It is all too easy to knock the CEO, Calamity Woodpecker and Hermeanies .

It is all too easy to attack Hermeanies but now let us try to be solutions focussed and make some positive suggestions on how they could improve themselves.  This is what we suggest Calamity Woodpecker could do.

Introduce a name change

Hermeanies need to change their name to something new and dynamic.  Its existing name is far too reminiscent of Victorian values, Unreliability and some sort of Sexual Disease.

Consult with the couriers as to what would be a good new name.  Shortlist the proposed new names and then run a ballot with all the couriers and staff.

 

Introduce a new Training and Induction Procedure for all new couriers.

Far too many new couriers leave within days of being recruited. This is very costly in terms of recruitment and field team management time and puts delivery standards at risk.

A new induction programme would:

1. Radically reduce courier turnover
2. Drive up standards in a really positive way
3. Serve to help new couriers feel supported and motivated.

This could be rolled out slowly on a pilot basis.

 

Introduce an annual Champion Courier Awards event

Let’s put over and celebrate what is positive about Hermeanies by having an annual Champion Courier Event.

Get the public involved by asking them to nominate their Champion Couriers.

Let us celebrate good practice and the work of couriers who not only have positive comments from customers but who achieve terrific scores on the Hermeanies data base and who also have very few queries and complaints about their work.

This award would provide really positive stories for the media to cover, as opposed to the usual negativity.

 

Introduce Hermeanies Storage delivery boxes.

This is our most important suggestion and the one we feel should be prioritised. Whilst our competitors come up with ridiculous, publicity stunt ideas of helicopters and robots delivering parcels the simple idea of installing storage delivery boxes for parcels will in a radical way:

1. a) Speed up delivery times
2. b) Enable couriers to safely deliver increased numbers of parcels per day.
3. c) Raise standards and significantly reduce the numbers of queries about missing parcels etc.

There are a number of excellent storage boxes out there for purchase and yet so few customers have them installed.  Only one customer has one on my round. It is a really simple one attached to the wall of their house with a barrel lock which you turn once you have delivered the parcel.

However, there are some boxes that have digital locks that could be exclusive to Hermes and its customers.

The whole trick to this would be to encourage customers to have these Hermeanies delivery storage boxes installed in large numbers. If it were me, I would encourage customers like Next to participate in the costs of purchasing and installing of these storage boxes and to supply these free of charge to the householders. Alternatively, these boxes need to be very lowly priced for householders.

The introduction of these boxes would steal a march on our competitors, solve a lot of the problems around failed deliveries, significantly reduce delivery costs in the long-term and be a really positive message to put out to the public and to the media.

Again this project could be rolled out as a pilot and area by area basis but the positives derived from doing this would be fantastic.

 

Award Shares in the Hermeanies business, to long-standing couriers who also have good customer satisfaction scores.

 Such a scheme could be gradual and evolving but would do much to motivate couriers, enhance Hermes’ public standing and encourage team work and raised standards of courier work.

This again would be a really positive message to go out to the media.

 

Introduce more robust cover arrangements.

 The lack of cover arrangements for Couriers going sick and on leave causes problems. Delivery standards plummet when there is lack of cover.

One possible solution is to encourage couriers to pair up and to cover each other’s holidays and sickness in this way.

Certainly, what would help would be to provide better financial rewards for couriers who provide cover for other couriers.

Maybe, each field team manager needs one dedicated person to trouble-shoot and provide cover and that the couriers contribute towards the cost of providing such a scheme.

 

Introduce a low cost finance scheme for Hermeanies Couriers to buy vans 

Whilst life-style couriers are lovely and good the couriers with small cars are beginning to struggle. This is particularly the case since Hermeanies decision last August, to lower the tariff for large boxes. This Christmas the numbers of boxes and particularly numbers of large ones has gone up considerably.  This means that couriers are struggling to get their rounds into their cars and leaving parcels behind at the sub depots which I don’t think is really acceptable.

Life-style couriers generally do have a good work ethic and standard of work and I think they are generally preferable to some of the so called professional Amazoom couriers who deliver in my area by leaving parcels on doorsteps etc and change drivers every week.

The secret of Hermeanies’ success is that each courier has an area to look after and gets to know their customers. These couriers tend to be local people and become part of the local community. The other thing customers are impressed by are the speed of deliveries.  However, the introduction of increased volumes of large boxes to the mix is putting at risk the speed of deliveries.  Also these large boxes often mostly filled with air are at risk of being damaged whilst being squashed into cars.

A really, positive way of helping couriers with the situation would be to assist them to purchase small vans. My suggestion would be to set up an in house finance scheme to existing couriers with over one or two years’ service. Hermeanies could even make money from the scheme from the interest charged on loans and it could take repayments direct from the monthly invoice. However, the whole emphasis of the scheme would be to provide low cost finance for vans at a cheaper rate than HP or the interest charged by banks.

 

Allow Couriers to set up their own route order permanently on their manifests.

The way addresses come up on manifests is often quite random even when it’s done in post code order. I find it fiddly and time consuming to re-arrange the manifest according to my actual route order that I mostly don’t bother. I think it would be great for couriers to come up with their route orders and that these route orders be fixed onto the daily manifests.  This would raise efficiency when out delivering and save quite a lot of time.  In other words the computer would need to programmed to know the order the courier wants the street order of their parcels on the manifest.  This must be a relatively simple and easy thing to fix and one hastens to think why hasn’t this been done before.