Thinking outside the box
One day last week the postman called before I had removed the newspapers from the letter box. I get quite a lot of post, often with book packages, and he always tries to squeeze them through the opening.
This time he excelled himself, pushing the newspapers through so they were in a crumpled mess within the cage on the other side. There was a book in the post and it was so tightly wedged I had to unscrew the cage from the wall inside the garage. The newspapers were so ripped they were almost unreadable.
We have a sheltered area before the front door and a mat that always stays dry. The paper boy and previous postmen used to leave mail and newspapers there and it was much easier to open the door and pick them off the mat.
Today I saw the postman as he approached the house. "Please could you put the post on the mat in future? It's getting wedged in the box," I said.
"Sorry, we're not allowed to do that," he said.
"Doesn't the customer have a say in this?" I asked.
"And who gets the blame if it goes missing?" he said.
"Well most of it's crap so I couldn't care less," I said.
We live in a very safe area where neighbours still watch out for each other. It's not one of those London streets where people throw fish and chip wrappers over your hedge and where every second passer-by is casing the joint.
The postman told me we could collect the mail from the depot. They would love that - not having to deliver any more. Our local sub post office has just closed and some of the services have moved to a supermarket on the edge of town.
I wonder if dispensing with deliveries, replacing them with collection points in supermarket car parks perhaps, is a long term strategy of the Royal Mail? I wouldn't be surprised.
What irritates me most is the postman's response: "We're not allowed." Whatever happened to employee discretion? Who are these managers who are dictating policies to the people who do the delivery jobs day in and day out? The delivery staff are the people who should be making judgements like this. They're the ones who have to take the flack from people like me.
Yet it won't be long before I go to some winter seminar when there'll be some top Royal Mail human resources executive pacing up and down the stage talking about empowerment, engagement, performance management and "thinking outside the box." If only they would.
Link: The Royal Mail and employee health.
This time he excelled himself, pushing the newspapers through so they were in a crumpled mess within the cage on the other side. There was a book in the post and it was so tightly wedged I had to unscrew the cage from the wall inside the garage. The newspapers were so ripped they were almost unreadable.
We have a sheltered area before the front door and a mat that always stays dry. The paper boy and previous postmen used to leave mail and newspapers there and it was much easier to open the door and pick them off the mat.
Today I saw the postman as he approached the house. "Please could you put the post on the mat in future? It's getting wedged in the box," I said.
"Sorry, we're not allowed to do that," he said.
"Doesn't the customer have a say in this?" I asked.
"And who gets the blame if it goes missing?" he said.
"Well most of it's crap so I couldn't care less," I said.
We live in a very safe area where neighbours still watch out for each other. It's not one of those London streets where people throw fish and chip wrappers over your hedge and where every second passer-by is casing the joint.
The postman told me we could collect the mail from the depot. They would love that - not having to deliver any more. Our local sub post office has just closed and some of the services have moved to a supermarket on the edge of town.
I wonder if dispensing with deliveries, replacing them with collection points in supermarket car parks perhaps, is a long term strategy of the Royal Mail? I wouldn't be surprised.
What irritates me most is the postman's response: "We're not allowed." Whatever happened to employee discretion? Who are these managers who are dictating policies to the people who do the delivery jobs day in and day out? The delivery staff are the people who should be making judgements like this. They're the ones who have to take the flack from people like me.
Yet it won't be long before I go to some winter seminar when there'll be some top Royal Mail human resources executive pacing up and down the stage talking about empowerment, engagement, performance management and "thinking outside the box." If only they would.
Link: The Royal Mail and employee health.
Labels: letter box human resources, postman, Royal Mail, sub post office
posted by Richard Donkin at
9:22 AM
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