Unrealistic demands in the workplace?
- Unrealistic demands on Royal Mail delivery team?
The Communication Workers Union has recently claimed that postmen are being bullied by Royal Mail managers because they do not walk quickly enough whilst making deliveries.
A BBC News report says that union officials claim that a new softaware system, Pegasus, requires delivery staff to walk at four miles an hour. They claim that the demands of this system pressure postmen into completing “unrealistic” rounds in order to gain financial savings.
So how can Royal Mail managers motivate and inspire their staff, rather than stand accused of bullying them, to allow the organisation to cope with its busiest time of the year?
The BBC report says they spoke to “more than 20 delivery staff who say they are being forced to work over their hours on a regular basis because the time allocated to complete their rounds is not sufficient”. However, Royal Mail has denied accusations of bullying and says that its guidelines state that staff should walk at 2.1 miles an hour.
But it’s obvious that, in some areas at least, staff are feeling under pressure. And with accusations of bullying being levied, it doesn’t create a productive work environment for staff who are trying to keep up with the annual deluge of post that Christmas brings.
If staff feel that demands made of them are unrealistic, then it is up to the management to work with the staff to communicate their needs and objectives and to re-evaluate those demands if necessary. Royal Mail is entrusted with millions of items of communication each year. Surely they can find some way of getting some two-way communication going with their own staff?
