30 January 2010 by James Hale - © Hellmail.co.uk

James Hale, one of Hellmail's newest writers begins a series of articles, talking frankly about his own position as a Royal Mail manager and describing a growing disenchantment in the direction the company is heading in terms of fostering trust and good industrial relations and why he feels poor leadership, lack of government support and singlemindeness on the part of the CWU is destroying the business he loves:

Well, having completed yet another manic night shift, there I was relaxing, reading my daily, happily sipping on a cup of freshly brewed tea before settling down for a well earned sleep, with my entire world being shattered as my attention was drawn to an article headed, ‘Postie loses his job for helping an elderly lady’. On reading the article my tea, which had by now been splattered all over the paper after I nearly choked at what I had read was forgotten and I uttered various expletives around stupidity, country’s gone to pot, lack of common sense, no wonder the company is in a mess and other unprintable assertions towards Royal Mail management. (Of which unfortunately I am).

In essence, the article reported on the cases of 46 postmen in the small Southport office that had been dismissed, suspended or off work with stress for minor misdemeanours such as riding a pedal cycle without wearing protective headgear, leaving a cycle outside a shop whilst talking to a customer about redirection. The list of stupidity went on and upon the second reading my mouth was wide open with disbelief because added to the horror story was mention of 12 staff at the 200 strong Wight Moss Way Royal Mail Delivery Office who had been sacked last year alone. All the sackings and suspensions were, and can only be described as actions resulting from minor misdemeanours.

The article went on to report that the local MP, Doctor John Pugh had raised the matter formally in the House of Commons stating that all these ‘offences’ were cases for a word of advice, not disciplinary hearings and that all of this is picked up and indentified by management intent on surveillance and on forcible action without considering an individuals excellent work record. Raising it in the House was obviously an indication of his strength of feeling and utter disbelief about these abhorrent actions.

Of course the response from the Minister for Business, Mr Pat McFadden stated that disciplinary issues were not a matter for Government although he did acknowledge that RM did have a serious industrial relations problem. Talk about an understatement; isn’t industrial relations the real hub of the problem that is dragging this once proud company into ruin.

The responses from a Royal Mail spokesman did as usual, not address the issues in any way, but simply stated the obvious that RM did everything possible to ensure the welfare of its people and that helmets and fluorescent jackets must be worn by postman riding cycles. All this ‘ducking and diving’ and not commenting on the real issues was coming from a company that openly advertises ‘family friendly policies’ and ‘a great place to work’.

Following the second reading, I checked not only the paper, but all the calendars in the house plus the early morning news in case I had fallen into a deep sleep for several weeks and that April 1st had arrived without me noticing. No, it was, as I thought the 28th January.

Finding myself still in a state of disbelief, it was then that I turned my thinking to my own office. What was being reported elsewhere could, in my opinion, have happened, (to a somewhat lesser degree perhaps) where I worked. Senior Management must have had so much practice at spelling the words, ‘Conduct Code’ because it appears on every piece of communication material that is produced. Senior Managers ranting and raving in temper, sometimes to a point where spittle is expelled from the mouth. The answer to reasonable requests for ‘time off’ by staff being met with a loudly shouted ‘No’. Staff pay being stopped if they did not return to work from sick leave, even though they had a valid sick certificate. (I always wonder about the legality of this particular tactic, let alone the moral position!) Valuable man hours spent on attempting to apportion blame rather than concentrating on fixing the problem. Bullying and harassment on a major scale instilling fear, anxiety and demonstrating persecution and intimidation. The ‘We know best’ and ‘Do as I say’ attitude stifles constructive debate and destroys improvement.

Finally, the ‘jobs for the boy’s’ culture is so prevalent that it has become a laughing stock amongst the majority. (We have all given up crying) If your face fits, no matter what you do, promotions and advancement is a given. The flip side being that if it doesn’t fit, no evidence whatsoever is required to justify the beating you are sure to receive. It borders on the endemic corruption that undermines so many foreign states/industries and if is not halted soon will have disastrous consequences. I can only liken it to Robert Mugabe’s regime, the only difference at present is that we don’t get shot!

I am of the firm opinion that RM is ‘Dickensian’ in its management culture and does nothing to foster trust and good industrial relations with its work force. The ethos really does hark back to a time when dictatorial policies were the norm. It all points to a situation where managers are encouraged to purposely make life miserable for all and sundry. It as if we are in a time warp where there is a complete lack of understanding of other peoples circumstances in the 21st Century, even when it has minimal impact on work continuity.

There is to my mind no real direction or leadership within the company. Where is the John Harvey Jones character we so drastically need to pull us out of this ever increasing spiral of oblivion? The Senior Executives in my opinion, although well intended and no doubt experienced, lack lustre, charisma and the leadership drive that we all look for and need in this time of crisis. Alan Leighton may have had his failings and enemies but say what you will, we all knew him as the Chairman. 98% of the staff in my office does not have a clue as to the name of our current chairman who I believe has been in post for close on a year.

As much as I hate to admit this, I have come to the conclusion that until the Management at Royal Mail drastically changes and begins to believe and promote good practice rather than just talk about it and tick boxes, we will eventually become extinct.

© Hellmail.co.uk (30 January 2010)

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