Du Quoin Post Office Earns Perfect 100

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ Reaching a 100 percent at any goal can be hard to achieve, but don't tell that to the employees at the Du Quoin Post Office. They ended Fiscal Year 2008 with a Voice of the Employee (VOE) score of 100 percent.

Each quarter, USPS surveys 25 percent of its career employees and uses the information to focus on areas that need improving.

"Good employees inspire good managers, and good managers inspire good employees," said Postmaster Jimmie Davis in explaining the VOE success story.

The VOE survey is scored according to six indicators: dignity and respect, communications, inclusiveness, accountability, recognition, and sexual harassment.

"I call these indicators the heartbeat of the office," said Gateway District Acting VOE Coordinator Debra Lappe, who cannot recall another office achieving a perfect VOE score. "A '100 percent' means everyone is working together to get the job done with 100-percent enthusiasm."

For Davis, the VOE survey is an opportunity for personal involvement. "When I started back in the late 1960's, no one asked, no one cared - it was just 'Do as you were told,'" he said. Davis said that he enthusiastically supports the VOE survey because it provides vital information about how employees think and feel about their daily environment at work.

Reviewing VOE survey results is important in order for Davis to prompt changes to continuously improve the workplace environment. Some Du Quoin employees would say that he is.

"We all work together to get the mail out," said Letter Carrier Roger Jones. "Everyone talks and lets each other know what's going on," added Rural Carrier David Bronke. "Things are explained to us."