According to GAO, the foreign posts have had to overcome resistance to change and workforce challenges similar to those USPS has to deal with in responding to declining mail volume and a flagging economy.
It said they have used strategies that could be helpful to USPS as it moves forward with plans to modernize its own delivery and retail networks, for example, by relying on outreach and communications strategies to inform public officials and customers of increased access to products and services and to help gain acceptance for retail network changes.
Some of the posts developed labor transition plans or strategies under which they provided training, relocation and job search services, and financial incentives to support employees who were negatively affected by the modernizations, GAO said.
It acknowledged that the USPS has taken steps in the past year to generate ideas for modernizing its retail and delivery networks – and the Postal Service is dealing with its own particular set of circumstances including being funded entirely by its own revenue and as well as political protection for its mandate of universal service.
Nonetheless, it remains critically important for USPS to fully develop and implement similar outreach, communication, and labor transition strategies as those developed by the foreign posts, GAO said.