Business decisions in the face of Covid-19

Post by **Murdoch** » 03 May 2020, 07:23

Royal Mail senior management have taken quite a revealing response to Covid-19. Contrast RM to other Companies that remained open and faced large increases in business at the same time as facing attendance issues due to self-isolation. Their first response was to hire loads of extra people. Many companies have openly admitted they're taking in more revenue at the moment, but they're spending a lot more on staff (including giving them bonuses). It's more about keeping things going, than making a profit.

Royal Mail's initial response to the Covid-19 lockdown, was to implement a total recruitment ban on all delivery staff. So inevitably, since everybody is at home bored and ordering stuff online 24/7, and most shops are closed. We're now busier than Christmas, but unlike Christmas we've also got a recruitment ban and higher than usual staff absence. Royal Mail's response to the mountain of stuff piling up in some delivery offices, is to cut the Universal Service for the whole country, but cut it in such a way that it makes it more difficult for the Delivery Offices that have been operating completely fine. I don't see how double mail on Monday, is going to help us at all. We're just going to have staff going home early on a Saturday, and then we'll fail stuff on a Monday, and backlog the whole week. You genuinely couldn't make it up, Royal Mail logic at its finest.

It really boggles the mind that something so simple can be made so complicated. If you have Delivery Offices that are snowed under with parcels. Hire some people to deliver some parcels. Like we do with those other "unprecedented situations" like Xmas, and It wasn't so long ago they were talking about hiring temporary agency staff for their "peak Easter period"...

Busterbear · Post by **Busterbear** » 03 May 2020, 07:33

And unbelievably there not paying overtime !

scoobydo79 · Post by **scoobydo79** » 03 May 2020, 07:40

Wait till the Saturday and the bank holiday backlog hit us!!!

Post by **Murdoch** » 03 May 2020, 07:45

These people get paid a lot of money to make these decisions.

I think that leads people into believing that there's some sort of alternative plan, a devious mastermind in the background playing 4d chess. That they can't simply be that incompetent.

Honestly, I actually think it's just incompetence. I don't think they have a clue.

A2B · Post by **A2B** » 03 May 2020, 07:47

Busterbear wrote:And unbelievably there not paying overtime !

They are paying overtime just not in all offices.

Also they will not pay "pressure overtime" for Saturday & Monday but you can still come in and be paid to work your rest day

clashcityrocker · Post by **clashcityrocker** » 03 May 2020, 07:51

Murdoch wrote:wasn't so long ago they were talking about hiring temporary agency staff for their "peak Easter period"...

We did have agency workers in at Easter delivering parcels.
Hiring at RM isn't as easy as hiring at Tesco.
The checks that are in place take weeks at the best of times. During the current pandemic they may be next to impossible.

Incidentally Tesco are saying they expect to take a £925 million hit due to coronavirus sick absence.
What is Royal Mail's expected hit?

Busterbear · Post by **Busterbear** » 03 May 2020, 07:54

A2B wrote:
Busterbear wrote:And unbelievably there not paying overtime !
They are paying overtime just not in all offices.

Also they will not pay "pressure overtime" for Saturday & Monday but you can still come in and be paid to work your rest day

On national postal workers day they got us all together ( 2 metres apart of course ) . Thought we were all going to get a pat on the back , but no ! DOM said if you work over we won’t pay you ! That was it ! Total disrespect for us and the public

Post by **Murdoch** » 03 May 2020, 08:00

A2B wrote:
Busterbear wrote:And unbelievably there not paying overtime !
They are paying overtime just not in all offices.

Also they will not pay "pressure overtime" for Saturday & Monday but you can still come in and be paid to work your rest day

In my office, normally everything would be cleared on Sat. But with no letters delivered on a Sat, and no changes to any duties, as we've got no staff absences. Everybody would have went home early.

So now I'll go in on Monday to double mail and an insane amount of packets and parcels. Since there's no overtime being paid, and I'm only part-time (3 days a week) and wasn't in on Sat. I'll just cut off and go home on my hours, which will be the first time I'll have failed a duty.

Royal Mail have just created a problem, in an office that so far hasn't been affected by Covid-19.

A2B · Post by **A2B** » 03 May 2020, 08:09

Murdoch wrote: It really boggles the mind that something so simple can be made so complicated. If you have Delivery Offices that are snowed under with parcels. Hire some people to deliver some parcels. Like we do with those other "unprecedented situations" like Xmas, and It wasn't so long ago they were talking about hiring temporary agency staff for their "peak Easter period"...

I agree with most of your points and a combination of things have put us in this mess but i think the biggest one is the need to social distance. Less people sorting IPS & packets = delays, one person to a van = delays. Employing more staff would help normally but proper training couldn't be given due to social distancing.

Until we can go back to van shares (which i think is a while off) i think the unpopular but obvious way to clear some offices is staggered start times.

Post by **Murdoch** » 03 May 2020, 08:40

clashcityrocker wrote:
Murdoch wrote:wasn't so long ago they were talking about hiring temporary agency staff for their "peak Easter period"...
We did have agency workers in at Easter delivering parcels.
Hiring at RM isn't as easy as hiring at Tesco.
The checks that are in place take weeks at the best of times. During the current pandemic they may be next to impossible.

Incidentally Tesco are saying they expect to take a £925 million hit due to coronavirus sick absence.
What is Royal Mail's expected hit?

They cancelled agency staff that were part way through the vetting process, before the lockdown was even initiated. The pre-employment checks are the same as other companies go through, there's nothing special about this. It's just a basic background check, why on earth would that be impossible? It's all done electronically. My misses just got a Disclosure background check the other week for working with children and vulnerable people, I've been delivering plenty of those too as per usual.

Tesco said they expected the increased costs associated with Covid-19 to be between £600-925 million. However, revenues increased 30%, they hired 45,000 temporary members of staff, they paid a dividend, and they're paying a bonus to their staff. This is exactly the point I'm making, the contrast in responses to Covid-19, and how that reflects on the company.

RM have manoeuvred with a mindset of, we need to navigate this crisis by making cuts, and cutting the service. With regards to the cost they are incurring, the only info we have, is 340 million operating profit for the last financial year. However, Rico has said they expect to make a loss this financial year (but they were saying that before Covid-19 was even a thing).

Packet and parcel revenues are clearly hugely up, letter volumes have been more robust than I was expecting. Does the increase in revenue offset the increased staffing costs due to absence? Only time will tell on that front. It's hard to get a national picture, when certain areas are hugely affected, and others like mine, aren't at all.

Woody Guthrie · Post by **Woody Guthrie** » 03 May 2020, 08:41

Royal Mail is not just about the UK.
As we all know GLS has been propping up the company financially for the past few years. GLS has been hit very badly by Covid-19 across Europe especially in the Business to Business sector. Without GLS profits or in fact with GLS making a loss the parent company (us) is going to be making a loss.

Even with increased revenue from parcels the cost of delivering each parcel has obviously increased with social distancing and new delivery methods, profit margin isn't that great in the parcel market as it is.

Anybody who thinks the company is raking it in is kidding themselves on.

A2B · Post by **A2B** » 03 May 2020, 08:49

Busterbear wrote:
A2B wrote:
Busterbear wrote:And unbelievably there not paying overtime !
They are paying overtime just not in all offices.

Also they will not pay "pressure overtime" for Saturday & Monday but you can still come in and be paid to work your rest day

On national postal workers day they got us all together ( 2 metres apart of course ) . Thought we were all going to get a pat on the back , but no ! DOM said if you work over we won’t pay you ! That was it ! Total disrespect for us and the public

Does you office clear usually? Are there walks not going out?

Post by **Murdoch** » 03 May 2020, 09:10

Woody Guthrie wrote: Anybody who thinks the company is raking it in is kidding themselves on.

I don't think anybody is suggesting the company is on balance "raking it in". There are clearly many extra associated costs due to Covid-19.

What I'm saying, is that a national policy of reducing the universal service is a questionable response, to a resource problem in specific areas, at a time when the company is busy. As a business decision, it seems to be stuck in the mindset of "we have to make cuts". And I'm saying this from the perspective that the "No letters on a Saturday" decision, makes it far more likely that packets and parcels will fail the following week. As much as it might clear a backlog in certain places, it's just as likely to create one nationally.

That aside, there is an excellent business opportunity here to grow parcel revenue far quicker than would have been expected. What I've noticed too, is that once people get used to buying a lot of their "stuff" online, it tends to stick and snowballs into their main method of buying things. Similarly, once a business goes to the hassle of setting up an online delivery system, they very rarely stop offering that service.

Post by **rambo1** » 03 May 2020, 10:29

Woody Guthrie wrote:Royal Mail is not just about the UK.
As we all know GLS has been propping up the company financially for the past few years. GLS has been hit very badly by Covid-19 across Europe especially in the Business to Business sector. Without GLS profits or in fact with GLS making a loss the parent company (us) is going to be making a loss.

Even with increased revenue from parcels the cost of delivering each parcel has obviously increased with social distancing and new delivery methods, profit margin isn't that great in the parcel market as it is.

Anybody who thinks the company is raking it in is kidding themselves on.

Saturday is a fine example of why royal mail as a company are basically buggered. If they didn't have a clue how long packets take to deliver, they do now. Most people I would say, only took about 1- 1.5 hrs less than they would have done to take the letters as well. Managers expecting one person to take two delivery worth if packets was a joke. One which in most offices backfired spectacularly. If we move to more and more packets and less letters it really isn't gonna take any less time to process and deliver on their current model. And this is when on lockdown most are getting rid of 99% first time. Almost forgot how to fill in a 739 now. Imagine this level of packets when people are at work!

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 03 May 2020, 11:18

I think that the decision over Saturdays was a PR decision rather than a financial one.

If you know failures are somewhat endemic then perhaps getting the public to think RM are good employers may be a good look further down the line.

I am fairly certain it was a strategic move rather than a benevolent one.