The Postal Service has many problems not of its own making. What it doesn't need are postal employees creating new ones that could drive its largest customers away. Mary Ann Bennett provides a detailed illustration of how that is happening today.
In her article, Ms. Bennett details how postal inspectors are using data gained from the introduction of the Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB) to identify mailers associated with mail that did not meet standards even though the mailers had followed all proper procedures to ensure that mailing lists were updated to include the most recent move updates provided by the Postal Service.
She noted that mailers targeted are initial adopters of the IMB. The IMB allows the inspectors to identify the sender of the mail. Late adopters of the IMB are not at risk because the Inspection Service cannot find them. Given that the problems with move update exists for both early and late adopters of IMB, the IMB makes finding problems with mailings as easy for the Inspection Service as shooting fish in a barrel.
Unfortunately for the Postal Service, the Inspection Service's actions ruins any effort the Postal Service makes to improve its relations with its largest mailers as it tries to make a major shift in addressing and barcoding requirements. Once they were investigated and fined by the inspection service, the mailers, which Ms. Bennett wrote about, redoubled their efforts to shift their communications from mail to electronic delivery. The net effect of the Inspection Service's efforts was a loss in business and revenue far greater than the revenue recovered in their audits.
In many ways, the situation that Ms. Bennett describes, reminds me of the problems in customer service that led to the bankruptcy of the Converse company. In the 1960's and early 1970's, Converse was the dominant athletic shoe company in the United States with two of the biggest names in shoes, Chuck Taylors, and Jack Purcells. Converse was the official shoe of the NBA and many colleges. Converse lost its position in that period for a number of reasons. Most importantly its key customers, stores that sold its shoes, found the company difficult to deal with and its upstart rivals Adidas and in particular Nike easy to work with.
A survey comparing every factor affecting customer satisfaction, including payment terms, easy of sale, attentiveness of the sales rep, return policies, shipping speed, order accuracy consistently showed that Converse made the retailers life more miserable than its competitors. Over time, shoe stores decided that value of sales from stocking Converse shoes was not worth the hassle of dealing with the Converse company. Converse sales dropped, it lost its lucrative relationship with the NBA and eventually went bankrupt. In bankruptcy, Converse was bought by Nike, the upstart that beat it by offering a competitive product that retailers wanted because of superior customer service.
The Postal Service needs to take a serious look at what its Postal Inspectors are doing. Otherwise, it could end up like Converse, bankrupt and looking for a buyer.
Monday, November 9, 2009
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18 comments:
I work for the Postal Service, let me assure that mngmnt doesn't give a shit about its customers, its employees or anyone else. They only care about "time and numbers" because the right "numbers" mean they can keep their micromanaging asshole bosses off their backs and get them bonuses or promotions. They'd sell their ownmothers for better "times" better "numbers" and PFP bonuses. They've gotten rid of Blue Collection boxes on street corners so they dont have topay for the "time" to pick up the mail(force the customer to come to us) and they got rid of stamp machines in PO lobbies due to the cost/time involved in stocking them and keeping accurate counts on money collected etc, plus they want people to buy postage online and stay away from our counter service, less customers means less clerks, less clerks cuts work hours and gives you better "numbers". Ourslogan should be, "We're the US Postal Service, fuck you if you dont like what we do" Mngmnt doesn't care because upper mngmnt isn't really accountable to anyone!
Why would late adopters not be at risk? As you stated the IMB allows the sender of the mail to be identified. Why would the Inspection Service not be able to find a mailer with issues regardless of when they began to use the IMB?
I work for the Postal Service too, and unfortunately the majority of supervisors do not care about customer service, increasing profits, or the employees. All of their bonuses are wrapped around cutting cost, and not increasing revenue. The majority of the supervisors only know how to manage through intimidation. They do not have business or people skills that are needed in their position. I do not understand why management does not take an active role in customer connect and service. Moreover, supervisors are not held responsible for increasing profits.
I work for the Postal Service too, and unfortunately the majority of supervisors do not care about customer service, increasing profits, or the employees. All of their bonuses are wrapped around cutting cost, and not increasing revenue. The majority of the supervisors only know how to manage through intimidation. They do not have business or people skills that are needed in their position. I do not understand why management does not take an active role in customer connect and service. Moreover, supervisors are not held responsible for increasing profits.
I used to work for the USPS and happily escaped from the torture after 18 years of dedicated service. Unfortunately, my wife is still a letter carrier and is constantly subjected to the treatment described by others in this thread. Postal management has no interest in providing the service on which the USPS has built its long-standing and well-deserved reputation. Since the pay structure was changed for supervisors, managers, postmasters, and upper level management from hourly wage and overtime to a pay-for-performance bonus structure, emphasis on providing service to the American public disappeared; not from the crafts that actually process and deliver the mail, but from the numbers-driven bonus hungry management. Basing bonuses on such ridiculous factors as sick leave usage and vehicular accidents, events largely out of their control, has forced management to implement the only managerial tools with which they are familiar; harassment and intimidation of the craft employees. The USPS has consistently received top honors as the most trusted employees in the country, in spite of the fact that they face the daily wrath of supervisors and managers intent on creating the most hostile work environment one can imagine. The reason this honor is bestowed upon the USPS is because the craft employees, clerks and letter carriers, are the face of the organization with which the public most associates. Drving away customers for the sake of a bonus is not surprising to those of us who worked diligently to preserve the character and reputation of the Postal Service. It is entirely management's fault, by converting to a numbers for pay system, that service is now an afterthought. Perhaps it is time for 20/20, Dateline, or better yet, Frontline to do an expose story on the USPS dysfunctional inner workings, the mistreatment of its craft employees, and the willingness of management to discard decades of quality service for the sake of a few extra dollars in their pockets.
Management in the office I work in recently refused to sell a large number of stamps to a school because they wouldn't have enough for other customers coming into the Post Office and the computer ordering system won't let them order any more till next month. No wonder the Post Office is losing money and customers when we can't even sell stamps to our customers because we can't get any more. Someone is intentionally trying to sabotage the business and it isn't the hardworking clerks and carriers.
I read her article, and the overall tone of it was that she was blindsided by what happened. The MOVE update has been mandatory for First Class mailers for over ten years, and they have to declare which of the 5 (FIVE!) different methods they used to update their lists on EACH and EVERY mailing they do. Which box were they checking on their postage statements? None of the methods she described is one of the USPS's approved methods.
If she was as big a mailer as she claims, there is NO WAY she could NOT know about this, and the requirement to keep records of their list updates for one year. Something doesn't sound right here.
As for the Postal Inspection Service targeting IMB users specifically I can't answer.If she was as diligent at keeping her list as updated as she says, the Postal Inspection Service would have NO REASON to visit her because she should have very little undeliverable/forwarded mail.
USPS BMEU Clerk
i agree w/ the others.i worked as a carrier for 20+ yrs til i transferred to another state and got hurt w/in the 1st month.supervisors lie and cheat on the numbers,intimidate and it goes on and on!no one does a damn thing about it.they sure dont deserve a bonus when its the clerks,carriers and other employees that make them look as good as they do.there really does need to be a HUGE EXPOSE on the USPS. the public needs to see all the underhanded things that go on AT EVERY LEVEL!!!they've have gotten away w/ too much for way too long and need to be taken down for it.i've worked in 3 different states and it's the same everywhere.supervisors lie about employees,threaten to fire them and anything they think they can get away w/.they couldn't intimidate me and they didn't like that.they don't like a strong employee that will stand up to their bs and refuse to listen.time to take them down!!
The ones on here who posted that they work for USPS, I couldn't have said it better myself. If a company in the private sector was ran like this, they would go out of business. Look at what they're doing with this "minor" route adjustment agreement. Screwing us, big time. Fudging the numbers. Then using a program that was originally created for garbage truck routing. Good old C.O.R. No wonder it's garbage.
Supervisor: "Wow. The mail sure is light today. Since there's no mail, DOIS is showing you with 30 minutes of undertime. I need you to carry some off another route."
Me: "I have an eight hour route. My route was adjusted to eight hours, based on LIGHT mail volume. Good day."
I had a carrier that advised a group that wanted to send 100's of priority boxes to the troops to go to fed-x because they could not get postal managment to come to the building where the boxes were being asembled by vountieres because they did have the time again money loss!
Same here it is obvious management is trying to drive away business. We have had 6 window clerks retire here in the last 8 years none of them have been replaced. Down to 2 regulars and 4 PTFs.Hardly get the mail out before 10 in the morning now. And only one clerk on the window when it used to be 3 at all times.One PTF clerk says she saw 7 customers leave without service in one day.Maybe a stamp machine would help,but wait we had one and they took that out. Oh that's right now you can go to your local store or bank and get service and it doesn't cost the Postal Service anything. They don't pay their salaries at these places.Short one City Carrier also for the last 8 months and losing another one in March so will be pivoting 2 routes come then.They think they can lose enough business by then to eliminate these other 2 routes so they won't have to hire more carriers. Keep asking management for help. Say we may be gettin a TE some day. Hiring freeze, so can't hire any regulars. Oh you have an interview with a potential employee. Great! Yes we need to fill this supervisor position. Thanks that will be a lot of help.Number crunching do nothing. If management is above all law,even the White House it seems, then you know that no journalist is going to risk exposing this company that fleeces America. Spend Billions on new useless equipment and do nothing management. What can brown do for you?
i have worked for the p.o. for 18yrs and still do. i had an on the job injury and have been on light duty for nearly a year.i'm in the office almost all day and witness management in action. post masters and stupidvisiors are doing clerk work all morning at a frantic pace to get the mail out. they replaced clerks (50k job) with management (100k job) and they only do half the work and that is normally wrong because they don't know the job. now they sit me at their computer to do holds and coa's (their job) while they deliver xpress mail and then go to breakfast. i answer the phone all day long, and i am asked where is the boss and i answer i don't know where and or when they will be back. i have come to the conclusion that management could do the same amount of nothing with half the amount of people and save billions in wasted overhead. they don't leave the building in the winter and you can't find them in the summer. it's time to hold these assholes accountable for their paychecks. they have no problem questioning my work ethic, where's theirs?
Why don't all the employees write to their respective congressmen/women and demand a committee be formed to look into the wasteful spending at the top?
For one the inspection service is NOT a postal employee!!!! The are the arm of the postal law....but then they are not really human as well!!!! They only care about rules and law no matter who they attack!!!
AMERICA,DO YOU HEAR THIS?WHY hasn't there been an investigation on this by someone?ALL of this is so true but alot worse than the general public really knows!Respectfully,Jerry Scott
I also work for the Postal service and I like many others have been harassed to the point of it being criminal..seems the more these managers screw the employees the higher they go in the food chain...our office is overdue for some good old workplace violence..I hope I am off that day cause these assholes got it coming.
I also work for USPS. Our biggest problem is that from Washington DC headquarters down to the the office in your typical 10000 population town too many employees think that there is no way that we can go belly up. The general feeling is 'We are government. GM was kept solvent, certainly we won't be allowed to bite the dust'. I don't agree though.
If the day comes when we (USPS) cannot pay our bills I don't think there will be a bailout for us.
I was hurt legitimately on the job at the USPS and my wonderful supervisor and Postmaster who got the info second hand challenged the comp case,NEVER provided me with their statements...needless to say I had to send additional info to comp many doctors statements only to receive a letter back saying they couldn't read who actually signed the doctor's statements and could not verify my info was correct...DENIED. Because someone in charge lied I now get stuck with all the bills and the appeal process...THE USPS SUCKS! They are not interested in taking care of the workers....we are just shit to them.
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