Sharing Shared Services — part of the
PostalPEOPLE strategy
Employee Resource Management Vice President
Debbie Jackson recently talked to Human Resource managers from around the country in Greensboro, NC, about
how the move to Shared Services will impact their districts.
The new Shared Services Center in Greensboro is part
of the overall PostalPEOPLE strategy - the ultimate in employee self-service - making it quick, easy and convenient
to access personal information 24/7. Employees in 28 districts use the center to get help with retirement and separation, compensation and benefit changes as well as
executive and administrative schedule selection.
By Sept. 1, all 80 districts will be on the new system.
BSN reorganizes to better serve
customers
 Customer Service VP Susan Plonkey
meets with former Mailers Technical
Advisory Committee (MTAC) Industry
Chairperson Bob O'Brien after
explaining Business Service Network
changes at a recent MTAC meeting.
The Postal Service's
Business Service Network (BSN) - the team
that supports our largest
mailers - is reorganizing to better serve our
customers.
National accounts,
previously supported by
district BSN staff, will
now be served by area
BSN representatives.
District staff will continue to serve Premier accounts. Customer Service Vice President Susan Plonkey says the realignment positions the BSN as a true service partner to
customers with renewed focus on problem identification
and resolution.
A new BSN National Service Improvement Team is also
being created, with both area and HQ staff to be in place in
early April. The team will concentrate on industry trends
and issues resolution.
Customers have been told of the change through the
Mailers Technical Advisory Committee, individual letters
and the USPS Memo to Mailers magazine.
A new do for Wanda
 When Owenton, KY, Rural Carrier Wanda New decided to get
her first real haircut in more than
40 years and donate her ponytail
to Locks of Love - an organization that provides wigs to children
suffering from diseases such as
alopecia - she had no idea it
would get her on national TV in
front of millions of viewers.
New was just one of thousands
who participated in numerous
Locks of Love events around the
country that day, but because her
hair was so long - 55 inches -
and it hadn't been cut in more
than 40 years, The Today Show
featured her.
"It was an awesome experience to see how they produce live
TV shows," she says. But the
pace of the big city was much different than in Owenton. "It
was a culture shock."
 Owenton, KY, Rural Carrier Wanda
New donating hair to Locks of Love on
The Today Show.
The Today Show provided a team of stylists
who had New looking
"New York fabulous" by
the end of show.
Stamps honor
the men who
saved the world
from polio
 Through the early
1950s, polio outbreaks
caused such panic and
widespread concern that
parents kept their children away from school
and other public facilities. Finding a polio vaccine became the work of
Dr. Jonas Salk at the
University of Pittsburgh's
Medical School. When the announcement was made on
April 12, 1955, that Salk had developed a vaccine, he was
hailed as a national hero.
Later, at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Dr. Albert Sabin created another polio vaccine that used
a live, but weakened, virus. Because it was easier to administer and reduced the spread of polio, Sabin's vaccine
became the standard treatment for years.
Stamps honoring both men were issued recently and the
Postal Service held ceremonies in the cities where the two
conducted research - Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.
Both stamps are on sale nationwide.
|
New Safety and Environmental
Performance Management office
A new Safety and Environmental Performance Management function has been created at Headquarters to manage all aspects of safety, health and environmental
programs.
Chief Human Resources Officer Tony Vegliante said the
new entity will oversee employee and customer safety and
health issues, and ensure regulatory compliance, operational efficiency and cost effectiveness.
Vegliante said he expects the change to provide clearer,
standardized and consistent direction and information to
managers, employees and external stakeholders.
The new office combines the existing Safety Performance Management, Environmental Management Policy,
the Ergonomic Risk Reduction Program and Occupational
Safety and Health Administration Coordination Program
into a single entity.
"Combining all of our safety, health and environmental
programs under one function will further strengthen our
safety and environmental efforts and help us make the
Postal Service an even better place to work."
USPS stamp program earns awards
 Cloudscapes is one of three USPS
stamp designs to earn a gold medal at
Creativity 35.
U.S. Olympic athletes
weren't the only ones
winning gold medals this
winter! Three stamps
from the Postal Service's
stamp program received
some gold-medal recognition for artistic design
and excellence. The
Cloudscapes, Lewis and
Clark Bicentennial and
Pacific Coral Reef designs received top honors at
Creativity 35 - an annual competition honoring bright
ideas in graphic design.
In all, USPS earned 20 prizes from a variety of top
graphic design publications and organizations. Other
stamp designs earning Merit Awards and Awards of Distinction were Love Bouquet, Isamu Noguchi, Snowy Egret,
Reptiles and Amphibians, Love: Candy Hearts, Art of the
American Indian, Modern American Architecture, Marian
Anderson and Advances in American Aviation. These
awards were given by publications and organizations such
as Communications Arts magazine, PRINT magazine,
American Institute of Graphic Arts, as well as Creativity 35.
USA Philatelic Fall 2004 and Spring 2005 catalogs also
earned American Graphic Design Merit Awards.
New Safety Depends on Me campaign
 "I Pledge Safety" is the
newest Safety Depends
on Me campaign, with kits
already being distributed.
The kit - to be followed by six more - features posters and tools for
employees to make personal commitments to
work safely.
Safety Performance
Management is providing
the materials, which include a cover letter, DVD,
"I Pledge Safety" posters, and markers for employees to
sign their personal safety pledge on the posters. The kit
also has ideas for managers and supervisors to work with
local safety and health committees and to lead pledge-signing events at their facilities.
By signing pledge posters, employees and work teams
will show their commitment to practice safe behaviors both
at and at work - and prove that safety depends on
all of us.
Trade show propels central PA
postmasters into national spotlight
 From left, Picture Rocks, PA,
Postmaster Heather Dockey;
Shamokin, PA, Postmaster Bob
Crawford; and Turbotville, PA,
Postmaster Tina Crawford make the
Business Connection with attendees at
the Williamsport Show.
Heather Dockey is
the Picture Rocks, PA,
postmaster and the central PA district customer
service ambassador.
She takes both roles seriously.
Imagine then the opportunity the Williams-
port Show
presented to Dockey;
Shamokin, PA, Postmaster Bob Crawford; Turbotville, PA,
Postmaster Tina Crawford; and Small Business Specialist
Ross Jones when they were invited to host a booth. The
show is a four-day exhibition for -improvement specialists that draws 10,000 attendees during its run.
"We educated thousands about alternate access, Click-
N-Ship, Carrier Pickup and various products and services
available round the clock on USPS.com," said Dockey.
The team also spoke to more than 130 exhibitors about
what the Postal Service offers.
The trio of Dockey, Crawford and Crawford were responsible for more than 3,000 Business Connect leads.
Enough to make them the top three performers in the nation and vault the central PA district up to 13th in the
country.
|
