Murphy...
to
Manteo
NAPUS
of
North Carolina
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November 9, 2007
I was very pleased to be given the opportunity to convey some of my thoughts and feelings to the NAPUS Postmasters about this past year’s performance and achievements. The only word that can describe the year’s service performance is phenomenal. This year has broken any service records that were in place before and in fact, sets the pace for the rest of the nation. At our recent National Executives’ Conference held in Dallas, Texas, the Postmaster General, John (Jack) Potter commented on how the Capital Metro Area set the pace for the rest of the nation in service. He related that Capital Metro Area was the first Area to reach 97% overnight service for an entire quarter in Quarter 3, Fiscal Year 2007. However, they did it not only in Quarter 3, but repeated a 97% quarter in Quarter 4, Fiscal Year 2007, two quarters in a row! During that time the Greensboro Performance Cluster set a new record for the highest overnight service scores ever recorded for an entire quarter in Capital Metro with a blistering 97.26% in Quarter 3. This is directly attributable to your efforts. Our Postmasters played a significant role in providing our customers the best service in the nation. You have been acknowledged as the Performance Cluster that provides the best service, in the best Area in the nation. I cannot say enough positive things about this team, about our Postmasters, Station Managers, Supervisors, craft employees and other operational personnel. At a time when you did not have adequate resources you dug deep and refused to provide anything short of exceptional service to your customers. I can only look back over the past year with awe. Do not for one minute think that I am not aware of what it took to accomplish these achievements. You have made many sacrifices and put forth what at times can only be described as heroic efforts to do your part in making this Cluster successful. When we had failures you stepped up to the plate and scrutinized your units to find any weaknesses that may have been contributing factors. You also made genuine efforts to make sure that your unit was not the weak links in our chain of performance, at times going the extra mile to personally get involved in tasks that were usually left for your employees to complete. It really gives me a great sense of satisfaction and pride to hear our national leaders speak about the employees in the Greensboro Performance Cluster as the best in the nation. It was something I already knew and now the entire nation knows it. To say “THANK YOU VERY MUCH” seems to be so inadequate to express my appreciation for your outstanding performance in 2007. But, I will say it again and again… THANKS TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU FOR YOUR OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE IN FISCAL YEAR 2007. YOU ARE BY FAR, THE BEST LEADERS IN THE NATION, PROVIDING THE BEST SERVICE IN THE NATION!!!
Dear Mid Carolinas NAPUS Postmasters, Again, thank you for what you do for our great organization.
I am proud to be associated with each and every one of you and
look forward to many successful years together. Dave Fields
Following converstions between District Manager Henry Dix and NAPUS Chapter President Dominick Spadaro, Mr. Dix provided the following clarication concerning the recent certification requirements.
ALL EAS EMPLOYEES GREENSBORO DISTRICT
There are a few things we can do that will enhance our ability to provide superior service to our customers and create a better environment in our workplace. High on my list of improvements is our ability to effectively communicate. This is an area where I see a great need for improvement. How many of you know we finished in first place in the nation with the best composite EXFC score? How many know that we have an EAP program that is 'second to none in the country that will provide up to 6 free sessions for anyone needing counseling, whether for a child with ADHD, a parent with Alzheimer's disease, or those suffering from depression or something many in our workforce are dealing with, which is the financial juggling to make ends meet. Our communication needs to be better, especially when expectations are set. Many times, we don't say what we mean or mean what we say. This creates frustration, tension, and stresses in the workplace that are counterproductive. I have pushed improving communication to the front of my agenda for this year. We are performing too well to allow poor communication to become a barrier and stumbling block to a workforce that shows it can reach the excellent levels of performance we are achieving. Please join in the effort with me as together we continue to
grow towards becoming the best district in America. __________________________________________________ It was my intention to write about a different topic; however, after receiving some indirect feedback as a result of the certification form I sent out last week, I think it might be better use of this opportunity to comment on that form and the companying cover letter. I was at a VPP event last week and one of my postmasters jokingly said that she didn’t want to stand next to the man that threatened her job. When I asked who that might be, she replied that it was me, based on the letter she received from her manager of post office operations. Even though her point was made in jest, I wonder how many others may feel the reason for that certification was to threaten their jobs! Nothing could be further from the truth. Sometimes, the best way to understand a statement is to hear it from the source, so I’ll take this time to provide some background and the thought process that went into issuing those directives. I have stated on numerous occasions I feel the Greensboro Performance Cluster has some of the most dedicated, committed and professional employees in the nation. When we are hitting on all cylinders, no one in the nation can provide better service to their customers. That being said, I will go to great lengths to defend the postmasters, managers, and supervisors that are exerting themselves every day to keep this cluster at top levels of performance. When being questioned about the integrity of my workforce, I know the great majority are honest, hardworking, “rollup their sleeves and get it done” women and men. I also know there is a very small minority that may not be as ambitious and honest who try to take the easy way out of holding employees accountable. The data I review leads me to believe that instead of setting expectations and holding employees to those expectations, they deliberately and willfully inflate volume to justify their inefficiencies. The key words are deliberately and willfully. That is very different from a supervisor, manager, or postmaster mistakenly counting a mailing that consisted of thin water bills as linear volume rather than taking an inch of mail and counting the pieces in an effort to convert the mailing to a piece count. Another supervisor may mistakenly count a TV Guide as a letter if there were two or three in a tray rather than as a flat. These types of errors are isolated and are the result of inadequate training. They do not meet my definition of blatant, deliberate or willful volume irregularities. There is a huge difference between what an honest mistake is and what is deliberate and willful. By sending out my correspondence, it is my intent to provide those who may be deliberately and willfully inflating the volume an opportunity to cease, desist, and re-evaluate whether the ends justifies the means. There are some postmasters, managers and supervisors saying they have not been ADIT trained. ADIT stands for Accurate Data Integrity Team. If the supervisor has been trained to accurately record the volume that should be sufficient. There have been updates and clarifications sent out numerous times; however, most supervisors know the basics. Accurately recording the volume is fundamental to performing as a delivery supervisor, so it puzzles me how a person can qualify for the position without knowing how to count the mail. My suspicion is that the individuals who raised this issue feel they will be harshly disciplined for making a simple error and that is not the intent of the certification. As stated, it is to certify that they know how to accurately count and record the volume and know the consequences for blatantly, deliberately and willfully inflating the volume. If they still feel they need additional training, those supervisors should ask their manager for it. I believe 99.9% of the postmasters, managers, and supervisors are honest, hardworking women and men that want the Greensboro Performance Cluster to be the best. As I continue to fight and campaign for both the complement needed to staff your offices effectively and the budget to run your offices efficiently, I need to be operating on more than a belief that my workforce is not inflating volume. I need it to be a fact. That is what drove my development of the certification and cover letter. I need to know that my postmasters, managers and supervisors are with me on this and that they understand how important and critical they are to my credibility and the credibility of the Greensboro Cluster. As I stated in my cover letter, I do not want to lose even one member of my staff to an investigation for blatantly, willfully and knowingly inflating the volume. All it takes is for one person or one office to be found falsely reporting the volume for a sphere of suspicion to be cast on the entire cluster. As the Lead Executive of this cluster, it is my responsibility to prevent that from happening. Henry L. Dix
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