Thank you for your efforts during Peak
We’re now into December, and on the home stretch for Peak. I visited our South Melbourne Market Street Post Office to catch up with Debbie Stradling, who had an incredible story to share that really captures the important role we play in our communities. Thanks for everyone’s efforts – this is our busiest time of year and I’m so proud of how we’re continuing to delight our customers.
On screen name plate reads: Paul Graham, Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director
Video: We see Paul speaking direct to camera, alongside Australia Post’s Chief Mental Health Officer, Simon Brown-Greaves.
Audio: - Hi everybody. Welcome to my monthly video. Unfortunately, we're starting again this month, as we've done in too many months, with flooding. We see severe flooding in Tasmania, Victoria, and again parts of New South Wales. So our hearts go out to all those people and those communities impacted, a particular call out to our own people who've been impacted and making sure that you look after yourselves and your family. We are doing, as we always do, everything we can to support those communities. Working with our great partner, the Red Cross and providing our disaster relief assistance. So please look after yourself. It's really, really crucial, not just physically but also your mental health and wellbeing. And last month was Mental Health Month in October and we did a number of activities around the business to really focus in on what is probably one of the most crucial things that's happening in our society today. And I'm really, really happy today to be here with Simon Brown-Greaves, our Chief Mental Health Officer who's been with the business a few months now. And it'd be great to get your observations of how you've found the business and what surprised you and where do you think we are in terms of creating that great environment?
On screen name plate reads: Simon Brown-Greaves, Chief Mental Health Officer
Video: We see Simon speaking to Paul.
Audio: - So many things, Paul. And thank you for the welcome and I have to say a broader thank you to our folk for the welcome I've had in my first few months. I was, and this is probably not a great thing to admit, but I was really surprised by a number of things when I came in and started to actually get around Post.
Video: We see a collection of photographs showing Simon meeting with various team members from across the business, including those at our parcel sorting facilities and support office.
Audio: The first one was the sheer scale of the business and the diversity of your operating environments and the team members and you know, where they come from. It is the most diverse and representative group of folk that I've ever worked with, to be honest.
Video: We see Simon speaking to Paul.
Audio: The second thing that has really been probably the most interesting and pleasant surprise, certainly is a segue to our discussion about mental health and wellbeing is…
Video: We see Melbourne StarTrack truck driver, Patrick Herve, delivering parcels in the community and enjoying a laugh with a man inside a local business.
Audio: …the incredible sense of pride that our people have, not only in the work that they do every day, but the pride in the value that Australia Post provides for the broader community. I mean..
Video: We see Simon speaking to Paul.
Audio:… we got folk out there who look at their jobs day-to-day and have a genuine sense of purpose…
Video: We see Patrick Herve smiling and enjoying a laugh with a postie at the local shopping centre.
Audio: …and connection to the community, let alone to each other.
Video: We see Paul speaking to Simon.
Audio: - As you know we've got a very clear strategy in Post26 which is to really modernise Australia Post for the future and make us resilient and sustainable. Obviously that's going to require some change. How do we as an organisation get ourselves in the right head space to be able to handle what will inevitably be some bumps along the way?
Video: We see Simon speaking to Paul.
Audio: - It's almost like saying, going back to basics again. And I look at the AP Way which I've been fortunate enough to be a participant in and go to a number of the sessions. But I think the sort of core messages in there about keeping our people in the picture by making sure we're communicating effectively about what we need to do. But that only works when you're painting a very clear and understandable picture of what that future needs to look like.
Video: We see an Australia Post shop with passers-by walking in the foreground of the frame.
Audio: And again, when people feel a sense of connection to that purpose…
Video: We see a tighter shot of the Australia Post logo in the glass window of a post shop.
Audio: …and there's clarity about where we're going, that's the number one thing.
Video: We see Paul speaking to Simon.
Audio: Yeah, we know that mental wellbeing's really critical for our team members, but we also have a role to play in our communities, we're in every community in Australia, we've got a great partnership with Beyond Blue. How do you see us taking what we are doing within our organisation and helping the communities in which we serve to also focus on and create a better mental health environment for them?
Video: We see Simon speaking to Paul.
Audio: - I think it's a great question. And you know, the partnerships that we have with a small number of really important partners like Beyond Blue,
Video: We see an Australia Post facility that has hot dogs on offer to staff as part of a mental health awareness campaign, we then see an Australia Post team member smiling alongside a member of the Beyond Blue team.
Audio: …like Healthy Heads in Trucks & Sheds, and a couple of our other partners in that sort of mental health space in particular…
Video: We see Simon speaking to Paul.
Audio: …they're really useful avenues to connect and take the messages out. The second thing is almost an unintentional one where by the virtue of our role, we're out there in the community.
Video: We see two posties riding delivery vehicles within their communities.
Audio: We provide, I think for a lot of the communities we operate in, a sense of stability, continuity…
Video: We see Simon speaking to Paul.
Audio: …almost like a warm face. Every one of our posties and our delivery folk know the warm welcomes they get and how they have an effect on people's wellbeing.
Video: We see Paul speaking to Simon.
Audio: We’re heading into peak period, busiest period of the year for the whole business. And there's a certain psychology that we get as a business because we know how important it is. But how do we help those people in our business who are getting fearful about peak coming or feel overwhelmed by that growth that we all see?
Video: We see Simon speaking to Paul.
Audio: - Look, the first thing is we, and I've heard you say this and we've talked about it and in our teams we talk about we have to acknowledge and be realistic and accept, and say to people, 'yes you know what, it's going to be super busy.' And the sort of operating environment for us at the moment is going to put us under pressures. But I think if we are prepared we are open about it and we're looking out for each other. The thing that in our own mental health strategy as well as the strategy that has existed for some time, that emphasis on peers looking out for peers, watching out for each other is absolutely critical. But if and when someone is overwhelmed I think it's really important that people can put their hand up. That we have a psychologically safe workplace where when you need that assistance, you not only put your hand up, but you know that your leader, your manager, is going to respond in an appropriate way. And lastly, make use of the support services that we have in the organisation. We have a great partnership with our employee assistance provider. They've been with us for a while. They know how to look after Australia Post folk and we should make use of that.
Video: We see Paul speaking to Simon.
Audio: - Agreed. Agreed. Well thank you very much and before we wrap up, couple of things. It is Peak as we talked about. We've got One Team out there. Please register. I've registered for my three shifts, as has the leadership team, as has Simon I know as well. So please go online. It's important we support our frontline team during this really, really busy period. Also I told Carol Good I'd call out about her new program that she's working with the P&C team on, which is called NOW, it's Network Operations Women, getting more women into our operational roles in our network business. Terrific initiative let's please support it. But most importantly for me again a huge thank you for coming into the busy period. It's going to be quite hectic, hopefully, because we need a bit more volume. But the most important thing is look after yourself both physically and your mental wellbeing. We are trying to do as much as we can, but it also relies on you to do what you can. But a huge thank you. Stay safe, be kind. All the best.
Video: The Australia Post logo appears on screen before fading to black.
Be safe, be kind.
Paul
