USPS Operation Appreciation

At the United States Postal Service there is a problematic trend with the way employee recognition programs are administered. Supervisors and managers at the lowest levels are tasked with deciding which employees to publicly acknowledge for performance above and beyond expectations. Do they put the most emphasis for selection on employees they like? Or does the routine of the daily grind deprive our leaders from taking time to sincerely and transparently praise the staff that directly report to them.

As postal workers we provide a public service and all of us need each other to process and deliver the mail. The only way we are going to achieve high-end service goals are through teamwork. Those individuals selected by their superiors as most valuable players worthy of congratulations must accept the tribute with a humble attitude remembering that they are successful with assistance from others. Every task originates from a team and ends as a result of a team. Isn’t it the challenge of leadership to groom all their team members for a trip to the winner’s platform? I believe an effective recognition program is presented with clear criteria leaving no question in the audience’s mind why an individual is being conferred. Often we see an award presented, hear an empty sentence spoken by the presenter, everyone claps out of courtesy, and it is unclear what the recipient actually did to deserve being front and center.

Cavett Robert, founder of the National Speakers Association is quoted as saying “Three billion people on the face of the earth go to bed hungry every night, but four billion people go to bed every night hungry for a simple word of encouragement and recognition.”

There’s nothing like an opportunity for some intellectual honesty about this topic with hopes of revolutionizing the way deck plate leaders distinguish “showing up” performance from superb acts on the job. After every awards ceremony it’s interesting how employees engage in sidebar conversations consisting of complaints, jealousy, dissatisfaction, and praise as spectators mentally and physically size up those on the “blue” carpet. A few viewers may even become employee snipers, a position defined as bad-mouthing coworkers behind their backs. We hear comments like, how did he get that? What did she do? All those are the brown-nose people or boss favorites. Other indicators of deeper psychological malnutrition in the unit may be suggested through absenteeism, tardiness, unethical conduct, and pressures from having to make personal or family sacrifices.

Sometimes we think too narrowly about what people will find rewarding. Are we recognizing to reinforce brown-nosing? Or are we saluting employees to produce more and better work? We all know sick leave is very important benefit. Our organization puts so much emphasis on not using sick leave but at the same time we don’t promote a healthy workplace or lifestyle. Perfect can be a category, and so can not-so-perfect. If you were lucky enough to not use your earned sick leave benefit for an entire year you would have saved approximately 96 hours, and at a rate of say $20 per hour, you just saved the company $1920.

As a token of appreciation for not using sick leave you will be honored with a present from the one size fits all pick. I would propose that the gift purchaser know something about the demographics of the audience. A fifty year old person probably would not expect to receive a skateboard, and a twenty-five year old probably won’t look forward to receiving a foot massager. USPS supervisors and managers should survey employees through a plan of action and milestones months or weeks in advance of award ceremonies to find out what we value too. Our ideas can help them make better informed decisions toward meaningful productions. Cash will always be the great motivator! How about $1000 presented on the spot in one-hundred dollar bills as the supervisor counts out the money? I bet people will say; now you got my attention.

If a manager’s boss dangled a $10,000 performance incentive in front of that manager watch how lethargy will turn into energy as we “Move the mail, please!” Try attaching a bigger value to some of the lower level employees and see where that motivation takes us too. Cash money and time off are probably the greatest universal motivators in the business world. I know the readers can think of many more powerful examples by adding value to cost savings in so many ways. Employee recognition is a communication tool that reinforces important outcomes and no budget is too small if we put our heads together and brainstorm.

It takes a village of postal workers to deliver the mail. The collection and window clerks pick it up and accept it. The drivers deliver it to the processing facility, dock workers sort it to the internal customers who put a chop on it, and in short order it’s on the delivery route to the external customer. One person didn’t do that, the whole entire team did that. We should focus more on recognizing team success, everyone gets a logo t-shirt, and the most valuable contributors get a t-shirt plus an additional incentive. It’s win-win, instead of the same winners and losers. Create categories of recognition for teams that solve organizational problems with clear solutions.

Establish credibility with awards by identifying specific behaviors or acts that served the organization. There should be measurable recognizable criteria. We want to hear citations that sound something like; he individually processed 500 pallets of standard mail…, she serviced 300 customers on an 8 hour route in less than 5 hours, the team identified 50 occupational hazards resulting in…, and you get the idea. Vague are the comments like, he has been a big help, she does a wonderful job, I never heard a complaint out of them, etc. What is really being implied is I like these people.

Having fun together can help to remove workplace barriers too. Install a collapsible recognition court and use it for employees to shoot free throws for prizes. Roll out fake golf green turf and have employees putt for rewards. Interview outstanding teams and employees and make an audio video podcast or webcast so everyone can learn what other operations contribute to the overall mission. Put each one of our business goals on a different t-shirt and they will become a practical marketing medium displaying postal pride. Each one of our goals will be a great reminder why we exist to employees, and our customers. Incentivize performance by sending people to paid training seminars so they can get smarter and come back to educate the team.

Recognize actions, behaviors, approaches, accomplishments that foster corporate culture. Praise in public, personalize recognition to specific likes of employees. Read a citation then have employee draw a gift from a box. Make recognition random with an element of surprise. Avoid take-turns contests that illustrate you got it this month and I’ll get it next month. Send out a media release about significant events for public awareness, match employee charity donations to their favorite organizations, have employees compete in a USPS Jeopardy type game show for prizes. Award color-coded jerseys to outstanding teams. Make citations a three part form with one to recipient, one to file and one to the end of year drawing box. How about a cross department team gift exchange? The list is endless, just be creative, please!

Business teams are no different than sports teams. Our combined horsepower is what leaves the corporate foot print at the end of the day. We have to build trust and player involvement. When managers see themselves working for the players and not the other way around the job gets done better. We got good technology and now we need our smart leaders with adrenalin pumping motivation to take us to places as a business that we have never been before. A sound recognition program contributes to a culture where people look forward to coming to work and leaves employees feeling good when their shift is completed. I know we have the leadership, capability and the talent to implement a much more effective employee recognition program. We got to do like 19th century humorist Josh Billings said, “Be like a postage stamp. Stick to something until you get there.”

Ronald Williams, Jr.

  USPS Appreciation