We all have cracked jokes about the United States Postal Service, especially about their workers “going postal.” Most postal workers you’ve encountered are probably lethargic, short-tempered, half-asleep, or just plain rude. Well, that could be due to their work environment. These people are miserable, which is what the USPS painfully discovered when they gave Gallup to conduct this survey at the cost of $1.8 million (via Inside Sources):
The topline results were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request after the USPS declined to provide the data to InsideSources when asked in January.Postal workers reported strong job dissatisfaction, and in comparison to other organizations surveyed by Gallup, USPS employees say they rarely receive recognition for good work; their supervisors don’t care for them as people; they don’t feel their job is important; they lack opportunities to learn and grow, and their fellow employees are not committed to doing quality work.
A spokesperson for USPS says the organization was disappointed with the results. “Clearly, there is much room for improvement.”
This was the first time the survey, known as Postal Pulse, was administered to postal employees. USPS previously surveyed employees on a quarterly rotation for 17 years. Postal Pulse is the first time Gallup has contracted with USPS to conduct a version of its Q12 survey, which since its development in the 1990s has been given to 25 million workers at over 1,100 firms worldwide.
The fact that the USPS has lost $46 billion since 2007 probably isn’t a source for a morale boost either. The USPS said they’re “laser-focused” on remedying the workplace discontent with a crack team of experts, but added that this could be a very long-term project.