Postmaster Knows The Power Of Saying Thank You

 

Fort Myers Postmaster Nefty Pluguez (above) prepared homemade guacamole for employees at Cape Coral Station.

When it comes to finances, we’ve all heard the phrase return on investment. Fort Myers Postmaster Nefty Pluguez believes the same is true of a workforce. “When you have engaged employees, there’s always a positive return,” he says. “Employees feel more committed about coming to work and they feel more passionate about doing a good job.       It just pays off.”

For the past year, Pluguez, Customer Relations Coordinator Robbie Rhoad and Administrative Assistant M.J. Cummings have been waking up before the crack of dawn to cook breakfast for stations and branches that have made it through a month with no accidents. “We’ve been doing the breakfasts for only one year and just on safety, we’ve had a 37 percent reduction in accidents,” he said. “These events are mostly safety-related but they are also intended to get an employees’ buy in. We communicate our expectations; we observe their performance and we make corrections. Then we have small wins. We celebrate the small wins and then we repeat it.”

“The investment in these events for the year is probably $5,000 and saves $1 million in accident costs,” he said. “As long as my boss keeps funding me, I’ll keep having these events.”

The feedback he receives from employees was initially a surprise. “In Cape Coral, during our first breakfast, I had one employee come up to me and say, ‘This is the first time in 20 years someone has ever told us we did a good job.’ And a few minutes ago, a guy came in and gave me a fist pump and said, ‘Wow, we really like working for you.’ And hey, that’s enough for me.”

“You see it in the numbers, you see it in their smiles, you see it in their personalities,” says Pluguez. “It’s all positive.”

Cape Coral

Rural Carrier Associates Fernando Gomes (left) and Dawn Archer (right).

From left: Rural Carrier Nancy Bennett, Rural Carrier Associates Antionette Cipre and Miguel Ordonez and Rural Carrier Brent Perry.

Letter Carriers Ramon Rosado (right) and Carol Erickson (left).

Rural Carrier Associates Jose Aponte (left) and Scharlette Gonzales (right).

Rural Carrier Associate Nathan Chase (left) and Clerk Daniella Lonsdale (right).

Letter Carriers Judy Dewitt (left) and Jonathan Sierra (right).

From left: Letter Carriers Tammy Carvinis, Terry Lovelace and Lisa Maine.

Postal Support Employee (PSE) Eze Cintron (left) and Clerk Marlon Bautista (right).

Customer Relations Coordinator Robbie Rhoad prepares chicken 

for breakfast tacos.

Six Mile

Fort Myers Postmaster Nefty Pluguez

Clerks Juliana Albahou (left) and Mario Machado (right).

Rural Carrier Maurice Suell

Supervisor, Customer Services Julian Gonzalez..

Customer Relations Coordinator Robbie Rhoad (left) and Administrative Assistant M.J. Cummings (right).