Father’s pride
When the internal communications team at pharmaceutical company Ipsen asked their staff for nominations for their weekly round-up of ‘Ipsen Personal Heroes,’ one of their colleagues, Barry Tysoe, nominated his son.
Mr Tysoe’s son just happens to be our very own Robin Tysoe, senior operations manager, Chester & Wirral.
‘He moved to this role at the beginning of 2020 and is now responsible for the leadership and support of 13 delivery offices and more than 800 staff,’ explained Barry. ‘This was a big step up in responsibility for Robin and this was before we were faced with the current covid-19 situation.
‘During this challenging time, Royal Mail are key. This is because they deliver to the vulnerable, particularly in rural areas, to ensure they can stay home and stay safe. They also deliver covid-19 test kits to the NHS, pharmacy prescriptions and food parcels to people’s homes, and letters from Downing Street to every home in the country. The list is endless.
‘In order to deliver these services and many more, Robin is working extremely hard to look after his staff, ensuring that they remain motivated during this difficult period. Robin described this time as “busier than Christmas, but with much less staff and no end point in sight.” It is a huge challenge for him to keep his staff motivated when nobody knows when this may end.
‘Robin is someone that always cares for his people and their wellbeing. There are many of Robin’s staff who are currently self-isolating or have been told they need to stay at home. This has put huge pressure on Robin and his delivery offices in terms of resourcing, but his focus remains on his team and making sure they have the support they need at this crucial time.
‘Robin travels around all his delivery offices on a regular basis to help manage their forever-increasing workload and resourcing challenges. He also does what he can to boost morale and ensures staff know they are appreciated for all the work they are doing.
‘Royal Mail continue to deliver to our country, and this couldn’t be done without their people, including my son, Robin. I am so proud of him. Robin’s six-year-old neighbour asked his dad why Robin was going out to work on a Saturday and why he wasn’t able to stay at home like everyone else. His dad explained that they wouldn’t be receiving their post and parcels if it wasn’t for people like Robin. Now, more than ever, Robin is helping to keep the country running and I couldn’t be any prouder.’
When we asked Robin for his thoughts on his dad’s appraisal, he said: ‘This was totally unexpected, and to be honest, I was taken aback by the level of detail in it. It meant a lot to me to get the positive feedback from my dad, someone who has been in operations in his industry all his life so understands the daily struggles that myself and my team are going through. Personally, it was a great motivator to keep going and provide the best possible customer service we can at Royal Mail. It’s nice to be recognised by other organisations for the work we’re all doing at Royal Mail.
‘I’m really proud of each and every one of my team in Chester and the Wirral, in what is probably the toughest times any of us have ever had. Everyone is working longer hours and working with significantly less staff during a time that has often been busier than Peak. My team continue to deliver the best possible customer service across our key parcels network. We’re keeping our area connected and I couldn’t ask for any more from any of them.
‘We all know that this will continue for some time yet and we appreciate the challenge. My team specifically, have really stepped up and taken everything head on. I cannot thank them enough for what they have achieved over the last six weeks - it has really set the precedent for the operation going forward.’
