Crozier demands review of UK Royal Mail staff policies

Adam Crozier, the chief executive of the Royal Mail, has started a board-level review of staff recruitment and training policies following damaging revelations broadcast in a television documentary last week.

An undercover reporter filmed mail left unsorted while workers were skiving, stealing from and dumping letters. It also showed untrained temporary staff being sent out on delivery and failing to complete their rounds.

“Clearly, at board level we need to review some of our procedures and practices with regard to recruitment and training,” Crozier told The Sunday Telegraph. However, he added that disciplinary proceedings were already under way and that some of those filmed misbehaving could face the sack.

“We won’t hesitate to take action if our disciplinary procedures find evidence of wrongdoing – and that includes dismissals,” he said.

However, Crozier rejected the overall picture painted by the Dispatches documentary on Channel 4 of a shambolic organisation with slack management.

“It was not very pleasant viewing but the overall impression was not representative,” he said. “Clearly, there were certain examples shown of wrongdoing by individuals; but we are very strong on this, we are one of the few organisations in the country that has its own investigative arm. We have 180 investigators and prosecutors.”

Crozier also claimed that a disturbing incident where postal staff were filmed swearing at a manager and refusing to work their allotted hours to clear a backlog of unsorted mail was not typical.

“That was filmed just after the strike last year had come to an end. Not surprisingly, when there was a big backlog to clear, feelings were running high,” Crozier said.

He said he didn’t wish to comment on the manager involved but added: “In the turnaround of the company we have to ensure that, in every level of the organisation, we have the right quality of staff – and that includes the management.”

The Royal Mail’s delivery record has come in for fierce criticism recently and it is likely to miss performance targets for this year. This is likely to lead to fines of millions of pounds.

However, the company is expected to announce next month that it made a profit of pounds 200m for the year ending March 2004.

Crozier said: “We are in the midst of probably the biggest change programme in British industry: virtually every one of our 200,000 staff is changing the way they work.”

The Royal Mail is ending the second delivery, modernising sorting methods and changing its distribution infrastructure.

“We are taking out restrictive practices and changing the way that people work,” he said. “Alongside that, there has to be a big culture change. Our brand is very strong and at the heart of it is the trust that people have. We do, by and large, provide an excellent service.”