RMCtv : Simon Thompson : New year message-We'll do a full review of peak planning, planning, and execution early next month so that we can learn lessons for next year...

[POSTMAN]

So hi team, I'm sat here today, just reflecting on everything we've delivered over the Christmas period, I wanted to say a huge thank you, and it was great to see so many officers on workplace celebrating rows of clear frames and thanking their teams for the herculean efforts that they had gone to to deliver Christmas for their customers.

You really did a great job, it was really lovely to see, and I enjoyed three days out on delivery during December, and a couple in Surrey, one in Wiltshire, and it reminded me of how much our customers trust us, and how hard it is to deliver a great service at this time of year, and I think, you know, many people think what we do is easy, and I know you make it look easy, but it isn't easy.

You know, things are being so unpredictable during peak, you know, running up to it, we had everything from supply chain issues with a number of retail customers, and a new strain of covid to deal with, to name only two.

And once again, we've stepped up to support the national effort by doubling the number of test kits that we are delivering to homes everywhere, and we're doing very well with that.

You know, only we can do this, it's our unique role in supporting society, but you know, having said all that, we didn't get everything.

We'll do a full review of peak planning, planning, and execution early next month so that we can learn lessons for next year and ensure that you all have the tools you need for the job.

And one item that we definitely need to discuss together is how we handle parcels in our delivery offices.
you know, we're a hundred percent optimized for letters and have perfected this process using frames over many, many years, but we're far from a hundred percent optimized for parcels, and we really need to be, and we need to be soon.

You know, peak twenty twenty-two is not as far away as we would all like to think, but overall, we did very well, so thank you again to everyone who put in so much effort to get us there.

Now it's coming up to my first year in the job, and as is usual, around this time of the year, I'm also looking ahead to what twenty twenty-two will bring all of us, and we will still have uncertainty, i think that is one thing that I know for sure, I think the impacts of the new variant of covid, no matter where you are in the country are still not clear, and that means planning workload is going to be a real struggle.

I think as it stands, this uncertainty means we are currently expecting our workload to sharply step down in the next quarter,
but as we've seen many times this year, things could change quickly, so we'll have to manage this carefully and importantly, managed carefully at a local level.

One thing in twenty twenty-two that will not change is our commitment to the trust agenda, you know, trusted relationships is how we reinvent royal mail for the next generations in a harmonious way, the trust agenda is core to everything we do, and we've made very good progress this year, working side by side with our unions.

i must say that the insight and advice, both the cwu and united cma have shared with me during twenty twenty-one, has been really invaluable, and i look forward to the same in twenty twenty-two, and of course, beyond twenty, twenty-two as well.

The agreements we have with both unions are incredibly important, and we need to always stick by them, and no exceptions are allowed, you know, they are designed to help us make this company better every day, so that we can own trusted the doorstep and grow our business.

So, looking ahead to twenty twenty-two, we've a lot to be optimistic about.

We will continue to innovate in the services we offer for our customers, we've got some exciting announcements already planned for early in the new year and will continue to invest in the business, in particular, I look forward to seeing everyone in new uniforms, you won't be able to miss our bright red color on the streets in twenty twenty-two.

We'll continue to electrify our fleet to pace and increase our use of rail as well, which will mean we can remain the leader on environmental delivery and will continue to win new customers.

I have to say the sales seem to the super job in twenty twenty-one, but we do need even more from them in twenty, twenty-two.

And parcel force has got a new sense of purpose, they're doing super well, i expect this team to keep going from strength to strength, and we've gone from being loss making to turning a profit, and that means we can keep investing in everyone's future.

And I think the most important thing we've made great, great progress on our agreements.

but building trusted relationships everywhere is and will continue to be my priority, in fact, it should be everyone's priority, whether with each other or at the doorstep with our customers, we all need to participate in building trust, and if we see things that we believe are not helping this agenda, we should feel free, feel free to speak up and to question, because that is how we keep everyone heading in the right direction.

It's been great that so many of you never hesitate to reach out to me to challenge things that you've seen and heard that you frankly don't agree with, please keep that coming, I do find it very usefu.

In a few hour's time, it will be twenty twenty-two, at twenty-one twenty-one was an impressive start to our reinvention, but we still have much more to do together, I hope you have a great evening and a very, very happy new year.

[2yearpostie]

Intresting parcelforce is mentioned. Why or why are we delivering big heavy stuff in peak and parcelforce have small letterboxable stuff? Theres an easy win for peak next year.

[Captain Scarlet]

If Parcelforce delivered the larger stuff so stopping us from doing so it kinda makes business sense. However is the reality not that PF are also understaffed and could not cope with increase. If we in delivery go back to the good old days of just wee packets it would seem logical that our deliveries would increase dramitically. I believe this will happen to reduce staff in DO's and lapsing will be actually a increase in outdoor time sanctioned by CWU as protecting jobs. People have been working as single duties for a while and most issues I see are that people struggle to complete with 2 in a van now. Never known RM at Christmas to be leaving mail in multiple frames in my DO for delivery after Christmas break, it just would not have been allowed to happen under real managers in the past. Many issues are being hidden from Area Managers at DO level and fed up the chain making it all rosy. New Year is certainly going to be a eye opener for wrong reasons but I hope Iam wrong.

[Clappedoutpostie]

And one item that we definitely need to discuss together is how we handle parcels in our delivery offices.
you know, we're a hundred percent optimized for letters and have perfected this process using frames over many, many years, but we're far from a hundred percent optimized for parcels, and we really need to be, and we need to be soon.

Hrm here we go again. If we are not optimized for parcels what was the point in the recent revisions, interesting there is no mention of them either.

And what about the, you know, the Fixed term contracts and SA’s?

[fb1969]

No need for a review of anything - you, the higher level management f****d it up. You scammed the public into using a postal service under false pretenses, your office lied to the press about "every letter being important", you failed to notice any requirement for extra vans and refused to accept that any extra staff would be needed. You took on Government contracts to deliver Covid tests alongside an already failed post service. You insulted most staff with comments about sickness levels being worse than "during the pandemic" just before a new wave struck. You insulted everyone who suffers from mental health issues with comments about "phoning a helpline". But as far as you can see, profits are up so it was a success - any other industry would be giving full refunds for failing to deliver the product/service that was bought. The only good thing you have done is expose Terry Bullshitter as a fool for going along with everything.

[Sundodger]

It's been great that so many of you never hesitate to reach out to me to challenge things that you've seen and heard that you frankly don't agree with, please keep that coming, I do find it very usefu.

I am feeling rather cynical, does this mean it will be business as usual for Simon in 2022:

• His praising those openly in Workplace who will sing to Simon, how wonderful and magnificent he is, but asking those who raise concerns for them to email him privately, so he can look into them and respond by email (ignore them as he is too busy, rather than committing his response to a open forum and held accountable for all to see.

• Simon, believing his immediate subordinates, and not those reporting from the coal face such as happened on recruitment and vans.

[Hyrrokkin]

Here is the short version from Simon

I want to condescend and patronize you all by lying my head off about what a rubbish crap job i and other bosses did this year...again.
I will give you this corporate banal speil worded just right and be positive and upbeat all the time.
Knowing full well the disaster this Christmas was and lying to you/press and customers all in the same breath.
Do not worry me and my pal Terry know you are fed up,exhausted,leaving in droves,being bullied and harassed but we do not give a s**t.
Have a nice day and see you again next Christmas - but doubt it because i will be off with a lot of money laughing my ass off.

[postslippete]

Pathetic excuses for Royal Mail not providing a service


Managers telling posties all year in DOs to leave loops and non tracked parcels and then finding out that they never had any intention of getting the stuff delivered anyway to save money by not getting someone in or paying someone to get it covered.

But ain't it funny how the company pulled out all the stops literally two weeks before Xmas to offer docket left, right and centre and employ more agency temps than we knew what to do with in an effort to try and get everything out the door.

I find it amusing that Covid is being used already for future delivery failures, especially when it was present during the "peak" of 2021.



How on earth are we super-optimised on letters when we not getting this stuff regularly delivered on a daily basis??

[postieblueshirt]

Let's be honest the company is fu***d xx

[midegarelu]

I think as it stands, this uncertainty means we are currently expecting our workload to sharply step down in the next quarter,


That one line sums up why RM is in such a mess.
Simple Simon and his crew have no touch with reality.
The Internet shopping Genie is out of the bottle and there will be no way to put it back in, short of a complete worldwide economic meltdown.

[rambo1]

No need for a review of anything - you, the higher level management f****d it up. You scammed the public into using a postal service under false pretenses, your office lied to the press about "every letter being important", you failed to notice any requirement for extra vans and refused to accept that any extra staff would be needed. You took on Government contracts to deliver Covid tests alongside an already failed post service. You insulted most staff with comments about sickness levels being worse than "during the pandemic" just before a new wave struck. You insulted everyone who suffers from mental health issues with comments about "phoning a helpline". But as far as you can see, profits are up so it was a success - any other industry would be giving full refunds for failing to deliver the product/service that was bought. The only good thing you have done is expose Terry Bullshitter as a fool for going along with everything.

This.

[rambo1]

Team, you know being a postie, you know how hard it is, you know, team. ...YES WE xxxxx DO.
Do you????? Of course you do, silly me, you 'did 3 days' .

[noggin1969]

n

[Dorset Plodder]

No need for a review of anything - you, the higher level management f****d it up. You scammed the public into using a postal service under false pretenses, your office lied to the press about "every letter being important", you failed to notice any requirement for extra vans and refused to accept that any extra staff would be needed. You took on Government contracts to deliver Covid tests alongside an already failed post service. You insulted most staff with comments about sickness levels being worse than "during the pandemic" just before a new wave struck. You insulted everyone who suffers from mental health issues with comments about "phoning a helpline". But as far as you can see, profits are up so it was a success - any other industry would be giving full refunds for failing to deliver the product/service that was bought. The only good thing you have done is expose Terry Bullshitter as a fool for going along with everything.

Well said FB.

[*horcrux*]

"We'll do a full review of peak planning, planning, and execution early next month so that we can learn lessons for next year and ensure that you all have the tools you need for the job."

Omg. I'm not a betting man normally but I would bet my house that no lessons are learnt. Bet we still don't have any spare vans like this year despite being promised in July that we'd have them.
Our office had spare people in December (no-one was on sick) but with no vans to drive their use was limited.

"Peak is unpredictable"
Is it? Number of parcels Go through the roof. No that hard to predict. Peak falls on same dates every year, also easy to predict. People can't deliver large parcels on foot, also easy to predict.

You don't need to be Nostradamus to see these things coming.