Creating a High Performing Postal Business (November 2004))
Is your postal organisation a high performer? If you had the time and budget you could find out by reviewing an extensive list of key performance indicators... but in our experience there are four key indicators: your customers' experience, the role of technology, your employees, and your leadership culture...At the recent Universal Postal Union Expo in Bucharest, Transend's General Manager, Bruce Heesterman spoke on the subject of Discovering a High Performing Postal Business. 

 

To create a high performing postal business, first examine these four key areas:

a) Your customers' experience
b) The role of technology
c) Your employees
d) Your leadership culture.

A) Your customers' experience

Increasing numbers of postal organisations are recognising that customers are the only reason for their existence. Yet as these organisations change their focus towards meeting customer expectations, those very expectations are changing.

Postal organisations operate in competitive markets - customers have choices provided by technology such as email and have greater access to international service providers eg printing in other countries. So, independent of any statutory protection, postal organisations need to be customer-focussed.

Characteristics of a High Performance Postal Organisation:

  • Offers innovative products and services. 
  • Listens to customers and staff and management act on what they learn.
  • Creates solutions specifically for customers.
  • Offers customers have product choices and options of where/how to purchase.
  • Understands margins associated with different products and services.
  • Shows commitment to excellent quality/service as perceived by the customer.
  • Develops capability to meet future customer demands.  


B) The role of technology

The effective use of technology is a critical success factor for postal organisations. It can also be a significant distraction. Too many information technology projects promise huge benefits but deliver little. The real benefits are elusive and are often eaten up by implementation delays, cost over-runs and changes to specification.

Technology should support the business direction not determine it. Frequently, the implementation of technology becomes the goal, and the organisation forgets why it is undertaking a project. It forgets the business or customer needs.

Characteristics of a High Performance Postal Organisation:

  • Understands the benefits that can be achieved from technology.
  • Shows excellent change management capability.
  • Recognises that a new system cannot replace existing processes.
  • Shows professional management of suppliers and contactors.
  • Ensures costs and interruptions are minimised, and timeframes kept.
  • Develops an overall plan and ensures the organisation isn't constantly “reinventing the wheel”. 


C) Your employees

Despite the role of technology the postal business remains a people business. The shift towards meeting customer needs and the greater use of technology has created new tensions, such as longer opening hours of retail outlets or specific skill sets required.

Characteristics of a High Performance Postal Organisation:

  • Offers modern pay and conditions, including flexible hours, fair market rates and performance related incentives.
  • Employs the right number of people to meet workload requirements.
  • Has employees who are engaged in the business, enjoy coming to work, and contribute to a positive working environment.
  • Has technology-literate employees to ensure investments made in new systems pay off.
  • Actively manages talent and skills for the future by developing staff and recruiting the right kind of people.


D) The leadership culture

Until recently postal organisations have often not been seen as attractive employers or leading examples of modern business. There is frequently little alignment of objectives at senior management level, resulting in little integration of initiatives. This is complicated further by unclear accountability for the achievement of objectives. True leadership, as distinct from management, is rare.

Characteristics of a High Performance Postal Organisation:

  • Has bold and visionary leaders that develop a shared view of the future and are able to harness the passion and energy of their people to achieve this vision.
  • Utilises commercial freedom to grow.
  • Keeps the best of the past and creates new opportunities for the future.
  • Innovates and delivers on customer promises.
  • Creates successes from available resources.
     

Customer focus, technology as a solution not a distraction, effective, motivated people and transformational leadership - these are all the characteristics of a high performing business.

How does your business compare? Would you like to move your existing systems and processes towards a higher performing model? Transend has the experience, staff and products to help you achieve this goal.