Nearly 200 countries and territories have been affected by COVID-19, forcing billions of people to adopt strict measures to cap the spread of the virus. In many countries, the Post has continued providing essential services to help their communities weather the pandemic.
Text by: Kayla Redstone
With more than 650,000 offices and 5.2 million staff, the postal network is unrivalled in its ability to reach citizens on a daily basis. Postal workers have remained active on the frontlines during the course of the pandemic, with Posts now designated as an “essential service” in many countries.
Though the designation as an “essential” service may be recent, Posts have a long-held mission to provide essential services to the people residing across the territory they serve.
In all UPU member countries, the Post is bound by a universal service obligation meant to ensure that all citizens have access to essential communication services. At first, this meant access to posting letters, but the Post’s role has changed and expanded along with customer needs. Some have leveraged their network, their affordability and their close relationship with communities and businesses to offer new sets of services outside the traditional communications, such as social, financial and trade services.
With many customers now self-isolating at home, Posts around the globe have responded rapidly with new, tailored social services, assisting them at their doorstep and reframing how governments, businesses and citizens view the centuries-old service. The UPU is supporting this expanded social role with a new platform for sharing their experiences and lessons learned.
Bringing together examples of how Posts have diversified to meet the needs of customers and government ministries has also made the Post’s value more visible, observes the UPU’s director of Policy, Regulation and Markets, Siva Somasundram.
“When we are requesting greater government support for the Post and an expanded role in their implementation of government social policies, we can point to these examples and case studies,” he says.
Examples of social, financial and trade services offered in response to COVID-19 can now be found in a dedicated space on the UPU’s website.
UPU project
James Hale, who works on the UPU’s social postal services project, says his colleagues were impressed by the quick response of postal operators to assist their communities during this difficult time. In March, they began collecting, analyzing and sharing the experiences of postal operators around the world.
“We wanted to create an efficient way to inspire and support Posts in supporting the public during the pandemic,” he explains.
Examples of social, financial and trade services offered in response to COVID-19 can now be found in a dedicated space on the UPU’s website. Commentaries compiled by the UPU take a deeper look into how the ideas were developed, implemented and resourced.
Examples of ramped up postal social services are plentiful. The UPU’s resource centre lists some 30 examples and counting, grouping them into thematic categories: health and well-being, community cohesion/development, data collection/provision, and access to government services. The team’s commentaries help identify some of the success factors in implementing these new initiatives to help other Posts interested in doing the same.
In Ireland, for example, An Post was able to rapidly implement a raft of new services, including a home check-in service for the elderly and vulnerable, free postage-paid postcards for every household in Ireland, free home mail and parcel pick-up services, the delivery of government advice, newspaper delivery, and the provision of activity books for children. Success in this case came down to a supportive corporate culture, with the Post having offered both formal and informal community services before the pandemic struck.
Australia Post focused its efforts on health services to support the country’s elderly and vulnerable. The Post managed to implement a new next-day pharmacy home delivery service within one week of having the project approved, thanks to its dedicated project team and support from both the Australian Department of Health and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia.
Helping students continue their education remotely was a priority for France’s La Poste. With support from the country’s Ministry of Education, the postal operator was able to provide two new services focusing on families who did not have the necessary technology for their children to complete their school work at home as schools were closed.
Financial & trade services
The project was also extended to research new financial and, later, business and trade support services.
For many years the UPU has worked to drive home the message that the Post can be an attractive partner to help bolster financial inclusion as 1.7 billion adults remain unbanked. The postal network already provides financial services to 1.5 billion people.
Posts have expanded their financial services offerings during the pandemic, delivering social payments, remittances and other banking services at customers’ doorsteps.
Portugal’s postal bank, Banco CTT, launched a special mobile app in early May that allowed customers to find information about queue times so that they could avoid crowds while carrying out their banking.
The postal network has also been recognized as an accessible and affordable channel to help micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) deliver their goods worldwide. UPU Digital Economy and Trade Programme Manager Paul Donohoe explains that Posts responded to the shut-down of offline channels by offering small businesses payment platforms, online marketplaces and special pick-up and delivery services to help them reach consumers.
“For these businesses to sell to their market they had to go digital, so they needed support services to go online. Posts helped fill that gap,” says Donohoe.
He says some Posts had already been offering access to these types of services, but they had not been developed or promoted before the pandemic struck – then they became more necessary than ever.
Correos de Costa Rica’s Pymexpress platform became an important resource for the country’s MSMEs during the crisis. Originally launched in 2017, the platform offers MSMEs access to an online marketplace, payments, collection and delivery services at preferential rates. More than 500 small businesses joined the platform in March and April alone, bringing its membership to more than 5,000.
“What is clear is that a subset of services have become very relevant during the pandemic, and that some posts implemented these as a direct response”
Some of these programmes are even being offered free-of-charge, thanks to the support of government programmes.
“The pandemic has made governments realize that the Post provides an array of essential services to society, so this has spurred some concrete action,” he adds.
An Post: a culture of caring
Ireland’s An Post is a standout example. The postal operator implemented a raft of new services by the beginning of May, including a home check-in service for the elderly and vulnerable, free postage-paid postcards for every household in Ireland, free home mail and parcel pick-up services, the delivery of government advice, newspaper delivery, and the provision of activity books for children.
Corporate culture played a large role in the Post being able to implement initiatives so quickly when needed. According to An Post staff, mail carriers already had a strong culture of providing informal services to help those on their daily delivery routes, so employees supported the speedy roll out of more formal duties. Many ideas for new services were contributed by mail carriers themselves, explains An Post Public Affairs Manager Angus Laverty.
“The interaction is happening organically. The postmen and women will have a chat and make sure the person has everything they need. If there are any requests, we can feed them back to the county-based community support services set up by the local authorities,” he says.
Preparedness planning also played a role, with the organization having an established and reviewed business continuity plan that was last updated in late 2019. A special response team put in place at the start of the pandemic also helped keep information flowing across the organization and led to greater flexibility, even as many staff worked from home.
Beyond the pandemic
Although the COVID-19 resource centre is new, the UPU’s Social Services Project team has already been compiling information about social services offered across the sector for several months. In some cases, the pandemic has simply accelerated Posts’ implementation of new initiatives.
“What is clear is that a subset of services have become very relevant during the pandemic, and that some posts implemented these as a direct response,” says Hale.
He explains that there was plenty of anecdotal evidence to show that Posts were diversifying their portfolios by adding more socially-driven services into their offering. Many of these services were successful, suggesting that the Post could be a suitable partner to help governments achieve their socioeconomic development initiatives.
With funding from the Government of Japan, the UPU was able to launch its social services project in December to help paint a broader picture of social services across the sector and provide some quantifiable data. Hale sent a questionnaire to operators in the UPU’s 192 member countries as a first step. Of the 109 replies, some 80 percent said they were already offering social services, providing their communities access everything from education, to health and government services and beyond.
With many Posts around the world reliant on government resources, government support can also be a determining factor in a Posts ability to roll out new services.
Hale adds that while projects to implement these social initiatives often took months before the pandemic, Posts managed to implement them within a matter of a few weeks during the crisis. Conversations with those developing the services in postal operators revealed understanding customer needs, forging new partnerships, building on existing products and resources, creating dedicated project teams and communication as some common success factors for Posts implementing new projects.
Australia Post: keeping the population healthy
At the start of the pandemic, Australian authorities were keen to find a way to keep providing those isolating at home with essential medicines and other health-related products. The Australian Department of Health and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia then turned to Australia Post for help.
The Post was able to launch a nationwide next-day pharmacy delivery service just one week after approval from the government and the guild. A 25-million AUD grant ensured that the service could be offered free-of-charge to pharmacies and their customers.
Support from both the government and the Pharmacy Guild were key in the project’s success, as was the Post’s efficient organization. It established a special Pandemic Response Team (PRT) to ensure projects like this could be implemented quickly. It included staff from a broad array of disciplines – from those specializing in postal products and operations, to corporate strategy and communications – and worked through evenings and weekends.
Using existing products and services to feed into new programmes also helped launch the project rapidly. The team coupled Australia Post’s Express Post service with its MyPost Business (MPB) digital platform to start the pharmacy deliver service; the focus was on getting the programme up and running first, then fine-tuning and perfecting later.
Government support
With many Posts around the world reliant on government resources, government support can also be a determining factor in a Post’s ability to roll out new services.
In the case of An Post, the government featured the Post’s actions in its regular press briefings and the operator became an important partner in the country’s national response effort. Government support also played a role in the success of the initiatives launched by La Poste and Australia Post.
While projects to implement these social initiatives often took months before the pandemic, Posts managed to implement them within a matter of a few weeks during the crisis.
Susan Alexander who works at the UPU as its postal regulation expert says the UPU has been using the project’s findings to advocate for the Post as a channel for governments to achieve their socioeconomic goals beyond the pandemic. The UPU recently sent a letter to all member governments urging their support for the Post.
The project is also prompting support from other stakeholders.
“The International Bureau was also contacted by a union representing postal workers, seeking examples of new services that our members have introduced, in preparation for a meeting with the government ministry about postal diversification,” Alexander adds.
La Poste: delivering education
France’s La Poste played an important role in ensuring schoolchildren could continue learning while at home during the country’s lockdown. With support from the Ministry of Education, La Poste introduced a service to connect the 200,000 students across France without access to online learning platforms to their teachers.
The first project saw the Post deliver computer equipment from schools to homes across the country. A second initiative, called “Homework at home”, had LaPoste deliver hard copies of online schoolwork to students and then back to teachers for grading. A third of educational establishments signed up for the “Homework at home” service, which was implemented by a team of only 20 staff in a matter of two weeks.
In this case, experience bred success. La Poste had already been working on the initiatives with the Ministry of Education, which meant they were easily fast-tracked when students were told to study from home. La Poste has also introduced many other social services throughout the years, including social care and e-health services. Social services are even ingrained in the company’s strategic plan.
Meet the expert
James Hale has been working on the UPU’s Postal Social Services Project for more than half a year. More recently, he has narrowed his focus on social services Posts have offered to help their communities cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. He explains the project to Union Postale.
Interview by: Kayla Redstone
What was the motivation behind launching this project and sharing these resources?
Citizens, charities, governments and the private sector have mobilized to respond to COVID-19, working to reduce the spread of the virus and care for the sick. However, there is also a range of indirect social impacts that need to be addressed. Most notably, isolation at home and social distancing restrict people’s access to food, medicines, education and social contact. In March, we became aware that designated operators were responding to the pandemic by rapidly implementing new social services. The aim of our project was to create a platform for Posts to share their stories, and for the UPU’s International Bureau (IB) to publish analyses of how Posts were able to implement new services quickly. Essentially, we wanted to create an efficient way to inspire and support posts in supporting the public during the pandemic.
The IB is well-placed to coordinate this sharing of expertise.
How do these COVID-19 services compare to social services offered before the pandemic?
Many posts were already offering social services, although it is still too early to evaluate whether demands for existing services have increased in the last few months. What is clear is that a subset of services have become very relevant during the pandemic, and that some Posts implemented these as a direct response. For example, more Posts are now involved in the delivery of prescription medicines, food aid and children’s homework, as well as home-checking of seniors and other vulnerable residents. We have also seen Posts form direct partnerships with factories that produce masks and alcohol hand wash in order to secure broad public access to these essential items.
What are some of the most innovative services you’ve seen developed in relation to the pandemic?
Correos de Costa Rica and Jersey Post have both used private companies to deliver prescription medicines to the most vulnerable. These are interesting examples of Posts making use of the broader resources that became available during the crisis. In Costa Rica, private car-rental companies offered to supply vehicles, fuel and drivers for free to help the Post deliver critical medicines to residents. Because fewer people were renting cars during COVID-19, this initiative allowed these companies to keep their staff active, while also contributing to the national pandemic response. Similarly, in Jersey, taxi drivers helped to temporarily expand the postal delivery fleet in support of its new medicine delivery service.
What kind of response have you received from member countries?
The response has been positive, with many Posts sending us examples of their COVID-19 initiatives for inclusion on the new platform. The IB was also contacted by a union representing postal workers, seeking examples of new services that our members have introduced, in preparation for a meeting with the government ministry about postal diversification.
How has this project and the increased publicity of postal social services changed the perception of the Post with its stakeholders?
Whilst the primary aim of this platform was to facilitate rapid knowledge sharing between Posts, it also serves as a library of examples for the IB to use in its advocacy work. A recent letter from the IB to the governments of member countries called for urgent support for the postal sector. It made the point that Posts should be treated as critical infrastructure, and that they are being used by governments to deliver a range of social and financial services to the public. This project has also been accompanied by extensive social media coverage and news articles, which aimed to reinforce the message that Posts can play a key role in improving people’s wellbeing and prosperity, particularly during this challenging time.
Based on your research, are there any common threads leading to the success of these services and their implementation?
We still expect to receive many more examples of how posts are responding to the pandemic, and the current list of examples is very diverse. However, during a series of interviews with Posts about their new services, we identified the following common success factors:
- Understanding the needs of customers and other stakeholders
- Seeking diverse partnerships
- Building on existing products, services and relationships
- Creating dedicated and well-resourced project teams
- Establishing clear processes for internal and external communication about the project
You’re working on a broader social services project in parallel to this. Could you tell our readers a bit about that project?
This project was launched in November 2019 to document and provide broad guidance on postal social services, with funding from the Japanese Ministry of Information and Communications. The IB was already aware that UPU members were providing services in sectors such as health, social care and education. However, there was a need for an overview of these services, and a better understanding of the motivations for Posts to diversify in this way.
One hundred and nine UPU members responded to our questionnaire, providing numerous examples of their postal social services. These ranged from offering document translation for immigrants and delivering a national awareness campaign on human trafficking, to the collection of batteries and unused medicines for safe disposal. The reasons given for offering such services included generating additional revenue, increased business resilience, added value for customers and ensuring the Post remains broadly relevant to implementing government policy.
Case studies and a guide to postal social services will be published at the end of this year, so we are very keen to receive more examples from Posts. We also want to know about checklists, protocols or other tools that could be shared. Please send these examples, along with any questions or requests for support to pss@upu.int.