New beginnings
‘Slough is a massive delivery office. We’ve got 188 staff in post – it’s like a small mail centre really,’ says Danish Mushtaq.
Danish joined the team as Slough’s Lead Customer Operations Manager (COM) just three weeks ago with Dean Kelly, Alan O’Brien, Marcin Wanot, Roland Zend and Muhammad Wasif Shabaz, Dahlia Ong as Rest Day Cover.
Aware that Christmas 2023 is a crucial time for the business, as soon as he arrived, Danish set about setting the office up to ensure that everyone could work at maximum efficiency to deliver a perfect peak.
‘All the staff were downstairs on the ground floor and the managers were upstairs in separate rooms. There was no opportunity for collaboration,’ says Danish.
‘We changed that so that all the managers are now in one room – except for one who is in a separate building.
‘By doing that we can all communicate. One message goes across and we have the opportunity to collaborate and share good practice.
‘I want to give one message to everyone. I stated having pre-shift meetings with all the managers at 6.30am, in which we would discuss the previous day’s performance and the plan for that day.
‘I have asked people to trust me – as I am doing everything I can to make sure the office is fixed.
‘I have created champions and Dean Kelly has taken over Tracked performance for Slough, Marcin Wanot is on van checks, COLOD (Collection on Delivery & SISO (Sign in Sign out)), Roland Zend looks after sick absence and Alan O’Brien health and safety and complaints. However, every manager is responsible for their own performance.
‘By creating champions and taking additional challenges it has enhanced my team skills and improved performance for the unit.
‘I keep myself available on the floor and I went to meet every single person to build trust. Now they are approaching us with ideas, which we need.
‘Our floor plan was poor, so I created a space for all our staff. People need space to breathe – so we got rid of all unnecessary frames and put any rubbish into a skip. It is nice and fresh now when you walk in and you feel as if you are coming to work.
‘The Christmas incentive scheme is a massive offer from the company. It’s never happened in Royal Mail before, and it has motivated people – and you can see the results in our performance.
‘To do what we need to, we are heavily recruiting too and prioritising those people to start in the afternoons.
‘I try to stay on the floor to be there in case anything goes wrong. I am happy to help and give advice and I think it helps people to see how they can do things differently.
‘I think I have got the best team in Slough - managers and frontline staff - and I strongly believe in them. This is just the beginning and there is a lot to achieve. I would like to say thank you to them all and believing in me.’
