The Greek Postal Service (ELTA) issued an announcement addressing issues arising from their decision to close hundreds of branches across the country, which is expected to primarily affect remote areas. In their statement, ELTA argues that the closures aimed to transfer staff to more active positions, from where they can serve remote areas through the postal network. Specifically, they state: “The decision to suspend operations of 204 stores is based on documented economic and operational data and is a continuation of a broader transformation plan that has been implemented over the past two and a half years.”
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ELTA’s announcement on changes to the management plan
“The Greek Postal Service faces the greatest challenge in its history. For more than three decades it has recorded losses, operating in an environment that is changing radically and rapidly. Additionally, European regulations no longer allow any state aid. If the necessary decisions are not taken now, within the next six to nine months the consequences will be irreversible – threatening ELTA’s sustainability.
Faced with this reality, management chooses to act with responsibility and realism. The transformation being implemented does not aim at downsizing, but at saving and regenerating ELTA as a modern, efficient service company. Chronic phenomena of inactivity are being addressed, which kept dozens of employees without substantial work, while they were missing where there was real need. With the new plan, these resources are repositioned to the work of delivery and customer service – where ELTA’s reliability and image are built daily.
None of this negates the company’s social role. On the contrary, it strengthens it through new tools and technology. Services that once required physical presence at the store are now provided at the citizen’s doorstep, through the “ELTA at home” program and the digital postman, who is equipped with tablet and POS to serve customers quickly, safely and consistently. The majority of transactions – letters, packages, payments – now take place outside the store. The physical store, which was once the core of activity, has in many areas been limited to minimal scope. ELTA is changing its operating model so that it can continue its operations smoothly and in a way that will guarantee the best possible service at the door of every citizen even in the most remote area of our country.
In this context, ELTA’s management announces that having evaluated all the stores it maintains nationwide with the basic criterion being the volume of services performed in them, it proceeds in the first phase to suspend operations only of stores located in urban centers and regional capitals where other stores also exist. For all other peripheral areas, changes will be made within a quarter, so that there is time to explain the necessity of interventions that must be made, always with the criterion of providing better services and to examine the operation of agencies, provided there is interest and it is feasible in cooperation with local communities.”
