The Sunday Feed
Post Office
A phrase that has always been an integral part of all the people, does not matter whether you are young or old, girl or boy, rich or poor, you always interact with the post office at some point. Some more, some less!
However, since the internet has started to gain popularity since 2000, a lot of post offices around the world have lost a major chunk of business in the form of letters because people send electronic mails. Well, they are justified in doing so because if it takes a few seconds to get a message across, why would you wait for days or weeks.
The story I am going to talk about in this article is about the post office in Australia called “Australian Post.” A brand I like as it is far more dependable than the private companies. Not to mention the staff that is always ready to go that extra mile to help you with the parcel that was conveniently dumped by the private courier since you were not at home.
It is believed that Christine Holgate who was the CEO in 2018, gave Cartier watches worth 3K to her top 4 or so executives for acquiring a major bank as an institutional client. This suddenly became the talking point as some politicians saw this as a major spending spree and the issue was raised in the parliament. She was immediately asked to step aside.
Well before I go any further let me put a disclaimer that I do not support any particular party or politician. As any common and wise citizen, I agree on some policies and don’t with some, immaterial of who is in power. While talking about disagreement, this is an act I sincerely disagree with. Firing a well-performing CEO just because she gave a few Cartier watches as a bonus for excellent performance. I think there is more to the story which we will discover as we go along.
It is believed that BCG was assigned a research project to brief the government on what are the areas that Australian Post is not doing well and how it can improve. And as per the program, “Four Corners”, the recommendations will seriously make you wonder that a government, which, spend 1.3 million on a shoddy project like this might have problems with senior executives getting 3K watches.
So here are some top recommendations:
1. Reduce the number of offices
2. Reduce the days of “Postee” delivering the letter from 5 to 2
3. Reduce staff
Seriously? I think an average kid from a primary school can come up with better ideas. I have lost all respect for BCG. Of course the cost of the project was also to tell the government as to how other countries were dealing with this change in trend.
The real intention however looks like the government was looking for printed support to privatise the company. Research is always the fall back that we all use to throw dust in the eye of anyone who questions the legitimacy of the decision to sell a company. What surprised me more was the fact that the Labor party raised the issue of watches in the Parliament. On one side we always see the Labor government complaining that there are not enough women in the work force and on the other, they shoot down a female CEO.
I guess this is Politics. Always keep throwing philosophy but when you spot an opportunity, grab the moment even if it against all that you have said. What is even more remarkable is that not a single woman of fame came forward to shield Christine. I think she never deserved a voluntary resignation. Christine came from a private sector and is bound to have traces of the private culture. Also, you want your employees to take on the private sector but do not want to reward them. That does not sound very logical. Does it?
One of the things going around on SM is viral video of people doing the rant on random topics. Well some of them are funny but some have a message in them. There is a kid who sometime back was ranting against the PM of India saying that if you privatise everything, why keep the parliament. Let it also be owned by the private sector. A very good point indeed!
I think no political party is completely good or bad. Like everything else, there are good people and bad people. However, politicians need to understand that while they act and behave like executives, they are more that that. They are actually “heroes” because people elect them thinking that they will help them in times of need. Bail them out or protect them when times are bad.
No one can argue that Australia does more for the seniors in terms of providing them with all the support they need to make them feel that they are still revered and respected. However, what is the point of doing everything to keep them alive whereas on the other side you erase everything that keeps them happy. For the seniors, all the memories are built around the Railways and the Post office because that is all that was there in the days when they were active. The steam engines are not to be seen anywhere. The Post office is the only thing that they can relate to. Do you really want to give it to the private sector to reduce or shut down half of them?
Finally, when we talk about front line workers, we always visualise nurses and doctors. But let’s not forget that whenever the world goes into a lock down, there is a “Postee” still walking and delivering letters on an abandoned street. When all the offices are shut and people are working from home, the light in the post office is still on and it is buzzing with activity. In fact the workload shoots up! And if there is anything we can give them, it should be applaud and not a letter of termination. I have a habit of sending Christmas cards to all people I interact with in my local community. The “Post Office” will always be on the top of my list.
