OLD IRONSIDES

The Postal Service recently helped commemorate U.S. Navy heritage aboard the USS Constitution, the world’s oldest commissioned warship afloat. Boston, MA,

Postmaster Jim Holland and Navy Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Savage unveiled the Distinguished Sailors stamps aboard the ship, nicknamed “Old Ironsides.” The stamps commemorate four sailors. “On behalf of the Postal Service, I’m pleased to honor these four great men who proudly served our nation with courage and distinction,” said Holland.

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PLAY BALL

EVENTS HONOR NEGRO LEAGUES STAMPS AND FORMER PLAYERS

From left, San Diego District Manager Dallas Keck, San Diego Padres Executive Vice President Dave Winfield and, far right, San Diego Postmaster Tim Padden.


The Postal Service honored the Negro Leagues Baseball Stamps and former players recently during a number of events across the country.


At Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres, USPS showcased the new stamps prior to the team’s game with the Baltimore Orioles.


Unveiling the new stamps were San Diego District Manager Dallas Keck, Postmaster Tim Padden, San Diego Padres Executive Vice President Dave Winfield and San Diego stamp artist Kadir Nelson.

“It was a dream come true to have been commissioned to do this stamp,” said Nelson. “These men are phenomenal human beings because they triumphed over adversity and turned a negative into something beautiful. They broke down boundaries with hard work, talent, sheer will and passion for what they really loved to do — play ball.”


In Northern California, the Postal Service and the San Francisco Giants also honored Negro Leagues baseball during a pregame ceremony. San Francisco District Manager Rosemarie Fernandez, Giants coach and former player Shawon Dunston, and San Francisco Letter Carrier Herman Rivers unveiled the stamps at home plate prior to a game against the New York Mets.

The two 44–cent First–Class Mail stamps depict a baseball player sliding into home plate as Rube Foster, founder of one of the Negro Leagues, looks on.






Click here for more photos of Negro Leagues stamp activities from around the nation

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MEASURING A DECADE OF PROGRESS

IS USPS A BUSINESS?

The Postal Service has achieved remarkable success over the past 10 years to improve its business model. It has applied sound business practices to deliver consistently high levels of service and to earn higher levels of customer satisfaction — all with far fewer resources.



Early in this period, Postal Service leaders decided to transform the organization to meet customers’ changing needs. They adopted a long-range plan designed to improve service, reduce costs and generate new revenue. This plan helped make USPS a more dynamic and efficient business. Most important, it helped prepare the organization for the challenges it now faces.

The Postal Service has emerged as a role model for government agencies and businesses everywhere that want to do more with less. USPS has responded to the challenges of declining mail volume — a product of migration of messages from hard-copy to electronic — and the historic downturn in the economy with aggressive cost reductions, continued improvement in service and a plan to restructure the Postal Service for the 21st century.

The response to the challenges USPS now faces is ongoing and will require support from Congress and other stakeholders. But much progress has been made. Over the next several days, Link will publish a series of articles describing the steps USPS has taken to improve its business practices.
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SWEET PARTNERSHIP

FROM CANDY TO NUTS, A SALES SUCCESS WITH PLENTY OF DRIVE

Fresh Beginnings, a Valdosta, GA, gourmet cookie company that focuses on automotive clients, visited a USPS sales team during a recent automobile dealers’ convention. One of Fresh Beginnings’ marketing strategies is a dealer program thanking customers making new car purchases with a designer canister of fresh-baked gourmet cookies, brownies, chocolates and nuts.



Fresh Beginnings Director of Operations Debbie Tubbs described to Business Solutions Specialist Mike Hill and Shipping Solutions Specialist Alan Pelesky the company’s business model and how carriers are selected for shipping.


Shipping Solutions Specialist Robin Dessau acted on the information. Her team included Operations Integration Specialist Mark Cobb and Transportation Manager Nelsie Jackson-Yates. They identified programs and estimated volumes that would qualify Fresh Beginnings for Commercial Plus Cubic Pricing. Valdosta OIC Forest Robinson and Supervisor Jackie Carter made sure the team had the information it needed to close the deal.

Fresh Beginnings soon became the South Georgia District’s first Cubic Pricing customer, increasing its shipping with USPS by more than 150 percent and reducing its commitments to the competition. The revenue is expected to climb an additional $800,000 this year.

Tubbs said, “This is wonderful for us and a really sweet partnership with the Postal Service.”


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EMPLOYEE FOCUS--REGISTERING HOPE

A LOOK AT THE USPS MARROW DONOR PROGRAM


Huntington Beach, CA, Letter Carrier Hung Chung.

Every year, more than 10,000 adults and children are diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma, sickle–cell or other life–threatening diseases for which a marrow transplant is their only hope for a cure.


The Postal Service’s Delivering the Gift of Life campaign offers help. Since 1997, the campaign has made it possible for postal employees, their spouses or dependent family members 18 years of age and older to help.


Donors registered in the Delivering the Gift of Life campaign are added to the national “Be The Match Registry” where, on any given day, more than 6,000 people search for potential donors.

The registry, containing more than 7 million names, has made possible thousands of transplants — yet fewer than 10 percent of those have helped African American or other minority patients because suitable donors were unavailable.






The Delivering the Gift of Life program is managed by the Postal Service’s Community Relations team. Coordinator Deborah Mobley says one of the reasons USPS is involved is because of its large, diverse workforce. “There is special need to increase diversity on the registry because patients are most likely to match donors of the same race and ethnicity,” said Mobley. “Ninety–four percent of minorities in need of a marrow transplant will not get one.”


More than 50,000 postal employees and their family members, including 25,000 racial and ethnic minority donors, are enrolled in Delivering the Gift of Life.

To date, 80 Delivering the Gift of Life recruits have gone on to donate, including Huntington Beach, CA, Letter Carrier Hung Chung.


Chung enrolled in 2002. Seven years later, he got notice he was a match for a 16–year–old in need of a transplant. “I felt like I won the Super Lotto,” said Chung. He said he hopes to someday meet the girl.

Testing is required to donate marrow. A grant from the Postal Service covers the cost of type–testing employees and eligible family members.

Be The Match Foundation in 2009 honored the Postal Service with its first “Rod Carew Award for Leadership” for having saved more lives through marrow donation than any other business organization in the nation.


Employees interested in becoming a donor or who would like more information about the program can send an e–mail to marrowcampaign@usps.gov. For more information about the Be The Match registry or foundation, go to bethematch.org

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BOSTON NEGRO LEAGUES

Northeastern University last week hosted an unveiling of the Negro Leagues Baseball Stamps at its John D. O’Bryant Center for African American Studies. The event paid tribute to early African–American baseball players and their contributions to the nation’s culture and history.

Featured speakers included Dr. Raymond Doswell, representing the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum; Andrea Martinez of the Boston Foundation; Susan Goodenow, senior VP, Public Affairs and Marketing, Boston Red Sox; and James Holland, Postmaster of Boston and Northeastern University graduate.

The Boston Red Sox also was represented by former players Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd and Sam Horn.


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IS USPS A BUSINESS?

MANAGING COSTS IN A PERFECT STORM



Throughout the past decade, the Postal Service has steadily cut costs from its budget. Now, recession–driven revenue declines, ongoing mail volume reductions caused by Internet diversion and a crippling requirement to pre–fund retiree health benefits have combined to cause a “perfect storm” and focus more attention on the priority to reduce spending.

Cost-cutting is not new to USPS. In the last 10 years, the Postal Service has stripped more than $20 billion in costs. Cumulative savings over that period total $50 billion, with $6 billion in cost savings in fiscal year 2009 alone.


Compared to 10 years ago, 200,000 fewer career employees deliver mail to more than 15 million additional addresses and PO Boxes. USPS has achieved this workforce reduction largely through attrition and without sacrificing service.

The Postal Service has invested in tools and technologies to make its operations more efficient — in mail preparation, processing, delivery and retail, and transportation. Advanced technologies have revolutionized the way mail is sorted. Ten years ago, mail carriers spent 4 hours sorting mail and 4 hours delivering. Now they spend less time in the office before starting their routes, because automation sorts letters in delivery order at processing plants.

USPS has negotiated agreements with unions, providing management flexibility to align the workforce with changing operational processes and workloads. And agreements with suppliers have been renegotiated to obtain more favorable terms. Non-essential programs and projects, as well as certain construction projects, are no longer budget items.

The Postal Service began the decade using internal benchmarking and standards to increase operational efficiency. Today, USPS also has adopted Lean Six Sigma tools to simplify and streamline processes, document best practices and spread success throughout the organization.


Finally, the Postal Service has adopted a performance-based compensation system. Pay increases for managers based on time in grade have been eliminated. The new system features a balanced scorecard to set and manage objectives and a national performance assessment to measure and recognize results.
MANAGING COSTS IN A PERFECT STORM




Throughout the past decade, the Postal Service has steadily cut costs from its budget. Now, recession–driven revenue declines, ongoing mail volume reductions caused by Internet diversion and a crippling requirement to pre–fund retiree health benefits have combined to cause a “perfect storm” and focus more attention on the priority to reduce spending.



Cost-cutting is not new to USPS. In the last 10 years, the Postal Service has stripped more than $20 billion in costs. Cumulative savings over that period total $50 billion, with $6 billion in cost savings in fiscal year 2009 alone.



Compared to 10 years ago, 200,000 fewer career employees deliver mail to more than 15 million additional addresses and PO Boxes. USPS has achieved this workforce reduction largely through attrition and without sacrificing service.



The Postal Service has invested in tools and technologies to make its operations more efficient — in mail preparation, processing, delivery and retail, and transportation. Advanced technologies have revolutionized the way mail is sorted. Ten years ago, mail carriers spent 4 hours sorting mail and 4 hours delivering. Now they spend less time in the office before starting their routes, because automation sorts letters in delivery order at processing plants.



USPS has negotiated agreements with unions, providing management flexibility to align the workforce with changing operational processes and workloads. And agreements with suppliers have been renegotiated to obtain more favorable terms. Non-essential programs and projects, as well as certain construction projects, are no longer budget items.



The Postal Service began the decade using internal benchmarking and standards to increase operational efficiency. Today, USPS also has adopted Lean Six Sigma tools to simplify and streamline processes, document best practices and spread success throughout the organization.



Finally, the Postal Service has adopted a performance-based compensation system. Pay increases for managers based on time in grade have been eliminated. The new system features a balanced scorecard to set and manage objectives and a national performance assessment to measure and recognize results.

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TOP STORY--HAPPY CUSTOMERS PROMOTE USPS

CUSTOMER CONTACT DRIVES ‘LIKELIHOOD TO RECOMMEND’

Early results from the new Customer Experience Measurement (CEM) tool reveal that contact experience — the quality of the relationship USPS develops with customers — offers the most significant opportunity for not only improving satisfaction, but also increasing the likelihood customers will recommend the Postal Service to others.

“During contact with a customer, no matter what the reason, make sure they feel valued,” advises Vice President and Consumer Advocate Delores Killette. She adds that reaching out to customers by creating a dialog helps create a positive contact experience that leads more customers to recommend USPS. “An engaged customer is more than satisfied and is more likely to recommend the Postal Service to others,” she says.


CEM data shows other, more subtle aspects of the contact experience also are important. For example, the perceived efficiency of retail associates has a more direct effect on customers’ likelihood to recommend than the actual length of the time they wait in line.


“The customer who has to wait in line but believes the clerks are working as efficiently as possible is more positive about USPS than a customer waiting a shorter length of time who believes the clerk is inefficient or wasting time,” said Killette.

Demonstrating value to the customer by exceeding expectations and creating opportunities for repeat business is another way to gain customer trust. “Once a bond based on service or a relationship with an employee has been established, a customer may think it’s simply not logical to go anywhere else,” says Killette.

Responsiveness to customer questions, comments and complaints also is important. If a complaint is quickly and efficiently resolved, the likelihood to recommend USPS is greater. “Listen to customer feedback,” says Killette. “Trust the customer to tell you what the problem is, and then take steps to fix it.”

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