Reference no: EM133161164

Carol Burgess is a letter carrier and a part-time trainer of letter carriers for the U.S. PostalService in a major city on the west coast. She trains all new letter carriers in her service area,which encompasses the northern half of her state. Over the past five years she has trained 318new letter carriers. Typically, the training is offered prior to the new letter carrier's entry ontothe job, although sometimes it occurs shortly thereafter.The training program typically encompasses both the orientation of new employees to theU.S. Postal Service and the development of specific skills needed by the new letter carrier. Thelatter involves practice in casing mail (i.e., sorting) to appropriate locations of a case inpreparation for delivery, reading maps, determining appropriate sequencing of delivery, andcustomer relations. The total training program takes three full days (one day of orientationand two days of skills training).The orientation part of the training program encompasses both an orientation packet anda discussion of various Postal Service policies and procedures. The orientation packet typicallyincludes information about employee benefits, holidays, copies of certain standard forms (i.e.,IRS withholding forms), outline of emergency and accident procedures, key terms used in theU.S. Postal Service, copies of the health and life insurance options, and telephone numbersand locations of the personnel department and other important offices. In addition, anexplanation of the U.S. Postal Service operation and purpose is provided. This explanationincludes the training to be received, the letter carrier's duties and responsibilities, jobstandards and expected production levels, Postal Service rules and regulations, and the chainof command for reporting purposes are also provided. Burgess concludes her orientation withan offer of help and encouragement for the future.The assumption built into the orientation is that it will be supplemented at the job site bythe direct supervisor who will provide all the necessary information about the particularfacility, the personnel at the facility, the area covered by the route or routes to which the newemployee will be assigned, and the additional written information such as the employeehandbook and the union contract. According to Postal Service policy, each new letter carriershould get three days of on-the-job training, of which one is paid for by the training divisionand two are charged to the supervisor's production. Burgess learned from subsequentconversations with her former trainees over the past five years that the orientation providedby the direct supervisor varied from practically nothing to fairly extensive. In some stations,the supervisor greeted the new employee, introduced the person to one other employee, andexplained their own expectations regarding attendance, personal conduct, and productivity.Then, the employee was given an assignment and allowed to ''sink or swim.'' Severalsupervisors were known in the Postal Service to be ''SOBs.'' While 83 percent of new hireshave survived their probationary 90-day period over the past three years, less than 20 percentsurvived in certain stations.Last night Burgess received a telephone call from Edith Jones, one of her former traineeswho finished training ten weeks ago. Jones is a single parent with two school-age children whohad left her job as a secretary and taken the letter carrier job in order to make more money.Jones was in tears as she described her experience at her station. Her supervisor had given her no written materials, introduced her to only one other employee, and has shifted her from route to route over the ten weeks she has worked at the facility. No help or support of anykind has been offered, but the supervisor has continually berated her for the number of hoursshe has taken to case and deliver routes. She had tried to study maps during her days off inorder to learn the various areas covered by various routes, but this only helped a little.Each route had to be delivered in a particular order and it took time to learn thesequence. The other letter carriers were all stressed and working overtime themselves.Consequently, they ignored her and offered no assistance. Jones told Burgess that she was on the verge of quitting. Burgess told her to ''hang in there because it does get easier withtime.''As a result of all the complaints she had received from former trainees (some of whomsurvived the 90-day probationary period), Burgess decided to recommend to the area post-master a program to train supervisors as to how to orient new letter carriers. However, she was not sure what specific items the supervisors should include in their new employee orientation and how to train them.

Assuming that Burgess' recommendation is approved, so that from now on, all post office supervisors should be trained on how to orient new letter carriers:

a. Describe ONE training method that could be used to train the post office supervisors. 

b. Why do you think that training method is effective in this case? 

c. Describe another training method that you think could also be used. 

d. Why would that alternative training method be effective?