Delivering the Future

On the postal monopoly: The strong performance of the Postal Service has raised the bristles of some of our direct competitors, especially UPS and FedEx, who feel that a government-sponsored monopoly should not be trampling in the private sector. Now we argue, of course, that what we're really doing is improving the level of our core business to the excellent and very good level. Mediocrity is no longer acceptable in the marketplace.

We will not retain our monopoly forever. Monopolies are being deregulated. I think that's going to happen here.

I also think the "sacred heart" of the Postal Service will probably change, too, and that's the mailbox. So if you look out into the future and see this deregulated organization without a monopoly, without a mailbox protection, the real key is how do you get there and what are the elements of reform.

No one can stick their head in the sand and say, "Oh, we had a great financial year this year. We had great service this year." All that's true. But looking out ahead into the future, there are storm clouds.

On technology: We have deployed all of this automation, and we're going to continue to do that. What we're really going to do is link all the information we have into a new database, a new platform. This platform will have three key characteristics.

First, it will give operating management real-time information. Today, most of the information we get in postal management is about what happened yesterday. Well, what can you do about what happened yesterday? Nothing. But if you have information about the decision you're about to make before you make it, you can make the right decision.

Second, real-time information is of tremendous value to customers. We will create a window around the mail in which the mail will "talk" to you. It will say, "Hi. I am the mail piece that you mailed. And guess what. Here's where I am, and here's when I'm going to be delivered. And by the way, here's what's inside."

Third, it will revolutionize pricing because it will create an activity-based accounting system. If you believe that at some time in the future there will be no monopoly, then you'll be in trouble if you don't have an activity-based costing system to determine which of your customers are really saving you money through efficiency, so that you can reward and encourage them with pricing discounts.

The postal family must come together to make "technology" a positive word, not a negative word. Too often, the average employee doesn't think about the positive revolution that automation has created.

On labor and customer relations: It is my belief, and I think fairly well documented, that the distance between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction can't be too great. Now we have customer satisfaction levels at all-time highs, but there is a likelihood we have reached a glass ceiling. That ceiling is caused by bickering, disgruntlement--call it what you will--among postal management and craft employees and within postal management itself.

We're going to try to change the way our postal family deals with one another for the business purpose of raising customer satisfaction. Tactically, we are going to improve the grievance process. It's a horrible process today, it's outdated. We're going to streamline it. We want to introduce a new and better suggestion program so employees have real input into the Postal Service, and we want to revolutionize the way we treat people in the discipline process.