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USPSNEWS@WORK

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 ....see captionCustomer 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

Wanda before her haircut.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."

Wanda and Make over staffOwenton, 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

Dr. Jonas Salk and Dr. Albert Sabin stamps.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

Cloudsscapes stamp posterCloudscapes 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 sign."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 home and at work - and prove that safety depends on all of us.

Trade show propels central PA postmasters into national spotlight

Trade show picFrom 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 Home 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 Home 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 home-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.