First-line supervisors play a critical role in any organization and influence productivity, quality, and employee engagement. At the U.S. Postal Service, they significantly contribute to accomplishing USPS goals, including ensuring customers receive quality service and mail and parcels on time.
Our audit focuses on first-line supervisors at retail and mail processing facilities. For the purposes of our work, we define a first-line supervisor as the first layer of management directly above the craft employee. These include supervisors of customer service, distribution operations, maintenance operations, and transportation operations. Our objective is to assess whether the Postal Service is effectively hiring and retaining first-line supervisors.
- How well does the Postal Service hire and retain first-line supervisors?
- What are reasons employees pursue first-line supervisor positions?
- What are challenges in recruiting and retaining qualified first-line supervisors?
- What opportunities exist to strengthen management’s ability to attract and retain skilled first-line supervisors?