Focus on the Front

The Postal Service is encouraging employees looking to advance their career to consider becoming a front-line supervisor.

The organization will offer four virtual career fairs for front-line supervisory jobs, to be held every other month, starting in March.

The fairs are part of Focus on the Front, an initiative that began last year to fill 2,800 Executive and Administrative Schedule Level 17 supervisory positions. About 1,100 positions have been filled so far.

Topics to be covered during the fairs include:

• How to apply, including navigating the USPS Careers page, creating an eCareer profile and effectively addressing knowledge, skills and abilities requirements;

• Interviewing tips, including best practices and how to hone interviewing skills; and

• The role of the supervisor, including an in-depth review of supervisors’ duties, responsibilities and potential career paths.

The virtual career fairs are open to both career and noncareer employees and will be held on Sundays on March 26, May 7, July 23 and Sept. 17.

Employees must complete an online registration form on LiteBlue to participate in a fair. Participants must be current USPS employees and must be off the clock to attend.

Transporting architecture

The Postal Service will release its latest stamps, Railroad Stations, on March 9.

The stamps celebrate the romance and glamour of train travel by featuring five railroad stations — architectural gems all — that continue to play an important role in the life of their communities.

They are Tamaqua Station in Pennsylvania; Point of Rocks Station in Maryland; Main Street Station in Richmond, VA; Santa Fe Station in San Bernardino, CA; and Union Terminal in Cincinnati.

All five are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Art direction for the stamps was provided by Derry Noyes, a USPS art director. Down the Street Designs created the stamp images and typography.

The Forever stamps will be available at Post Offices and usps.com.

Closing the gender gap

Postal Service employees can participate in upcoming webinars to learn about the gender gap, why it matters and what women can do to address it.

The sessions, titled “Women in Leadership,” will be held on Wednesday, March 15, at 9:15 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. PDT.

The webinars are hosted by the Wellness team and the University of Phoenix, an Arizona-based institution that offers classes mostly online and provides tuition benefits for USPS employees.

Participants must register before the event on the webinar website. After signing up, directions for accessing the webinar will be emailed to each registrant.

Following the event, the webinar will be available for on-demand access.

Participation is voluntary. Nonexempt employees may only participate off the clock or during authorized breaks.

More information on educational benefits for USPS employees can be found on LiteBlue.

Employees who have questions should email the Wellness team.

News Briefs

Scanning snapshot

Scanning snapshot. A snapshot of Postal Service scanning data shows the national rating was 97.15 percent during the week ending March 3, down 0.16 percent from one week earlier.

The data was collected March 8.

Southern led the four areas with a rating of 97.27 percent, while WestPac ranked last with a 97.02 percent rating.

Among the 50 districts, Louisiana, part of Southern Area, ranked first with a 98.25 percent rating, while Illinois 1, part of Central Area, ranked last with a 94.21 percent rating.

Scanning data allows customers to track their mail and packages, which helps USPS deliver excellent service, boost loyalty and drive revenue.

To see the latest data, go to the Informed Visibility website and select “Customer Experience,” followed by “DES 2 Scan Performance.” Postal Service employees must request Informed Visibility access through eAccess.

Delivery data. From Jan. 1 through Feb. 24, the Postal Service delivered 91.2 percent of First-Class Mail on time when compared with the organization’s service standard, according to data released last week.

During the same period, USPS delivered 94.4 percent of Marketing Mail and 86.6 percent of Periodicals on time, the figures show.

Got news? Email your submissions to uspslink@usps.gov.