Silly Signs, Silly Rules –- Know Any?
Workplace rules exist for a reason. Some rules are designed to protect employees’ rights and their safety, while others protect the employer and workplace. Then there are some rules that are just plain silly, and we ask ourselves why are they even are in place.
Sometimes the best way to find these rules is to ask. Last March, Major General Michael Oates of the Army’s 10th Mountain Division asked for information on the stupidest rules or policies in the Army in his Mountain Sound Off blog. Soldiers commented on everything from uniform regulations to policies on leave. FederalTimes.com borrowed the same idea and asked its readers, “What are the dumbest workplace rules affecting you?”
Since we know you aren’t shy, we thought we’d ask you the same question about the Postal Service. What Postal Service workplace rules are hindering you from doing your job? Are there rules or processes in place that no longer apply or need to be changed to meet today’s business needs? Let us know what you think.
This blog is hosted by the OIG’s Risk Analysis Research Center (RARC).
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SOX. This is the silliest of them all. The law states that it applies to PUBLICLY HELD COMPANIES. That means the companies issue STOCK and pay dividends. We are not a publicly held company and we don’t sell stock.
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Bulk mailings are a service we supply to publically held companies and the moeny they claim to spend on such things as bulk mailings is covered by the SOX Act and therefore we are in need of providing proper documentation to cover ourselves. Stop crying about it and answer the few quick questions on the form and file it. It takes all of what, 5 minutes max during a time when there is little to do anyway? It is the law, as Nike says, Just Do It!
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If VikingDaddy is only spending 5 minutes on SOX issues, there is a problem. A cursory review should take well over 5 minutes and an in depth verification, depending on the size of the mailing at least 20-30. Just placing the information into POS takes more than 5 minutes and it now has to be done twice! SOX applies to all financial aspects but should not apply to the Postal Service if anyone has read the law itself. In my district if you pass gas, you get discipline for a SOX violation. Everything has been lumped into “sox” because they “can”.
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How about needing identification to start up mail service that was previously stopped but allowing ANYBODY to stop or redirect mail service WITHOUT IDENTIFICATION. This has already lead to cases of IDENTITY THEFT yet the policy continues.
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How about an excessed employee (who has unjustly been targeted for termination as well) sitting in the standby room all day, while a higher level coworker is brought in on overtime to work in the same office? Does this qualify as silly? Or does it merely qualify as waste and abuse of Postal funds?
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The stupidist rule is we have a “goal” of 5 minutes or less wait time in line. We are considered “successful” if we meet that goal 85% of the time.
5 minutes is an eternity waiting in a line which is why the number one complaint about the PO is waiting. If we want to change our reputation we should have a goal much lower 2-3 minutes or so.
I understand management is trying to prevent unprductive employee time by always having a line but the same could be accomplished by ensuring other tasks that need to be done are available for window clerks to move to at dead times without ruining our customer service reputation.
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I stood in a very long line while we stared at the one clerk working, and 2 empty posts. Someone mentioned how they read about roomfuls of postal workers, on the clock, not allowed to do productive work.
I estimated the line would have taken 30 to 40 minutes. But so many people walked out, I almost made it their 5 minute goal.
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Most of the silly practices I’ve encountered involve an area that has been hit on several times in this blog. Management is more concerned with making their “goals” than with the cost involved.
1. Pay someone to drive 60 miles to pick up a handful of missent letters.
2. Paying numerous people to make “special runs” for Express Mail items that did not make dispatch on time.
3. Scanning a 60 cent Delivery Confirmation label more times than a Certified or Insured item. Just to try and make sure we don’t miss one delivery scan because thats the pet project of the time. We’re doing scans now that a few years ago, when questioned about doing arrived at unit DelCon scans, we were told “can’t do it”.
4. Every employee is checked out before hiring them. Why doesn’t management trust us. The “no personal items on the workroom floor” rule is a slap in the face concerning trust.
5. You hire a Postmaster to run an office, but they are not given the “authority” to run it as they see fit but they are held “responsible” when there’s a problem with a rule generated by somebody in an office somewhere who has never even touched a piece of mail. Let the Postmasters and supervisors do their jobs and if they can’t perform, get rid of them (don’t just move them to a place where they do less harm/work).
6. Don’t try to mandate policy for every office just because some offices/managers fail. Find the problem and fix it. Don’t apply a band-aid by making another item to scan, form to sign, or report to submit.
7. Start treating a city carrier like rural carriers. Yea, I know, the Union won’t agree to it. If you treated city carriers like rural carriers, you could eliminate so many programs, reports, headaches, and upper level EAS positions (reduce anyway). DOIS, MSP scans, street time/office time issues, deliveries per hour, office efficiency, street efficiency, requests for overtime, counting every little piece of mail for DOIS, pivot plans, and more I’m sure. And thats just in the local post office. How many OPs Support people are monitoring the “numbers” so they can tell us we’re not doing good enough. Why are all these “numbers” only important for city routes and not rural.
8. The Associate Supervisor Program can not make a supervisor. If people have no experience in supervising people, why are they being selected as supervisors? Answer…..because anybody with any experience can see how the supervisors are treated/paid and unless they “have to” will avoid it like the plague. Supervisors get dumped on from both side and don’t get paid appropriately for the crap the put up with. (I’m referring to the rare, qualified supervisor). The bumps on a log supervisors get paid pretty well for what they do. Postmaster’s are largely figureheads and most offices run fine without them because the supervisor handles the day to day functions.
9. I really like the MPOO’s who are determined that workhours and mail volume directly correlate. If mail volume drops 20 percent, clerk hours should drop by 20 percent. There are many fixed requirements that make this assumption absurd.
10. Mystery shopper is a joke. At least in small towns. There is no way you can get an accurate indication of how well an office is performing by a five minute visit a few times a year. My office got scored less than perfect the day the twin towers were destroyed (9/11). The clerks minds were not focused (wonder why). We protested and lost.
11. Ordering supplies….I got no problem with E-Buy. I got a problem with the six people who have to approve whether or not the office needs everyday office supplies, priority/express shipping supplies, etc. Shouldn’t the Postmaster be held accountable for this?
12. Oh Yea, now we have to add another person to the list when we order a printer toner cartridge and get this……..if we don’t include the serial number of the printer, the order will be declined.
13. And if anyone changes something on the order, like a changing the type of pen you ordered because they know of a cheaper one, the entire order has to go back to the requisitioner and start the approval process again. This can happen several times in one order. If we have a certain list of the cheapest versions of items available, why have the other options? The Postmaster should know what he needs better than someone 200 + miles away.
14. Micro-management is a bad thing. And it appears that the Post Office thinks its the best thing since sliced bread.
15. VOE is a joke. You have to be counceled before you complete the survey.
16. DOIS…..we have a program designed specifically to determine how long a carrier should be in the office and on the street based on mail volume. How come management isn’t happy if the carrier performs to this standard? They want the carrier in quicker than what DOIS says…go figure. And on top of that, if the carrier has 700 pieces of boxholder mail, they get no additional time. Somebody’s never carried mail before, have they?
17. Many other report fall into this same group of “we need statistics” or “we don’t trust you to do your job” reports. CPMS, SPMS, SOX, distribution scans, box up time scans, Del Con scans, and more.
18. The email communications system is out of control. You receive the same email from 3-5 different people because nobody knows who gets what from who. Upper management, different offices, etc should be contacting lower levels of management, who can determine who actually needs the information, instead of everyone sending everything to everybody. How much time is wasted reading emails that don’t apply to you, just because it was easier for the sender to select everyone down to the custodian about management issues.
I’m tired writing and if you read all this, your tired reading. There is still much more that hasn’t been touched.
It would really be great if the OIG would send out a compilation of what was addressed in this blog. Even if nothing changes.
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AMEN
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My PM has a budget that he cannot meet because it is based on volume only and does not allow for the fact that he has three full-time clerks that are guaranteed eight hours. What is the point of having a budget that everyone knows cannot be met?
I agree with many of the postings here, if only employees were asked for input and listened to…
The resources in craft employees alone could turn around the USPS and make it the best company ever! It’s time management understood that the people on the front lines have a huge contribution to make in terms of ideas and commitment.
I have never seen a room full of employees doing nothing while others worked. Not that I haven’t seen people slack from time to time (many times because of the total lack of respect and recognition from management), but I see a lot more people working hard to do their jobs well, even after withstanding years of harassment and ignorance by their management. They still show up every day, work hard and get their jobs done.
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Removing the COA cards from lobby’s thinking that will drive up the web usage for COA. Well guess what? All it is doing at my office is creating alot more MLNA!!!
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“Stand by” room assignment for temporarily injured workers (carriers) who can perform some or most of their job functions and improve their condition while still being productive…but are paid to just sit and rot…while overtime being paid to others to cover all of carriers route and not some of…spend a dollar to save a dime mentality.
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Managers like silly rules……..Leaders do not.
Managers look out for themselves……Leaders do not.
Managers cover themselves in glory…….Leaders love to see their people shine.
Managers make rules…….Leaders explain situations, seek input, decide best options, explain best options and watch their people and the mission succeed.
We have toooooooooooooooooooooooooo many managers and a dirth of leaders.
In 1919 West Point was in the depths of a hazing scandal which almost caused its closing. Douglas MacArthur was sent in as the new Superintendent. He recognized the problem in a speech to the Corps of Cadets. “West Point must create LEADERS of MEN, not Drivers of Men” was his comment. 23 years later we had the leaders MacArthur was talking about.
Name a leader in the Post Office?
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Theres a rule at our workplace which allows you to spend 10minutes at the photocopier however whenever you go to the toilet you have to let someone know.
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Well said Pilgrim…..
To add to that fine statement,
There are definitely too many managers.
I’ve always believed that you “manage” a program, project, etc. But you “supervise/lead” people.
The Post Office desperately needs supervisors to replace the people who treat the workers as a tool to achieve a number or rating.
Most people who have experience as a true supervisor want nothing to do with the postal service management because they see how they would be expected to treat the people, while being responsible for performing practically everything in the office for negligible increases in pay (actually a decrease in pay if you go by the number of hours worked).
This leaves the supervisors to be filled with people having no experience in dealing with people, and a few weeks in ASP does not a supervisor make. Most of these people only take the position because they know its the only way to get into a cushy little Postmaster position at a level 13 or 15 office. They have no desire to actually be a supervisor. Its just a necessary evil.
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That toilet comment is crazy!!!
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I like the 5 minute rule. You guys need to stick with that!
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We have bar codes on our toilets, they are part of the Carrier Restroom Accountability Program.
You guys don’t have this?
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Random drug tests/breathalyzer employees.
Discuss basic hygiene and dental care with employees, enforce it.
Train employees to use basic courtesy. Respect is too strong of a word.
Psychological testing/counselling to employees with history of violent outbursts or anger issues.
Enforce state/city tobacco laws on Postal property and in vehicles.
Allow employees to use their earned sick leave without harassment.
Eliminate all scans other than accountable postal items.
Scheduled maintenance for vehicles so carriers may leave rain gear in vehicles.
Properly train PTFs and allow them ample time to deliver a route in an accurate fashion.
Stress confidentiality to supervisors and carriers (MYOB).
Single out and discipline the carrier that is/has- not made 5, missed noon delivery on an Express, gotten in an accident, used too much sick leave, late for work all the time. Stop yelling at us as a group and stop giving me these memos!!
Answer the phone within 5 rings.
Clearly mark the customer entrance VS the Postal entrance lot.
I’ll think of more..
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Ooops.. I just posted my list and these are things I think we should do..
I didn’t mean they are silly rules.
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This ones not a rule but more of a practice done by management…
After they promote a craft employee to a Delivery Supervisor and then send them through the ASP course, they find out the person has no people skills, motivation, or ability to perform in the position.
The usual solution…promote them to a Postmaster position in a small post office.
This really sends a positive signal to all employees that even if you can’t perform as a supervisor (any other EAS positions) we will just make you a Postmaster. And the 204B’s that have been following behind the deadbeat supervisor and cleaning up the messes so the office still looks good on paper, can’t get promoted because the useless emplyees are getting the small Postmaster positions. Really makes me want to be a 204B and work hard……
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You should be allowed to go to the toilet for an extra 5 minutes if you promise not to wash your hands thus saving precious time there.
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I was told by my manager that I should not share an internal document with the postmaster. The document showed current month and same period last year revenue by business and address. I wanted the postmaster to see what businesses in the zip code were generating revenue. I provided letters so the carriers could thank the customer. I was hoping to a get “bigger share of wallet” from current customers. My manager said it was wasting the time of the carrier and that I was trying to get them to do my job of prospecting for leads.
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