WASHINGTON — Megan J. Brennan officially became the 74th Postmaster General and CEO of the U.S. Postal Service yesterday, Feb. 1.
Outlining key themes in a letter to employees today, Postmaster General Brennan said she would seek to advance transformative strategies that invest in the future of the Postal Service and shape growth opportunities for the organization and the industries it serves. Among these strategies are better use of data and technology, speeding the pace of product and service innovations, continual process improvements throughout the organization, and fully engaging and leveraging the talents of its 600,000-employee workforce.
“We can reinvigorate the way we serve our customers and the public by constantly looking forward as an organization, anticipating the changing needs of our customers, and adapting as quickly as we can to a competitive and evolving marketplace,” said Brennan.
Brennan expressed gratitude and appreciation for the hard work, dedicated service and commitment of the Postal Service’s 600,000 employees, and the value they provide to the American people every day.
“As we collectively shape a brighter future for the organization, I am always mindful that the Postal Service is not merely defined by what it does, but rather by the many people who have dedicated their careers to serving the American public,” said Brennan. “Your commitment to our public service mission and to delivering for our customers defines who we are as an organization and is the bedrock of all of our successes.”
Appointed by the Governors of the Postal Service and announced in November, Brennan had been the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of the Postal Service, and previously held roles as Vice President of both Eastern Area and Northeast Area Operations. Brennan began her 29-year Postal Service career as a mail carrier in Lancaster, PA.
Brennan earned a Master of Business Administration degree as a Sloan fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is also an alumna of Immaculata College in Pennsylvania. She will take the ceremonial oath of office at an installation event at Postal Service Headquarters next month.
Text of the new PMGs letter to postal workers:
Dear Postal Colleagues:
As I begin my tenure as Postmaster General, I am deeply humbled by the opportunity to serve this organization and the American public.
Like many of us, I was attracted to a career with the Postal Service because I was inspired by friends and family members who served their communities as employees of the Postal Service. That inspiration has stayed with me every day since 1986-when I started as a Letter Carrier in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and is rekindled whenever I think of the dedication of postal employees everywhere who serve the public and our customers so well, and who have made the Postal Service such an amazing organization.
Despite all of the changes in the world since I began my career, the Postal Service continues to play an indispensable role in every American community-connecting people to each other, to businesses and their government, one doorstep and mailbox at a time.
I firmly believe that our future is filled with opportunity, not just through the prism of winning customers and growing our business, but also from the perspective of enhancing our brand and the value we provide to the American public. We can reinvigorate the way we serve our customers and the public by constantly looking forward as an organization, anticipating the changing needs of our customers, and adapting as quickly as we can to a competitive and evolving marketplace.
As the world’s greatest delivery organization, we are well-positioned to do so. The pace of change in the delivery business will accelerate in the coming years, and our long-term success depends on strategies that continually strengthen our core offerings. As we move forward, we will do the following :
- We will invest in the future of the Postal Service. Investing in our future means creating the best opportunities for long-term growth and profitability. It means investing in your training and development; in product and service innovations; in our systems and processes; and improving our use of data and technology. It also means making long overdue improvements to our infrastructure, including upgrading our vehicle fleet and deploying advanced package sortation equipment.
- We will speed the pace of innovation. The coming years will see greater focus on innovation, with pilot projects designed to test new delivery offerings, new tools to better meet the digital and mobile expectations of our customers, and new offerings designed for America’s small businesses. Our commitment to strategic product and service innovation will help drive our growth and the growth for the industries and businesses we serve.
- We will develop strategies to better engage and empower employees. As we fully leverage the potential of technology, we want to give you more flexibility and problemsolving tools to deliver greater value for our customers. To best compete for customers, we will need to become more entrepreneurial at every level of the organization.
- We will also build the most efficient and productive network to support our growth products. We have made tremendous progress streamlining our operational footprint in recent years-allowing us to keep our products and services affordable.
We have a lot of momentum as an organization today-despite our financial challenges. We continue to take prudent steps to bring our costs and revenues into better alignment. However, the way we are structured today and the way we serve the public today will not be adequate to
fully meet the demands of tomorrow’s marketplace. To be successful in the future, we will continually reorient our business strategies to better connect with our customers and redefine the ways we serve the American public.
As we collectively shape a brighter future for the organization, I am always mindful that the Postal Service is not merely defined by what it does, but rather by the many people who have dedicated their careers to serving the American public. Your commitment to our public service mission and to delivering for our customers defines who we are as an organization and is the bedrock of all of our successes.
Thank you for keeping your eyes focused on the future and for serving the public so well. I look forward to working with you.
Sincerely,
Megan J. Brennan