December 06, 2010
OPEN LETTER FROM PMG PAT DONAHOE
CORE BUSINESS STRATEGIES DEFINED
In an open letter to all employees on his first official day in office, PMG Pat Donahoe defines core business strategies that will guide the organization to become “a profitable, nimble Postal Service that competes for customers and has a well-defined and valued role in an increasingly digital world.”
Donahoe says the strategies will drive significant change in the organization in the coming days, weeks and months. “We are not going to stray from our core business function — mail and package delivery — but we are going to revitalize the way we approach the marketplace,” he states in the letter.
The core strategies, which will be more fully detailed as specific initiatives are announced, include:
- Strengthening the business to consumer channel
- Improving the customer experience
- Competing for package business; and
- Becoming a leaner, faster and smarter organization.
“We have to be more than an available, low-cost delivery resource,” Donahoe explains. “We have to win customers and find ways of complementing and adding value to the evolving nature of the way people communicate and conduct business.”
Thanking employees for “the great job you do every day,” Donahoe says he is “incredibly honored and humbled” to be the 73rd PMG and that he will maintain his commitment to frequent, open communications throughout the Postal Service.
“We are at the beginning of a new chapter in the history of our organization, and we will all help write it,” says Donahoe. “Your good ideas, your engagement, and relentless dedication ensure we will make great strides as we create tomorrow’s Postal Service together.
Click here to read the PMG’s full letter.
The Postal Reform Act of 1970 was intended to provide house-to-house delivery service to every American and at a reasonable cost. Historically, the USPS has done that. The money-saving ideas that PMG Donahoe is now proposing do not follow this mandate. The USPS needs to be allowed to retain 6-day delivery in a modified form. Those people who wish to receive Saturday delivery, can pay an extra Saturday delivery charge. This is reasonable, and in line with the business models that UPS and FedEx follow. The USPS already charges a premium for overnight delivery service, as do those private businesses. If the USPS stops Saturday delivery, customers will defect to those private businesses that deliver on Saturday. As our customer base declines, our business mandate of “breaking even” (by law) is even more difficult to achieve. It is a downward spiral and another nail in the coffin for continued operation of the USPS. If the USPS is made private, working class (living wage) jobs will be lost. America cannot afford to lose those types of wages. Even if America has full employment at minimum wage, only the extremely rich will be able to afford the goods and services that America needs to be producing to be a viable First World Nation.