Progress Has Been Hindered by Longstanding Information Technology Management Weaknesses
GAO-12-430T, Feb 1, 2012

What GAO Found

In a series of reviews, GAO found that OPM’s retirement modernization efforts were hindered by weaknesses in key management practices that are essential to successful IT modernization projects. For example, in 2005, GAO made recommendations to address weaknesses in the following areas:

• Project management: While OPM had defined major components of its retirement modernization effort, it had not identified the dependencies among them, increasing the risk that delays in one activity could have unforeseen impacts on the progress of others.
• Risk management: OPM did not have a process for identifying and tracking project risks and mitigation strategies on a regular basis. Thus, OPM lacked a mechanism to address potential problems that could adversely impact the cost, schedule, and quality of the modernization effort.
• Organizational change management: OPM had not adequately prepared its staff for changes to job responsibilities resulting from the modernization by developing a detailed transition plan. This could lead to confusion about roles and responsibilities and hinder effective system implementation.

In 2008, as OPM was on the verge of deploying an automated retirement processing system, GAO reported deficiencies in and made recommendations to address additional management capabilities:

• Testing: The results of tests 1 month prior to the deployment of a major system component revealed that it had not performed as intended. These defects, along with a compressed testing schedule, increased the risk that the system would not work as intended upon deployment.
• Cost estimating: The cost estimate OPM developed was not fully reliable. This meant that the agency did not have a sound basis for formulating budgets or developing a program baseline.
• Progress reporting: The baseline against which OPM was measuring the progress of the program did not reflect the full scope of the project; this increased the risk that variances from planned performance would not be detected.

In 2009, GAO reported that OPM continued to have deficiencies in its cost estimating, progress reporting, and testing practices and made recommendations to address these deficiencies, as well as additional weaknesses in the planning and oversight of the modernization effort. OPM agreed with these recommendations and began to address them, but the agency terminated the modernization effort in February 2011.

More recently, in January 2012, OPM released a new plan to improve retirement processing that aims at targeted, incremental improvements rather than a largescale modernization. Specifically, OPM plans to hire new claims-processing staff, take steps to identify potential process improvements, and work with other agencies to improve data quality. Further, OPM intends to make IT improvements that allow retirees to access and update their accounts and automate the retirement application process. However, the plan reflects a less ambitious retirement processing timeliness goal and does not address improving or eliminating the legacy systems that support retirement processing.

Why GAO Did This Study

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is the central human resources agency for the federal government and, as such, is responsible for ensuring that the government has an effective civilian workforce. As part of its mission, OPM defines recruiting and hiring processes and procedures; provides federal employees with various benefits, such as health benefits; and administers the retirement program for federal employees. OPM’s use of information technology (IT) is critical in carrying out its responsibilities; in fiscal year 2011 the agency invested $79 million in IT systems and services. For over 2 decades, OPM has been attempting to modernize its federal employeeretirement process by automating paper-based processes and replacing antiquated information systems. However, these efforts have been unsuccessful, and OPM canceled its most recent large-scale retirement modernization effort in February 2011.

GAO was asked to summarize its work on challenges OPM has faced in attempting to modernize the federal employee retirement process. To do this, GAO relied on previously published work in addition to reviewing OPM’s recent plan for retirement services.

What GAO Recommends

GAO is not making new recommendations at this time. GAO has previously made numerous recommendations to address IT management challenges OPM has faced in carrying out its retirement modernization efforts. Fully addressing these challenges remains key to the success of OPM’s efforts.

View Full Report (PDF)

WASHINGTON — The United States Postal Service wants to make sending your Valentine some love as quick and easy as a stop at your local Post Office, where the new “In the Mailbox Love Bear” and other lovely gifts await.

The limited edition “In the Mailbox Love Bear” comes ready to ship — the furry guy is already in a box. He’s holding a red heart, has the 2012 Love Stamp in his right paw and comes with a greeting card for your personal sentiments. Use Express Mail, Priority Mail or Parcel Post to ship your present to that special someone.

The “In the Mailbox Love Bear” is available for just $11.99 at select Post Offices and online at usps.com while supplies last.

“One-stop shopping at the Post Office makes sending some love a little easier to ‘bear’ this Valentine’s Day,” said Kelly Sigmon, vice president, Channel Access.

The Postal Service also offers additional products perfect for Valentine’s Day giving. American Express Gift Cards are available in denominations of $25, $50, and variable dollar amounts between $25 and $100 at nearly 5,000 Post Offices. Place your gift card in one of the Valentine’s Day cards offered for sale at select Post Offices and you’re ready to mail some first-class love.

Also making its debut this year is the Love Tote Bag, featuring an image of the beautifully designed 2012 Love stamp. This eco-friendly item is made using 80 percent recycled materials and sells for just $2. It’s a great gift on its own or it can be used as an economical (and sustainable) gift bag.

Customers also may select from various ReadyPost boxes and bubble mailers featuring Valentine’s Day colors and designs. These items are priced from $1.79 to $4.29 and are ready to use as gift wrap or to ship anywhere.

Source: USPS

Last year’s sales figures from Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) were so encouraging the Postal Service has set far grander plans for the product this year.

Introduced by the Postal Service last April, EDDM already has grown to a $270-million-a-year product. Vice President, Sales, Cliff Rucker has stated USPS is aiming for $1 billion in 2012 EDDM sales. Rucker said the $1 billion mark would be reached by focusing on the following sources:

• Sales to national and regional franchises
• Alliances with printers
• New product development, including new mail sizes to appeal to businesses who don’t want to print new menus, and new route options, such as delivering only to commercial customers.
• New strategies, such as targeting political campaigns and local businesses
• New sales generated by 100 additional sales associates who will contact new customers

Rucker stressed that USPS can reach its EDDM sales goal only if employees remain committed through training and engagement with the product.

As one motivational speaker said “at the end of life there are those who wish they did, and those that are glad they did.”

Down here on Trench Street the “occupy together” hand signals for speaking and feeling are clear. The raised hand signifies “want to talk” and the raised arm with a closed fist symbolizes “oppose.” Our top organizational and labor leaders have a lot of tough choices and series of hard calls to make leaving no doubt that the grappling issues will result in solutions that will significantly impact the livelihood of all postal workers and our customers. Inner circle bosses have a mandate, obligation, and mission to maintain the solidarity of the 99% when they speak truth to power.

The fight for jobs and justice continues and all postal employees need to get involved at a minimum by contacting their elected officials to support the legislation that supports us. It gets no easier than signing up to be an e-activist, but many coworkers don’t want to get involved for whatever personal reasons until something they value (their paycheck) is gone with the stroke of a legislative pen. And you know they will be the first to “scream bloody murder.” Our founding fathers taught us many years ago that politics is much too important to be left to our politicians. Occupied citizens are the real politicians.

There are so many employees hanging out waiting for an incentive to leave and at the same time many of them lack the motivation to help those who choose to stay. Would you still lollygag if there were no union agreement? What about if there were no no-layoff clause? Obviously postal employees of the past have endured so much in order for us to have the conditions of today and many on the current rolls won’t do the simple things required to get the attention of our political elected leaders.

In mocking the intensity of one civil rights leader I would paraphrase that nobody is dousing us with high pressure fire-hoses, there are no dogs brought to the workplace to bite our buttocks, no one spraying mace at us, we are not being physically beat down, and yet many of us are too tired, lazy, ignorant or self-centered to stay in tune with the issues and heed the advice of our labor, management, or association leaders engaged in the good fight to keep our agency troubles in front of the decision makers.

If it weren’t for employees, being a leader would probably be fun (laugh out loud.) If there are 500,000 complaining whiny individuals Moses is going to ask for divine intervention to “let all our people go.” Some postal team members might want to stop flicking rubber and stand up with the orderly, peaceful, and nonviolent movement that will create the climate, and environment to positively enrage our nation’s leaders. Stop hating on meaningful good decisions, bad decisions, or the fact that decisions are being made while you remain disengaged on the sidelines.

I predict that this postal crisis won’t end until sometime after the 2012 presidential election as public and private temperament warms up to what might be considered a noisy dismantling of universal-service. If you look up universal service in the dictionary you’ll see a picture of a mailman (just kidding.) The people who need to make the tough decisions as a group are probably more worried about their political health than the pending post office implosion (?) There is so much buzz about a variety of subjects like facility closings, insolvency, consolidations, rightsizing, labor costs, work hour reductions, competition, and the future.

Those of us without the advantage of the great big picture can only wonder with uncertainty, what’s next? Will it be best for the organization? The greatest challenges for postal leaders will be in technology while expecting everything to change. We already know that the digital age of internet and social media requires vigilance and a constant discussion about what we must do to provide or add value to this postal service.

Let me button this up by saying this is a great place for a young Eagle to land. Who or whatever got us into this financial mess probably won’t be the representative(s) that gets us out. Until there is a consensus outcome we have to keep pressure on the powers that be to “help us, care for us, and not manipulate us.” We will do this by having an “overriding commitment” to the democratic process of the United States. Occupy those thoughts to help “Save America’s Postal Service.”

Ronald Williams, Jr.

As we get closer to the Postal Service implosion (?) it is also an opportunity to listen to what employees in the trenches have to say about what is going on inside our troubled agency. None of the politicians ever want to hear from the T-shirt wearing people at the bottom of the organization underrepresented and sweating hard on the regular to hold up our “heavyweights.” For the top echelon bosses that’s where we would flip the script and begin to see the suits begin to perspire like we do as “We the people” begin to speak out about a dysfunctional leadership model.

At the September congressional USPS finances and operations hearing with the Postmaster General, panel 1, Senator Jerry Moran commented to the Postmaster General words to the effect that he hopes he was asking his staff at all levels about efficiency knowing that the best and brightest ideas come from employees doing work on the front lines. The average working man or woman in the engine room knows the answer to that thought would be a resounding H E double hockey sticks (LL) NO!

Senator Lieberman’s opening statement mentioned that we would soon run out of money and we would be forced to severely slash employees and service if something isn’t done. In my mail facility ideas are solicited but they are not welcome! The facility manager offers employees an additional questionnaire at time of Voice of the Employee surveys and the vast majority of those who complete it say they don’t get a response.

There is a “computer blog” at the front door to “ask the plant manager” by publicly and transparently submitting comments, ideas, or suggestions to managers. The unfortunate part of the “blog” is that the facility manger rarely if at all closes the accountability loop. That makes his computer with the trackball nothing more than an esthetic prop. Not answering (ignoring) is all part of that top down stinging form of punishment that stirs up anger in the people who feel feedback is the breakfast of champions. Author Bradford Fitch pointed out in his recent book that “the democratic dialogue is the most important conversation humankind ever conceived.”

On the workroom floor there is talk about reducing head count, eliminating bid assignments, an itching sensation by managers to excess employees out of our facilities, and an inconsiderate lack of concern for the continuous disruption to the lives of our workers and their families. All of this is done in our minds just so a number cruncher can look good on paper, probably resulting in some kind of greedy hidden performance incentive. The reality of this rapidly deteriorating style of management is delayed and un-worked mail everywhere. Then postal managers force “overtime” on non-volunteer employees to work 12 hour days (we got a lot of money.) This indicates there is not enough time to do things right, but there is plenty of time and money to spin our wheels longer.

Their random and unprofessional town halls are filled with one-way banter from managers, scary messages of high dollar losses, complaints about not getting bonuses, and bully-like talk intended to disengage employees. These managers have very limited operational knowledge and talk big and hard to compensate for not knowing what they are doing or how to lead.

Managers don’t know how to hold group discussions to engage employees in solving problems on the workroom floor or anywhere else. Employees are expected to “work” but we are not allowed to make any decisions about what we are doing. It’s an environment of shut-up and throw the mail on the belt, throw the mail in the crate, come over here and do this, go over there and do that. In a single day three different managers will want the same operation run three different ways and the sad part is the managers don’t even talk to each other. If a supervisors dares to speak up they will be chastised or labeled a no team player. All of these elements of the current business model are severely unwarranted and have to stop today.

We can survive in the 21st century if we change the employee engagement model while we are in the process of restructuring everything else. We got employees who have much more diverse backgrounds than many of the handpicked managers. We should focus on creating complementary teams and stop with the top-down style autocracy that is surely eating away at the heart of this enterprise. This is the wrong battlefield for a leader with first name Postmaster, and last name General. The value of mail and the physical connection for our universal customers is critical and anyone who talks that talk is preaching to the choir. How we respect our employees will also have a significant impact on how successful we are while we are redesigning a strategy to get us from implosion (self-destruction) to the explosive innovator of mail services in the 21st century. Discounts applied to the workforce envision words like; disregard, overlook, ignore, disbelieve, reduce, and lower. It should never apply to the people we pay to “Deliver.”

Ronald Williams, Jr.

PEN received the following today, September 02, 2011. We cannot answer questions regarding this class action – please address your questions to the email address provided.

CLASS ACTION CONFERENCE MEETING !!!

DATE: September 1, 2011

TO: POSTAL WORKERS NATIONWIDE – ALL CRAFTS
FROM: SANDRA SUTTON – Advocate
RE: CLASS ACTION ~ POSTAL WORKERS NATIONWIDE !

Come and meet the Attorneys who are handling the Class Action “Airborne Paper Fiber – Nuisance Dust or Killer?” “Airborne Paper Fiber, Environmental Illness, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity & Upper Respiratory Infections

PARK HYATT CHICAGO
800 North Michigan
Chicago, IL 60611
September 7, 2011, Wednesday- 12:00 noon – 2:00 p.m.

PLEASE RSVP SANDRA SUTTON @ (708) 717 0180 or sandrasutton2002@aol.com by September 2, 2011 or the latest by September 5, 2011 if you plan to attend !!!

MESSAGE: Your Opinion is Valuable ~ Come and Voice Your Opinion !!! The Attorneys Will Be There to Hear You~Come One, Come All !!!

This Class Action is about Postal Workers Nationwide who are sick from the Dust, Airborne Paper Fibers or Asbestos in the United States Postal Service. Please check the website http://airbornepaperfiber.webs.com/ under the tab “Nationwide Petition” for signs and symptoms. If you cannot get on the Internet, please contact your local Union Office. If you are experiencing these signs and symptoms, please come to the Class Action Conference Meeting !!!

Open up a newspaper, surf the web, or even check out the daily headlines on Postal Employee Network and you will read about the growing chatter surrounding the state of the U.S. Postal Service. Our business services are under a powerful magnifying lens in Washington, D.C. surrounded by insiders, outsiders, and the general public-at-large. Motivational speaker Krish Dhanam at a recent seminar broke down the word politics by saying poly means many, and tics means blood sucking creatures, and he also quipped those of you who are offended can apologize to me later. The crowd busted into laughter.

I wonder how many of the decision makers on the Beltway have ever stepped inside a postal processing facility to fully appreciate the effort it takes to bind the nation together. We know there must be a facility in every congressional district. It would surely help them to make an informed decision beyond the almighty dollar toward the assessment of this living breathing organism we know as the leader in the mailing industry.

The noise level is getting louder and louder with each passing day and rather than employees standing on the sidelines watching this activity like a sporting event it’s time to text our vote for most valuable legislation. This is our opportunity to “Organize” by seriously reviewing all proposed legislation in the House of Representatives and Senate then support our Political Action Committees (PACs), labor organizations, and management associations as they lobby for the workforce because no one else will.

What these folks do on the political landscape is going to have a direct impact on “How you living.” Unions and associations don’t tell members how to vote, and they don’t use membership dollars. They do help us to select the right choices by evaluating candidates, representatives, and legislation by breaking down public strategy from the legislative arena in laymen’s terms.

For those that believe in contracts, know this! The best “Agreement” and worker protections in this country will be chopped to pieces by politicians endorsing bad laws. The sweet benefits we have today will be gone with the stroke of a pen tomorrow if big dollars fill the pockets of the wrong elected officials under pressure. Collectively we got more dollars than any one individual is willing to shell out. We are a workplace 600,000 strong and everybody knows somebody who knows somebody. Don’t let our benefits slip away. If you pay attention to local and national news it is no secret that collective bargaining negotiations are under assault in the land of the free and home of the brave. Political action protects our right to negotiate.

Here’s an overview of just a few of the bills being landscaped on the postal lawn;

Bills originating in the House of Representatives (HR)

HR 1351 – USPS Pension Obligation Recalculation/Restoration Act
Legislation would provide financial relief for our overfunded pension plans. Specifically requiring our $7 Billion FERS surplus to be immediately refunded.

HR 5746 – Civil Service Retirement System Modification Act
It would require OPM to determine if the overpaid $50-75 Billion dollars are costs from employees whose careers spanned the Post Office department and the Postal Service.

HR 137
This legislation expresses the sense that the USPS should take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of its 6-Day mail delivery.

HR 1262 – Reform the Postal Service for the 21st Century Act
This bill is aimed at reforming USPS to fulfill its constitutional mandate to improve its efficiency, help meet its universal service obligation, and facilitate private sector economic growth.

HR 1332 – Social Security Fairness Act of 2011
This legislation is aimed at changing the Windfall Elimination Provision because it affects how the amount of your retirement or disability benefit is calculated if you receive a pension from work where social security taxes were not taken out of your pay.

HR 2309
Congressman Darrell Issa/Dennis Ross introduced this legislation which is believed by workers could hinder collective bargaining, cut postal worker pay and benefits, hurt service by expediting closing of facilities, and establishing increased layers of bureaucracy.

HR 828
Federal Employee Tax Accountability Act. Makes an individual who has a seriously delinquent tax debt ineligible to be appointed or continue serving as a federal employee.

Senate Bills are not limited to:

S. 1010: Legislation relates to the methodology for calculation of any postal surplus or supplemental liability under CSRS.

S. 644: Public-Private Employee Retirement Parity Act. This bill introduced to prohibit coverage for annuity purposes for any individual hired as a federal employee after 2012.

S. 353: Submitted by PRC and sponsored by Senator Collins directed OPM to annually determine the postal surplus.

S. 261: Federal Employee Compensation Reform Act of 2011. It is referred to as a bill cutting workers’ comp benefit for older federal employees by requiring federal employees who are receiving total or partial disability benefits under the Federal Employee Compensation Act (FECA) to convert to the federal retirement system when such employees reach retirement age as determined by the Social Security Act and otherwise eligible for annuity under the CSRS or FERS.

Here’s what you can do: Contact your elected representatives in large numbers. We know they are counting constituents and “organizing” to stay in office beyond 2012. Send an email, make a phone call, meet in-person, send snail mail or all the above to let them know you are engaged or enraged around specific legislation. Print this article and pass it on to other postal workers without internet access, contact your labor union or management association to get more detailed advisory information. Make your voice heard for the sake of past, present, and future postal employees. Keep this universal service alive by getting involved, involving others, and sending a constructive message to our American legislators.

Ronald Williams, Jr.
For Postal Employee Network

Postal Employees Keep Pace with Technology

Inside the U.S. Postal Service we work with doohickeys like the Flat Sequencing System (FSS), Advanced Facer Canceller System (AFCS), Automated Package Processing System (APPS), Automated Airline Assignment (AAA) system, Delivery Bar Code Sorters (DBCS), and hand-held Scanners to minimize amount of time required to process mail and maximize our efficiency. Technology by my own definition is the difference between the equipment we used in days gone by and the processing mediums available now to perform the same tasks more effectively.

Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) devices and other Electronic components are dictating the way populations remain in touch. Smartphones, eReaders, laptops, iPods, iPads, Tablets, and memory cards continually redefine “Going mobile.” Hotspots, Bluetooth, WI-FI, and USB modems are necessary venues to join a secured network.

Text messaging and mobile email keeps our inbox occupied. Pushbutton start and keyless entry provide instant access to the things with a big engine. Online streaming, cameras, video, Blu-ray, postal specific “apps” for that, and High Definition Multimedia Interface (HMDI) cables vividly bring audio and visuals to life. Becoming popular is our ability to immediately link to web pages of interest via Quick Response (QR) codes which are the latest two-dimensional barcodes.

Personal technology makes us feel safe, secure and always coupled in event of disaster, emergency, or convenience. I heard a woman talking about her car running down an embankment and flipping over. She said her electronic device saved her life because emergency services were quickly guided to her location. Another gentleman said he was lost while traveling out of town and his navigation apparatus got him to his destination without stopping to ask for directions.

The hi-tech reality in the minds of many is that almost nothing is private and making us sense there are barcodes stamped on our brains and hands. Check your driver’s license, credit card, or postal I.D. for a digital chip. Once identified with a personal access pass to services no human is exempted by race, religion, gender, or creed. I heard a podcast that said vendors in Australia can recognize your Bluetooth device once you walk into the mall. They will pick up your signal then automatically greet you with an invitation to stop by their kiosk for a free cup of coffee or special sale event.

All this new personal and business gadgetry provides an opportunity for continuous training and development. Those who say they have no use for digital age props will be digitally divided and won’t be able to participate in any kind of innovation to improve quality of life. Those that don’t believe in the digital-age hype are susceptible to missing out on advanced notification of all kinds of information. Public libraries provide an alternative option to do some work or surf the web with a computer. Shared desktop computer stations are replacing human interaction in many public locations to complete job applications, obtain quicker access to services, process memberships, access payroll, and apply for reassignment opportunities.

USPS is a more high-tech agency with paperless opportunities through internal and external domains for access to corporate social or shared resources. It’s probably a responsibility of all of us to find ways to assist and support our families, friends, and coworkers as needed that are unmotivated, have a handicap, or just too stubborn to change. Most of us find that once we are digitally connected and we momentarily lose that connection due to technical problems we begin to sweat-the-load in a manner that gives a whole new meaning to “Electronic leash.” A backup plan is always important to think about before communication goes down for whatever reason.

True! Email is much more impersonal than writing a letter. Both of those forms are also more remote than face-face communication with a sender and receiver better interpreting a message through tone, facial expressions, and body gestures a condition that is quickly becoming a lost art form. All these new fangled devices require a cost-to-be-the-boss. As any salesman will tell you “The funny thing about this item is it comes with a payment.” And don’t forget a cable, satellite, or network service provider.

Technology may appear to move fast and it’s probably because we are thinking too slowly. It’s a critical component of the 21st century way “We Deliver.” When we all try to keep up with the latest scientific advances the challenge becomes greater. By the time you get your contraption installed at the business or set up at home the new model will be phasing in with a better operating system. We must keep our business close, and our technology closer. Before we know it (and hopefully we don’t for the sake of our jobs) we might be able to send a physical package with the blink of an eye. That’s when it will be time to open up our communicators, send an instant message to the transporter room and tell Scotty to “Beam us up.”

Ronald Williams, Jr.
Written for PEN readers

Pick up any newspaper or read online articles to get a reality of the transformation U.S. mail is going through. Our delivery team continues to adapt to a changing information age landscape filled with the convenience of electronic and digital forms of communication. Internet shoppers and home-based businesses need a delivery platform more than ever to get their products and services to their customers. We choose the USPS because not only do we deliver but we pick-up from your doorstep too. We know logistics!

Put your item in our mail stream and we will do the rest. We receive feedback about our services with positive comments like; superfast delivery, 3 days from USA to Australia, fastest shipper yet, shipping time incredibly fast, paid Saturday received Monday, delivery must have come by missile, and much more. These sellers are often rated with 1-5 stars by their customers for shipping time and experience which means the difference between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. We bridge that gap.

The 73rd Postmaster General believes “Our employees have been and always will be our greatest asset and our greatest strength.” He said “We are the indispensible means of delivery today, and our challenge is to make sure we remain the indispensible means of delivery far into the future.”

With rising business costs it’s time to rethink employee involvement. My impression is the only way we are going to live up to the General’s mission statement is through a strategic plan that actually measures involvement at all levels of the agency. With two new top executives there will be no better opportunity to evaluate and improve the working culture inside the United States Postal Service.

I submitted some thoughts months ago to USPS Growth & Revenue as part of the “Formula for success” seeking ideas from employees to grow the business or generate new revenue. I politely asked for an acknowledgement receipt or response. Good thing I wasn’t holding my breath! I know we can take flat-rate-boxes to another level, I suggested ideas about diversity in advertising, and ways we could exploit our position as “Most trusted agency.” No one ever responded back to this internal customer on the same team.

We are a deadline-oriented business, not a building on fire. As a delivery team finding time to incorporate organized training and instruction will only improve our work processes. Can we get a sincere commitment from the top layers of the unit organization chart followed through and measured for success? We need the same urgency and attention to people programs as we give to our service scores.

Employee involvement has nothing to do with restructuring employee benefits, adjusting work salaries, disrupting employment policies, or rewriting labor agreements. It has everything to do with piping into the untapped reserves of supervisors, managers, and all employees committed to a leadership philosophy that encourages all-hands participation in improvement for the total success of the organization. If carried out effectively we will see an increased sense of ownership from the bottom-up.

We have employees on this mail team with a multitude of technical, vocational, academic, and multiethnic backgrounds. We got people who are multilingual, artists, pilots, military veterans, retail clerks, builders, disc jockeys, athletes etc. With our collective attributes we can each come to the table with more than a fork to contribute more than labor overshadowing the present day boot camp style verbal whippings, mental beat downs, and physical gawking.

Time constraints for accepting, receiving, processing, and delivery of mail services are a significant part of our business. Constant crisis mode puts an unduly familiar strain on working relationships between labor and management. Structured employee involvement will open the door to humanizing our services along with teamwork ultimately generating new streams of revenue.

Temporary trip wires to engagement may exist where supervisors who are used to being judged on the numbers will destabilize the process because they don’t see involvement as a valid way to supervise. Some labor unions might be more concerned about membership numbers than working closely with management as craft experts with positional authority to transform the work culture. Employees who have never experienced mental engagement will squawk “I’m not paid to think.”

It would be helpful if our agency conducted some internal innovation symposiums that challenge and reward “us” to develop strategies for future products and services. We are the community too. We also use technology as a matter of convenience to make our lives easier.

Some of the employee involvement options I was thinking about included customized training workshops for managers, supervisors, and labor leaders. Let employees meet as groups or teams presenting ideas with solutions. Create a brainstorm committee comprised of equal union and management to discuss business impacts. Assign project sponsors to monitor and evaluate the involvement process. Surveys that welcome written comments offer the opportunity to have a labor management committee focus on improved strategies to present to senior management. For transparency post a project or idea flow chart in plain view to summarize ideas submitted, in progress, implemented, or deemed unsuccessful.

Eventually USPS is going to have to change the way we engage employees in order to keep pace with our competitors and advances in technology. For some reason it seems as though we don’t want employees to be stakeholders in the postal enterprise. Highest paid doesn’t always mean most productive. We are letting our leaders off the hook by not demanding they put their pay-for-performance where their mouth is and flip this pyramid upside down and get some topsy-turvy thinking from those of us that form the foundation in a place loaded with hidden treasures.

We got banners hanging on display in high traffic areas, and they are nothing but boring wallpaper that looks good to visitors. Front line managers and union representatives must jointly take the lead to change our cultural behaviors and all the ways we discount employee participation. Engagement means much more than throw-the-mail-on-the-belt. It is a continuous process that requires every one of us to keep focus on a vision before all the mail perishes.

Ronald Williams, Jr.

Use the comments section below and sound off your thoughts about employee involvement.

Note: Please do not repost without permission from PEN.

A Changing U.S. Postal Service Workplace
By Ronald Williams for Postal Employee Network

There are many unexpected and proposed changes on the plate of the U.S. Postal Service right now. Initiatives to control costs, cut work-hours, match employees with workloads, cut delivery days, declining mail volumes, new technology and more…

I recently read an article online that talked about comedian, entertainer Bill Cosby becoming an honorary chief petty officer, U.S. Navy. At his acceptance speech he told a story of his boot camp days, recalling how the recruit training company commander was often screaming in face and he didn’t like it. He wrote home and told his mom about it and she eventually wrote a letter to the company commander. The company commander called Bill into the office and showed him the letter while pointing to the verbiage where his mom directed the company commander to “continue doing what you are doing.” His face was shocked!

Inside the Postal Service it seems when employees have ideas or issues, and you know what they say about issues (it’s you) no one at USPS in a leadership position wants to listen. Like the Cosby story, if a boss receives a complaint or suggestion their inaction implies that the perpetrator should continue doing what they are doing like we are in a boot camp.

For the last several years I’ve been undercover as a postal employee (Laugh-out-loud). I’m not a professional writer, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. I’ve tried the IG Hotline for situations that I know impede the flow of mail operations, and all you get is a postcard in the mail that basically says “thank you for your correspondence.” The EEO system is a venue for poor race relations and/or when an individual feels intentionally treated different. It seems that the end result is designed to separate you from your wallet, and nothing changes as a result of the complaint, and the cycle repeats itself. Elected officials appear to be more concerned only with huge numbers of votes, or correspondence rather than responding to individual constituents. I heard one professional speaker say that politics can be broken down like this, “poly means many, and tick means blood sucking creature.”

The National Labor Relations Board is a great external resource for information regarding unions or management. The Postmaster General will never receive correspondence from employees because it will be intercepted by someone who feels it is their job to say “no” and they will send it right back to where the problem originated for continued simmering. Local management is very unfriendly to the complaint process, and perceives them personally as a sign of weakness. If you are a believer then you would acknowledge that complaints are an opportunity to do things better. The President of the United States will receive correspondence and if you are lucky you will receive a collectible and frame-able reply on White House letterhead. These courteous folks in his administration will also actually forward your response to the appropriate people that need to respond, and they will, wow! It’s almost like the Verizon Wireless commercial, “can you hear me now.”

I said all that to tell you that the U.S. Postal system for employee feedback is an “iceberg” and this is only the tip. There is a stereotype about men that says we don’t like to pull over and ask for directions. I do! But I am always redirected back to the starting point like a malfunctioning GPS. As an individual I find it extremely hard to get results, but I believe there is strength in numbers and with competent leaders in front of unions, and management we should be able to get anything intelligently, and peacefully to win-win conflict resolution.

With all the changes and disruption going on these days it seems the most common term tossed around on the workroom floor is “Just be lucky you have a job.” This is true, but in the context that it is directed from the mouths of managers, union leaders, and then regurgitated by other employees it can be deemed offensive, and perceived as a veiled threat. It implies that having an opinion, idea, or feelings is inconsistent with citizenship, or postal employment. That quoted comment is designed to pull people down rather than lift them up.

We need to change our working mentality from the park your car, park your brain type of thinking. It suggests that people are unimportant and all the employer wants is a warm body. That ineffective business model won’t help us better compete for national or global business. We are in a changing workplace and people are different in opinions, social status, national origin, cultural backgrounds, sexual orientation, and gender. We truly need diversity to be our strength to keep USPS afloat. I always say that P&DC does not mean personality distribution center. The “P” is for processing. The procedures for the way we process and distribute mail will be around a lot longer than any one individual (Curly, Larry, Moe etc.) and the process is what we should be constantly focusing on like a laser to improve.

On a final note I wish our leaders would sincerely engage employees beyond a printed or posted mission statement with principles that are not institutionalized. You and I have to become proactive about turning the entire Postal Service into the highest performance work organization. We need to focus on talent and stop looking to titles for the answers. This includes everyone from the newest employee all the way to the ivory towers. Management has to believe that the workers in the trenches can contribute more than labor, and stop the “Just throw the mail on the belt” robotic announcements. That devalues the same human resources this agency hired to help deliver greatness. Union leaders must change their mindset to organize the people they represent in “team leader” mode to find ways to discuss impacts on production with the managers and show them why union jobs pay more money. This entire culture needs to get in tune with the strength of unity, a core value of commitment, ability as a foundation to competency, and creativity to have fun doing everything we do.

I’ll sign off with this:

The honorable Colin Powell as a motivational speaker told the story of how he loves New York hotdogs. When he was Secretary of State he stayed at a prestigious NYC hotel and decided he wanted to step out to go up the street to get a hot dog. He said the mayor had police cars following him along the street as he was walking, and a Secret Service detail was closely behind him. As he got closer to the hot dog stand the vendor saw him and all the activity surrounding him and screamed out “I got my Green card.” Everyone cracked up laughing. With all the changes coming and going inside the U.S. Postal Service many employees who see this career as their only livelihood might get the wrong message too about what is going on. It is important to keep the lines of communication open because appearances can be interpreted in many different ways.

Ronald Williams