigger hole for recruitment to fill.

[Norfolk 'N' Chance]

1. 35 hour working week on a 4 day week. Full-timers to reduce their hours with no loss in pay and part-timers to increase their hours to a maximum of 35 (unless they prefer to work a 3 day week or less)

2. Recruit more staff to cover the duties. More staff on Royal Mail's books obviously increases the possibilities of getting the duties covered. There will also be more staff on fixed duties and fewer floaters.




A 35 hour working week would equate to roughly an 8 hour working day (excluding breaks). The idea that there is less indoor work and therefore bigger duties needed to accommodate a 4 day week is laughable. There are full-time posties regularly doing early IPS or prep for 2 hours before their actual start time. The indoor workload has not changed one bit and in fact as we are now scanning all the tracks that come in - its actually increased in delivery offices.

A 4 day week gives posties 3 days of rest and an added opportunity for overtime for those that want it but its really a question of what posties really want isn't it. Working 5 days or 4 every week?? I know which I would prefer.

All seems logical to me. Id add, totally outsourcing recruitment, so that it was streamlined and effective/rapid. The current in house recruitment team/process is not really fit for purpose and its apathy to new starters does nothing to instill confidence.

[SpacePhoenix]

The indoor workload has not changed one bit and in fact as we are now scanning all the tracks that come in - its actually increased in delivery offices.

I wonder if RM could find a way to "tag" a load of Tracked to a york or sleeve. If they were able to then they could possibly rig it so that the container (york or sleeve) is scanned and then all the Tracked in the sleeve or york would get a received at DO scan at the same time

[grumpazoid]

1. Stop the practice of smaller delivery offices being absorbed into the larger ones. They simply do not have the space to accommodate the increased volume of work, the additional frames, the extra vehicles etc.

2. Impose stricter limits on the size and volume of oversize parcels to be taken out by posties.

3. Review the length of the walks and adjust them accordingly, rather than focus purely on the number of delivery points. I'd argue that it's unreasonable for a postie to have a walk of more than ten miles, yet some of ours can easily reach fifteen on a heavy day.

4. Ensure that all company vehicles are properly maintained.

5. Offer full-time contracts to those who want them and assign them a permanent duty.

6. Stop the routine practice of absorption/lapsing. This should only take place as a last resort and as overtime in recognition of the fact that it is addition to an individual's full-time duty.

7. Return to a structured training programme for new-starters, rather than just throwing them in at the deep end.

8. Invest in competent managers, capable of actually "managing" their staff rather than reverting to their usual shtick of bullying and harassment.

9. Pay overtime above flat rate (no-brainer).

10. Stop being so bloody condescending (calling us "team", telling us to "clear the office") and actually LISTEN to the people doing the job, rather than insisting that we are performing remarkably well when, in reality, RM are failing on a massive scale due to the complete lack of support from above.

[cobrakai]

As said earlier offer packages to people who have done 25 years plus il take my chances elsewhere but I ain't going without the dosh...

I can certainly understand an appreciate where your coming from and these thoughts/wishes are not unique to RM. Ive seen it before in several large organisations with long term workers. As there must be thousands of staff with considerable years of service, that would all like to be offered a VSS package (and probably bite managements hand off to take it too). You have to question what is the business benefit of this? - None! so I cant see RM management paying people to leave as that creates an even bigger hole for recruitment to fill.

I’m guessing you haven’t been here very long! Up to 2010ish VR was almost considered part of the job at RM I know very few people that have left for nothing. It was this churn that probably kept the workforce young and healthy(ish). We definitely didn’t have the sick levels we have now.

[Norfolk 'N' Chance]

As said earlier offer packages to people who have done 25 years plus il take my chances elsewhere but I ain't going without the dosh...

I can certainly understand an appreciate where your coming from and these thoughts/wishes are not unique to RM. Ive seen it before in several large organisations with long term workers. As there must be thousands of staff with considerable years of service, that would all like to be offered a VSS package (and probably bite managements hand off to take it too). You have to question what is the business benefit of this? - None! so I cant see RM management paying people to leave as that creates an even bigger hole for recruitment to fill.

I’m guessing you haven’t been here very long! Up to 2010ish VR was almost considered part of the job at RM I know very few people that have left for nothing. It was this churn that probably kept the workforce young and healthy(ish). We definitely didn’t have the sick levels we have now.

Your right ....not very long at all 5 weeks via the agency! - However I was trying to relate it to when when I took VSS from my old employer in 2012. Then it was 20 weeks pay + 4 additional weeks pay for every completed year up to a maximum of 35 years. So for my 27 years service it was 128 Weeks severance pay. I know each company has different rules and ways it calculates its packages, but just seems an incredibly expensive way to encourage staff to leave? Obviously Ill health retirement is something different.

[neil2k]

1. Stop the practice of smaller delivery offices being absorbed into the larger ones. They simply do not have the space to accommodate the increased volume of work, the additional frames, the extra vehicles etc.

2. Impose stricter limits on the size and volume of oversize parcels to be taken out by posties.

3. Review the length of the walks and adjust them accordingly, rather than focus purely on the number of delivery points. I'd argue that it's unreasonable for a postie to have a walk of more than ten miles, yet some of ours can easily reach fifteen on a heavy day.

4. Ensure that all company vehicles are properly maintained.

5. Offer full-time contracts to those who want them and assign them a permanent duty.

6. Stop the routine practice of absorption/lapsing. This should only take place as a last resort and as overtime in recognition of the fact that it is addition to an individual's full-time duty.

7. Return to a structured training programme for new-starters, rather than just throwing them in at the deep end.

8. Invest in competent managers, capable of actually "managing" their staff rather than reverting to their usual shtick of bullying and harassment.

9. Pay overtime above flat rate (no-brainer).

10. Stop being so bloody condescending (calling us "team", telling us to "clear the office") and actually LISTEN to the people doing the job, rather than insisting that we are performing remarkably well when, in reality, RM are failing on a massive scale due to the complete lack of support from above.

To put it succinctly the most sense I've ever read on here, I hope Simon reads it.

[denhamhoop]

1. Stop the practice of smaller delivery offices being absorbed into the larger ones. They simply do not have the space to accommodate the increased volume of work, the additional frames, the extra vehicles etc.

2. Impose stricter limits on the size and volume of oversize parcels to be taken out by posties.

3. Review the length of the walks and adjust them accordingly, rather than focus purely on the number of delivery points. I'd argue that it's unreasonable for a postie to have a walk of more than ten miles, yet some of ours can easily reach fifteen on a heavy day.

4. Ensure that all company vehicles are properly maintained.

5. Offer full-time contracts to those who want them and assign them a permanent duty.

6. Stop the routine practice of absorption/lapsing. This should only take place as a last resort and as overtime in recognition of the fact that it is addition to an individual's full-time duty.

7. Return to a structured training programme for new-starters, rather than just throwing them in at the deep end.

8. Invest in competent managers, capable of actually "managing" their staff rather than reverting to their usual shtick of bullying and harassment.

9. Pay overtime above flat rate (no-brainer).

10. Stop being so bloody condescending (calling us "team", telling us to "clear the office") and actually LISTEN to the people doing the job, rather than insisting that we are performing remarkably well when, in reality, RM are failing on a massive scale due to the complete lack of support from above.

Fantastic post I would add to this 11 No managers in areas without actual job experience ie if push comes to shove they can actually do the job they tell staff how it should be done
12 If there has been Casual Staff doing a job for 6 months or longer this should be converted into the relevant hours job either PT or FT as quite clearly there is the work to justify the hours
13 Return to having Night Sorters at Larger Walk Offices as the volume of packets leaves most offices with a need to get a head start on IPS

[cobrakai]

As said earlier offer packages to people who have done 25 years plus il take my chances elsewhere but I ain't going without the dosh...

I can certainly understand an appreciate where your coming from and these thoughts/wishes are not unique to RM. Ive seen it before in several large organisations with long term workers. As there must be thousands of staff with considerable years of service, that would all like to be offered a VSS package (and probably bite managements hand off to take it too). You have to question what is the business benefit of this? - None! so I cant see RM management paying people to leave as that creates an even bigger hole for recruitment to fill.

I’m guessing you haven’t been here very long! Up to 2010ish VR was almost considered part of the job at RM I know very few people that have left for nothing. It was this churn that probably kept the workforce young and healthy(ish). We definitely didn’t have the sick levels we have now.

Your right ....not very long at all 5 weeks via the agency! - However I was trying to relate it to when when I took VSS from my old employer in 2012. Then it was 20 weeks pay + 4 additional weeks pay for every completed year up to a maximum of 35 years. So for my 27 years service it was 128 Weeks severance pay. I know each company has different rules and ways it calculates its packages, but just seems an incredibly expensive way to encourage staff to leave? Obviously Ill health retirement is something different.

You have missed the best years of Royal Mail unfortunately I used to genuinely enjoy going to work for the majority of my time here. Unfortunately since privatisation the job has literally become something unrecognisable where profit has eroded any sense of pride. The buildings are full of cheap untrained Labour and standards are nothing like they used to be.

Ill health retirement has suddenly become Royal Mails departure of choice as it is a lot cheaper option. I can’t remember properly the agreed EVR calculation but it was very much worth staying for (that’s if it is ever offered again). I know of people with 40 years service that are literally clinging on by their finger tips in the hope it comes around again.