Singapore Post Limited (SingPost) showcased some of its projects and initiatives to enhance productivity, upgrade postal infrastructure and benefit workers at National Trades Union Congress' (NTUC) Learning Journey on 19 September 2013.
NTUC Secretary-General Lim Swee Say and other union leaders visited SingPost's Kallang Regional Base to learn how the company has adopted progressive work practices like using technology to help raise productivity; redesigning jobs to make them Easier, Smarter, Safer (ESS); and adopting the Progressive Wage Model (PWM) to draw more Singaporeans to become postmen and postwomen.
The hosts demonstrated some of the new equipment at SingPost such as the Ezy Trolley and the 3-wheeler scooters.
Both items have dramatically improved job efficiency and productivity as compared to the old system.
These innovations have been very helpful in creating a safer and more convenient work place especially for the older employees.
'The trolleys are not so heavy and it won't hurt your back,' says Ms Soo Foong Syn, 63. She has been sorting the mail at the Kallang Regional Base for 16 years.
Another advantage in adopting PWM is the creation of a new job grade, which extends the career path of the postmen and postwomen.
In the past, a postman without GCE 'N' Level qualification can only progress up to the highest rank of being an Inspector of Post (IP).
Under the new career path, SingPost now recognises the Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) certification as an equivalent of the GCE 'N' Level qualification.
The IP can now progress along an extended career path under the Postal Officer scheme of service which allows for eventual managerial opportunities.
SingPost also works with NTUC's Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) and the Women's Development Secretariat (WDS) in hiring about 680 housewives in Mail Delivery. This does not include the 217 housewives in Mail Processing as mail sorters on a full-time and part-time basis to supplement its workforce.
As a result, this has helped the company reduce its reliance on foreign manpower and build up on its Singaporean Core.
Currently, over 80 per cent of its staff strength are Singaporeans and Singapore Permanent Residents.
The event was organised by Ong Teng Cheong Labour Leadership Institute (OTCi) and Union of Telecoms Employees of Singapore (UTES).
Original article written by Nicholas Lee, and can be found in NTUC This Week (27 September 2013)
