Postal leaders “must motivate workforce” to engage in sustainability transformation

Workforce motivation is one of the biggest challenges facing postal operators as they seek to transform themselves into more sustainable businesses, according to senior executives at the UPU World Leaders Forum at Parcel + Post Expo 2023 in Amsterdam last week.

That was one of the key messages from speakers in a conference session on sustainability that also addressed the question of capacity sharing and other topics.

Leading by example

Charles Brewer, CEO of Pos Malaysia, explained that when developing a sustainability strategy, management had to judge the capacity of a company to cope with changes as well as the market’s ability to support changes, such as by supplying electric vehicles.

Above all, he stressed the importance of top management leading by example when attempting to modernise large postal operators and make operations more sustainable. “Any transformation is tough,” he declared. “But if you are embarking on sustainability, then you cannot drive a Porsche to the office.”

“When do we get our electric bikes?”

In particular, executives had to accept that not all employees would necessarily be in favour of changes, including new ways of working as part of a sustainability strategy, he stressed. “You have to start with ‘why we are doing this? What is the reason?’. You have to be dogmatic and don’t give up,” he urged.

At Pos Malaysia, where the former DHL and Canada Post executive has taken a lot of time to visit staff and explain the sustainability strategy, this approach is now paying off. “The posties are asking now ‘When do we get our electric bikes?’,” he commented.

Electrifying the fleet

Their hopes may well be fulfilled soon. In September, the company took delivery of 50 electric bikes from Malaysian supplier Modenas, adding to 55 other bikes already in operation. By the end of 2023, it aims to have 200 e-Bikes and 143 e-Vans in service across the country. Electrification of the fleet, which currently amounts to more than 7,400 vehicles, is due to rise to 28% by 2025 and 100% by 2030.

Under its sustainability roadmap, Pos Malaysia aims to reduce scope 1 and 2 emissions by 30% by 2025, and reach net zero emissions by 2050. Last year, it joined the IPC’s Sustainability Measurement and Management System (SMMS) for audited reporting purposes.

Cultural challenges

Sustainability challenges are somewhat similar in Portugal, according to Joao Bento, CEO of national postal operator CTT. “There is a social culture against change. The challenge is to explain why we are making changes,” he told the UPU Leaders Forum.

In addition, electric vehicles remain more expensive than traditional ones, and CTT could not yet afford to switch a large part of its fleet, he explained. As of September, the company had 696 ‘green’ vehicles, representing 16% of its fleet.

More positively, however, the postal operator has just issued a tender to set up the largest private charging network in the country, Bento pointed out.

Top down and bottom up

Spanish postal operator Correos also faces diverse challenges as it seeks to step up sustainability activities, Elena Fernández, deputy director of sustainability, made clear. These include a series of CEO changes in the past, which has slowed down decision-making.

“You have to work top down and bottom up… The key is to keep on track, to explain that we are learning and that we might make mistakes,” she explained. Other priorities are to “monetise the impact” and to explain the positive impacts of more sustainable operations on health of the community, she pointed out.

Capacity sharing

Responding to an audience question about the potential advantages of sharing capacity, Bento highlighted CTT’s decision to open up its Locky-branded parcel locker network to other companies.

This cooperation approach would also pay off financially for CTT, he claimed. “If we have a dense network, then others will not invest (in rival networks). So we have an advantage, get extra revenues and are more efficient,” he commented.

There are now about 700 Locky parcel lockers across Portugal, located at public transport sites, in shopping centres, in university campuses and at other sites.

Delivery collaboration

Responding to the same question, Brewer told the UPU Leaders Forum that the postal operator was already sharing capacity with other companies on its twice-daily flights to East Malaysia and making deliveries for them in that region. But he noted that many companies are reluctant to share capacity as “most believe that last-mile delivery is a key USP. You would need regulation to change that.”

For her part, Fernández explained that Correos had attempted to set up a trial scheme in the city of Zaragoza where carriers would share capacity for deliveries. However, this had failed to get off the ground as different carriers had not been able to share customer data for technical and legal reasons.