Courier April 2013 - myroyalmail

8 April 2013Did youknow…online retailers can’t do their business without companies like us. We’re the onlycompany that delivers to 29 million addresses.Staff are settling in to new rolesat Tyneside mail centre. All collection,Access and Mailsort work hasmoved to Tyneside from Teesside,which no longer handles any processing.Mail from Darlington willmove across in summer, when thesite will shut.We’re closing some mail centres andmoving work to other sites because offalling mail volumes.A series of one-to-one discussions wereheld with every member of staff as partof the Clear Choice programme, whichhelps people decide whether to accepta new role within the business or leave.Emma Barrow, communications managerfor the mail centre strategy team,says: ‘As a result of the programme, 95%of people got their first choice.‘Even so, we recognise that the changeshave a huge impact on people affected.Some understandably don’t want tomove, or are unable to. Everyone leavingus is offered support with finding suitablevacancies, retraining and CV writing.’Everyone affected had the chanceto visit Tyneside before making theirdecision about whether to move. Theycould take a look around the site andget a feel for different roles in taster sessions,hosted by workplace coaches.Retraining and financial help withtransport are available for people whomove.The strategy also brings changes furthersouth, with the last work havingmoved from York to Leeds in February,and Bradford completing its move intoLeeds mail centre by the summer. Manypeople have already moved to Leeds,as featured in Courier in October.In London, Rathbone Place deliveryoffice is closing soon, with work movingto Mount Pleasant mail centre, which isbeing modernised.Look out for an update on thesechanges in a future issue.On the moveDelivery RevisionModernisation– the story so farcase studyMoving story… Gavinis settling in at TynesideGavin Conway was a part-timereserve postman at Teesside mail centre foreight years. He’s now working in the revenueteam at Tyneside.‘I was devastated when I heard Teesside wasgoing to close,’ says Gavin. ‘It was only threemiles from home, and the hours suited me.‘But I ran my own business for more than 20years, so I know that change has to happensometimes for a business to progress.‘I had three options – switch to deliveries,which I didn’t fancy doing, move to Tynesideand travel 41 miles each way to and from work,or take redundancy. Given how difficult thisprocess is and the number of people affected, Ithink the Clear Choice programme handled itreally well. You wouldn’t get offered options andso much support at a lot of companies.‘Moving to Tyneside was my first choice, andI’m really happy here. The first role I wasoffered here finished at 10pm but, given thetravel time, I wanted something earlier. Thechance of a 5-9pm shift in revenue came up,and it was something completely different, so Itook it. It was great that the company was soflexible with me. I got comprehensive trainingfor the role and it’s a fantastic team.’Good timingSaving more than 600 hours a week without anyjob losses was the highlight of the successful deliveryrevision at Manchester Central delivery office.They have made changes to better process and deliverthe changing mail mix of fewer letters and more parcels.More than 800 offices have introduced new deliveryequipment as part of our modernisation programme.Although revised routes meant fewer people wereneeded to deliver mail, alternative roles were found forpeople as collections and delivery drivers, which helpedmaintain staff morale during the changes. And, accordingto delivery office manager Graham Roberts, the indoorand outdoor revisions brought efficiency improvementswithout adversely affecting customer service.Mail now moves through the office more efficientlyand arrives sorted to walk order, saving preparation time.‘The indoor changes have had a huge impact on efficiency.Where it used to take more than three hours toprepare a walk, it now takes about an hour,’ says postmanGary Baxter.By using staff engagement initiatives such as Big Picture,the team managed to drive improvements in theenquiry office, creating a cleaner working environmentand making it easier to locate parcels when customerscome to collect them.Number oflightweighttrolleys31,094Number of vans11,490Number of PDAs49,732Number ofCompact SequenceSorters (CSS) toput mail in exactwalk order574Fullymodernised units860and countingNumber of highcapacitytrolleys2,856Number ofIntelligentLetterSortingMachines66(Figures as at end of March 2013)Cheeky savingson a new bikewith HalfordsCycle2workIn addition to Tax and NationalInsurance savings, you cansave even more with Halfordsin-store offers and get a freebike care plan.For a great deal visitwww.cycle2work.net/employeesUsername: rmguser Password: rmgbenefitOr call 08450 77 88 50Terms and conditions apply.