You have been saddled with an onboarding process that has proven to be nothing less than a disaster. Local services are vetting one person at a time, not allowing the direct manager to drive the onboarding process and turning a deaf ear to the calls from NAPS and the field for a better process.
We have heard stories from around the country of having to wait two months or more to get a position filled, only to receive an unqualified candidate and then having to start the process over. I recently heard a leader say that when she received her new hire CCA, the person reported to work using a walker. Maybe the person conducting the onboarding process thought the walker would serve as a parcel carrier or satchel holder.
Levity aside, NAPS well knows this failed onboarding process is a significant contributor to the staffing shortage. We also know these staffing shortages are, in some cases, leading to supervisors, managers and postmasters being mandated to deliver mail. This leads me back to a question regarding the statement I quoted at the opening of this column. If employee availability is in the 80s, why are supervisors, managers and postmasters mandated to perform craft work in violation of the CBA?
So, it seems as if the employee availability data does not match what is happening with “boots on the ground.” I am not surprised. Leadership has used flawed data for years to operate America’s Postal Service. Let’s look at this issue.
