Postal service moving with the times

Handwritten love letters that were once sealed with perfume and promise, that took weeks to reach their destinations, are no longer a regular sight at Jamaica's post offices.

The lost art has been replaced by WhatsApp messages, emails and online shopping carts.

"We recognise that persons are not doing letter mail when there is email and WhatsApp," said Carol Saunders Hammond, senior director, corporate services at the Post and Telecommunications Department. While nostalgia for handwritten letters remains, she said the organisation has no plans to turn back the clock.

"We're not taking people back in time, we are evolving with them," Saunders Hammond said.

"The young people don't want to be sending love letters like that. Let's be honest. But [if] they do have a token that they want to send to someone they care about who is special, we can deliver that with speed and efficiency where you can track the movement," Saunders Hammond told THE STAR.

Behind the scenes, the decline in letter mail is quietly tracked on the operations floor. Postmaster General Lincoln Allen confirmed, "Those things are being tracked."

"But some of the processes are still manual, and we are in the process now of trying to acquire technology that will automate some of these processes."

Instead of sorting stacks of envelopes as many may imagine, postal workers' daily routines now centre on parcels, bill payments, online purchases and international dispatch.

"There are many different areas in the postal service. You have the post offices, finance, HR, the operations floor where mails are sorted and dispatched, and there is also a processing centre at the airport where mails are received, domestic mails are sorted and dispatched overseas," he explained.

That evolution is reflected not only in the work being done, but in how the institution sees itself. Inside Jamaica Post's headquarters, a large mural stretches across the wall, tracing the service from its 1671 beginnings in St Jago de la Vega, through horse-drawn and airmail delivery, to today's branded vans and express services. They are a visual reminder, Allen said, of "where we had started and where we intend to go".

"At the centre of any modernisation initiative, it has to be the people. People change things. You can put in processes, you can use technology, but it's the people that will operate these elements," he said.

That people-first approach is now being driven through a new collaborative training programme with HEART/NSTA Trust, which Saunders Hammond described as critical to the future of postal services.

"I am looking forward to the development. It means that we are preparing ourselves for the evolution of delivery of postal services," he said.

"What we are going to be is the cutting edge. We are looking to the future and what it will look like to deliver postal services, not just 2030 but beyond," Saunders Hammond added. Modernisation has already reshaped post offices across the island. There are currently 238 postal services in Jamaica.

"We have introduced a lot of our commercial services, or bill payment options. [We also have] Fast Track, which is our partnership with DHL and we have expanded our click and ship service," she said.

That shift has also changed what a workday looks like for staff.

"One of the most aggressive things that we have done is aggressive Internet expansion," Allen said. "We have moved Internet connectivity from below 50 to approximately 115 post offices."

Despite public perception, Hammond said Jamaica Post is not disappearing especially in rural communities.

"We are saturated across the island, one of the oldest institutions and persons still have an expectation of the post office," she said.

"We are putting more information on our websites, and we are trying to attend more functions, to increase visibility for people to understand that we are here, and we are here to stay," added Allen.