The Chief Executive Officer of BotswanaPost, Pele Moleta, says “The Future is in the Post”, allaying fears that postal service is no longer relevant in the digital world.
He says many people still have the traditional perception of the Post Office as they imagine it as a dull boring place; a place where only stamps and posting is done and where the occasional parcel is collected, with a heavy repetitive sound of a date stamp mercilessly pounding on letters in the background.
However, the postoffice has endorsed innovation, which it is hoped will give it an edge to be attractive to the market.
“In the dark ages of management (am talking about ten years ago) an organisation’s success was measured by financial growth only. These days organisational growth is measured by financial growth, transformation and sustainability,” Moleta said when speaking at an International Conference on Business Growth held at the University of Botswana.
In a bid to stay relevant, BotswanaPost has engaged in initiatives that will grow the parastatal, including partnerships with other innovation oriented organisations and the development of PosoCloud.
Moleta added that in addition to innovation, success is bred in intelligent and learning organisations.
“The characteristics of intelligent and learning organisations include minimal bureaucracy, more productivity, fair and democratic systems of organising and coordinating work,” he said.
“These organisations are able to learn, unlearn and renew themselves constantly. To anticipate change and learn quickly. These organisations have a clear strategy and vision ÔÇô to energise whole teams.”
Giving the financial highlight of the postoffice since establishment and up to 2009, Moleta revealed that the highest revenue BotswanaPost has ever hit was the 2009 figure of P 103 million. In 2012, three years later we had doubled that to P214 million and “we are on course to P500 million by 2016”.
Moleta pointed out that what the postoffice is doing differently is that they have increased the intensity and relevance of the message.
“We remain the good old central meeting place in the heart of communities, the village custodian of the public phone booth, where people came to post letters, for their mail order parcels from Mahommedys, Charles Velkes”.
BotswanaPost is also increasing ICT usage by allowing the easier ways of paying bills, i.e. electricity. PosoCloud will also change the landscape of the way postoffice conducts its business.
“Another example is our soon to be launched PosoCloud, of how the Post Office is facilitating communications, our international guests, who are so used to high speed internet, accept my invitation to experience the PosoCloud wi-fi services, available at Sir Seretse Khama International Airport. PosoCloud is being deployed countrywide to enable access to high speed internet at your fingertips,” he revealed.
The deployment of PosoCloud services is at 82 percent faster than the deployment of an on-premises solution. The cloud service requires an average of 22 percent of staff resources compared to one on-premises.
