Poczta Polska, the incumbent postal operator in Poland, has announced plans to turn the business into a ‘modern courier-retail-financial-digital company’.
The transformation plan includes modernizing the post’s courier and financial services, as well as its IT systems, logistics processes and sales networks, in response to its deteriorating financial situation.
The Transformation Plan adopted by the Management Board is necessary to rebuild the market position of one of the oldest companies in Poland, according to Sebastian Mikosz, president of Poczta Polska.
“The digital revolution and the resulting changes in customer needs have put the company on the brink. Today we have started the process of change that will transform the post office into a modern and profitable company,” he explained.
Voluntary redundancy
The transformation plan will be carried out in several stages. The first of these, called Poczta 1.0, involves implementing the most urgent changes including IT modernization, improving the quality of postal services and optimizing employment.
“The Polish post office needs to be de-bureaucratized,” continued Mikosz. “The voluntary redundancy plan for administrative employees, announced today [August 14], is extremely generous and aims to provide proper financial security for those leaving.
“Employees who decide to take advantage of it will receive the equivalent of 12 salaries and will be able to start a new job the very next day. These changes are necessary because today nearly 65% of the Polish Post’s costs are salaries. The purpose of the changes is to make the Polish Post an attractive employer.”
Technology and post office transformation
To meet the needs of customers, changes in IT are necessary, according to Dariusz Spiewak, vice president of Poczta Polska. “Essential to the transformation of the Polish Post is comprehensive digitalization,” he explained. “Its goal is to get rid of years of technological debt, related to both hardware and outdated digital systems. Some of them are more than 20 years old. The Transformation Plan envisages, among other things, the creation of an IT Shared Services Center and the introduction of modern solutions to optimize and automate processes, as well as efficient and effective management of the organization.”
The Transformation Plan will also see Poczta Polska’s 7,600 post offices transformed to meet the needs of customers depending on where they are located. For example, in rural areas the post office will become a Citizen Service Center where it will be possible to receive traditional mail (paper or email), collect pensions, passports or other documents, and buy books and notebooks for school.