POL Staff please

[armani]

Yes, that means that you RM lot can get back to the Blue shirt section. This is for us lilac shirties only

I would like to know your personal views on what has held us back over the last 2yrs+
We had to go through a transition to making a stand on our own feet by providing our own income. This was due to the removal of the benefits work.

It has now been over 2 years since the introduction of the Sales Code of Practise. Stating that we should all receive training and development to help us become more confident and capable in the new roles that a PO and CSA have i.e. Introducing the various products to customers.

Now all I was looking for was some feedback from POL staff as to why it has taken such a time to start fulfilling that role.
Is it a lack of confidence?
lack of Capability
No support from Line Manager ( not to be mixed with days gone by and stereotyping) i.e. have you asked for support/help?
or is it just not the job for you


Please don't base views on the recent goings on like WH Smiths and Strikes as this has been an on going thing since day one.
Now I know its not the job anyone signed up for when they started unless you are a relative newbie, but I'd hope everyone realises that as Business and things connected with it change so do job roles and profiles. I think theres very few jobs that are exactly the same now as they were 10-15 yrs ago. Has it just been to much of a change and you personally don't like it so want to fight it instead.

Please be honest with your views on what holds you back from doing what has been agreed via the Union.

Also if there are any users on that have made the change and lumped it and got on with it, please also give your views on why you decided to change.

THANK YOU.

http://www.cwu.org/default.asp?step=4&pid=626


Now, please keep any humour/drivvel/flaming/attacks/comments of cack to the other thread entitled WHY CANT WE

[POSTMAN]

Now, please keep any humour/drivvel/flaming/attacks/comments of cack to the other thread entitled WHY CANT WE

Ok guys we'll leave this one,feel free to rip in to him in the other one,ps copy/paste is your friend.
Carry on.

[armani]

Just so you know where I stand.

When all the sales stuff started I hated it. Personally didn't like talking to customers anyway. But after going home every night in a mood because the boss was on at me for ''not doing what I should be'' I decided bugger it, I'll give it a go just to get them off my back. Then ended up (sadly) getting a buzz when I got people signed up for whatever. It made the day go quicker yakking to the customers and seen it a challenge to get what I could ( I like a challenge)
So I pretty much found the day went quicker and wasn't as dull.
It took about a year for me to start though. But its like any other job I suppose. If it was that enjoyable they wouldn't have to pay to to go.

[armani]

Quote from ANDY FUREY on the Code of Practice....


CWU assistant secretary Andy Furey said: "We want our members to work for a successful, financially viable Crown office network. For that to happen it is obviously imperative that as many products are sold as possible.
"However, the CWU will not tolerate its members being put under any pressure to 'hard sell'. We also accept that selling skills do not come naturally to everyone. This code of practice will ensure that everyone will be treated fairly and consistently, with enhanced training and support for all our members.

[squeaky]

It's not Blue shirts and Lilacs you know - it says on the bottom of our wage slip Royal Mail Group - if we hadn't been divided up in 1987 we would not be up s**t creek now! 3+ lots of managers cost you know and who does all the hard work on Pricing In Proportion? we did that as RMG! - so we are not separate to Posties, Cashco, Parcelforce etc - that is what managers try to do - divide and conquer - do not let them!

[armani]

It's not Blue shirts and Lilacs you know - it says on the bottom of our wage slip Royal Mail Group - if we hadn't been divided up in 1987 we would not be up s**t creek now! 3+ lots of managers cost you know and who does all the hard work on Pricing In Proportion? we did that as RMG! - so we are not separate to Posties, Cashco, Parcelforce etc - that is what managers try to do - divide and conquer - do not let them!

Ok Squeakers, we have already established that, where have you been over the last 3 days? You have missed the best Thread this site has ever seen.

Like I said before in the other thread. Post Office Ltd only please for this one.
All other stuff can go nicely into WHY CAN'T WE.

[bigjames]

It's not Blue shirts and Lilacs you know - it says on the bottom of our wage slip Royal Mail Group - if we hadn't been divided up in 1987 we would not be up s**t creek now! 3+ lots of managers cost you know and who does all the hard work on Pricing In Proportion? we did that as RMG! - so we are not separate to Posties, Cashco, Parcelforce etc - that is what managers try to do - divide and conquer - do not let them!

Spot On Squeaky! That was definitely when the rot set in. How can you have one bit of the business competing with another for the same work? Example - bulk Special Deliveries, we have lost at least two customers in the last 12 months who posted shedloads of Specials because the local Royal Mail manager persuaded them to deal direct. Our annual Specials target was based on that business, so we will struggle to achieve. Look at Parcels, the ordinary ones now stand a chance of actually being delivered now the Royal Mail guys deliver them. The business should never have been split.

[armani]

It's not Blue shirts and Lilacs you know - it says on the bottom of our wage slip Royal Mail Group - if we hadn't been divided up in 1987 we would not be up s**t creek now! 3+ lots of managers cost you know and who does all the hard work on Pricing In Proportion? we did that as RMG! - so we are not separate to Posties, Cashco, Parcelforce etc - that is what managers try to do - divide and conquer - do not let them!

Spot On Squeaky! That was definitely when the rot set in. How can you have one bit of the business competing with another for the same work? Example - bulk Special Deliveries, we have lost at least two customers in the last 12 months who posted shedloads of Specials because the local Royal Mail manager persuaded them to deal direct. Our annual Specials target was based on that business, so we will struggle to achieve. Look at Parcels, the ordinary ones now stand a chance of actually being delivered now the Royal Mail guys deliver them. The business should never have been split.

James, question on the specials.
Who made the RM manager aware that you were doing bulk SD and who gave him the customers details?
Just asking as the offices in our area do 130+ per day including bulk and no sign of RM taking it away, at least until later when we have horizon set up to refer them to RM which allows us to still take credit for whatever goes through from that customer.

[bigjames]

As has been widely reported and ridiculed on the other thread, I am a POL CM2 Branch Manager at one of the 'WHSmiths 70'.

My opinion, based on 22 years in the business is that the major thing holding POL back is fear of change, and that is not confined to Counter staff, that goes for managers and admin and everyone. We have some very capable people on our teams who could do anything if they put their minds to it, but are worried about the reactions of others, and are scared of change.

Attitudes have to change, and again that goes for both sides of the great union divide. We now have people in at the top of the business who know how to run a business. Not a service, a money-making business. Lower down we have loads of people who know how to provide a service, but know precious little about making money. That isn't their fault, after all I did 12 years on the counter, and not once was I taught how to make money. The top guys need to learn how the Post Office works, and how the staff think, and the staff need to listen to the information they are being given and realise that if things don't change the Post office we know now will cease to exist.

We could blame the Government, after all it is true that most of our biggest problems have been caused by the crazy decisions of the last few regimes. We could blame the CWU for causing unrest, we could even blame the much maligned managers for years of bad management. But the truth of the whole deal is that if we don't work together we will end up with nothing.

The capability is out there, the staff have it and they know it. A lot (not all) of the managers can do a decent job, the training and support is available to those who wish to listen and learn, we just need to pull in the right direction and together. At my first WTL session in my current office I went over the sales model again. When I had finished the local CWU rep said a piece, and he said to my team the following - "Selling saves jobs" I don't need to add any more.

[bigjames]

James, question on the specials.
Who made the RM manager aware that you were doing bulk SD and who gave him the customers details?
Just asking as the offices in our area do 130+ per day including bulk and no sign of RM taking it away, at least until later when we have horizon set up to refer them to RM which allows us to still take credit for whatever goes through from that customer.[/quote]

I believe they were tipped the nod by our Postman who suggested initially that they avoid our queue (which has improved). It is all income for the business at the end of the day, but if we were not split I would not be so bothered

[billyhayes]

Our office has overall been pretty good adapting to changes, but it is RECENT events that have now affected sales/performance etc.

[catch]

As a customer at the post office sometimes, when I get offered car insurance or loans or whatever it often makes me want to lamp the counter staff. Perhaps that's why those screens are installed? If you're only in to send a letter, with kid in tow, and just as you've made it past the queue to the counter, got the letter sent, some twit is trying to sell you car insurance. It's not as if I haven't seen 200 leaflets about it whilst waiting in the queue, and those crap adverts on the screens above the counter, so if I wanted it I'd ask for it.

Now I'm a lovely bloke really, so I just look at them searchingly and say "no thanks", but you who think it's such a good idea need to think about my blood pressure.

I can opt out of door to doors, and sign up to MPS, but I can't opt out of being harrassed in Post Offices.

[bigjames]

Our office has overall been pretty good adapting to changes, but it is RECENT events that have now affected sales/performance etc.

In our office and those around us, what really has dampened spirits is the 'them and us' culture, that staff/management have unwittingly created.

Every man and his dog knows what the POs/CSA pay deal is.

But what exactly have POL put on the table for the manager grades? Why have the CMA and POL not made these details as easily accesible as those on the CWU website?

It would be easier to find out the truth to 9/11 than get the facts from manager/s. (not a sick joke, just the only analogy thought of on the quick)

Whenever they are asked point blank what their deal is they just give us a blank look.

Then of course there is the rumour of successful 'strikebraking' managers, ie those that persuade counter staff not to go out, which they did on a one-to-one basis, geting X-amount bonus.

This again is not confirmed or denied, when asked directly. Why? If such a contentious point were false, it's best not to sit on the fence and say nothing.
This is all contributing to destroying the sales/staff/manager relationships built over the last two years.

Many other counter-staff may want to know the answer to the above points.

BIGJAMES - you seem to be a fairly straight talking fella by your previous posts, maybe you could clarify some points as at the moment this is the only thing that seems to get brought up, and with everything else going on ie strikes/pension etc might go some way to resolving "suspicion" for want of a better word.

cheers in advance.

Billy,
I have not heard of a bonus for getting people to work through a strike. I can categorically go on record and say that I was not offered such a bonus. I saw some CWU stuff today that mentioned £1500-£4000, and that was news to me. What I do know is that there is a 'Rapid Deployment Force' of CM grade managers throughout the country who turn out at short notice in crisis situations, such as industrial action, plague, fire, etc. They get a supplement of roughly £1000 a year, and for that they are on a kind of call out footing, where they get sent wherever the problem is at very short notice. As far as I am aware they can't refuse to go, however far it is which is why they get the extra money, although joining up is voluntary.

With regard to the CMA represented grades pay deal, all I can tell you on that is the latest information that I have been given is that there has not been a formal pay offer made by POL to the CMA. As you know we have a different pay date to the CWU grades, and ours is usually around July, so it normally gets sorted out in the autumn. The big thing that is holding things up this year (apart from your strikes!) is the broad-banding of the management grades. We have all undergone an assessment, and as far as I know we will be told which offices and which grade or type of manager we all are sometime over the next few months. The impact this has on our pay is that some managers may well find themselves at a lower grade than they are now, in which case they will suffer a pay freeze until their pay catches up. Others may well get a rise as their grading may be higher. So when your manager gives you a blank stare, it may well be because, like me, he hasn't actually got a clue what the pay deal is.

I am familiar with your office, and it's recent results and it would be a shame to lose the momentum and sales you have picked up over recent months.

[armani]

Hmmm, not many P.O. staff on here then.

[POSTMAN]

Hmmm, not many P.O. staff on here then.

http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/forum/vi ... php?t=3867