NFSP00000261 - Circulation: National Executive Council, NFSP, enclosing: i) letter from David Smith to Colin Baker, 31 Jan 2000; ii) PO Consulting “Christmas Horizon Research Report”, Jan 2000, by Lorna Green

Evidence on official site

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CIRCULATION: NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL A3 PC NW 06 04
CB/DD PC NW 06 01
10 February 2000 N I S I
Evelyn Hous: —
CIRCULATION: NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL 22 Windleshare Gardens,

Shoreham-by-Sea,
West Sussex BN43 SAZ

General Secretary: Coun: BAKER

Assistant General Secretaries
KEWIN Davis + Pata, HEASHans

Dear Executive Officer

Having been putting pressure on the Automation Director for some information
regarding the Horizon Roll Out, I am sure you will be keen to see a letter which we
have received which sets out the position following the review held by Post Office
Network Unit.

Hopefully a regular dialogue will soon be established at territorial level in order to
assist members to overcome the difficulties they may well experience as their offices
are automated.

Please let me know if there is any further information you require.

Yours sincerely

COLIN BAKER
General Secretar

A helping hand for SubPostmasters...enerywhere!
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POST 5
OFFICE

Colin Baker

General Secretary

NFSP

Evelyn House

22 Windlesham Gardens
Shoreham by Sea

West Sussex

BN43 5AZ 31 January 2000

Post Office Counters Ltd

Dear Colin

In my note of 6 January I promised to let you have details of the exercise carried out
just before Christmas. I attach a copy of the Research Services report.

This research is consistent with other feedback both structured and otherwise to
which countermeasures are either in place or are about to be implemented and
which I outline further below. This kind of research reflects a continuing
comunitment to listen to the reactions of those at the sharp end of implementation
throughout the roll out.

One of the first decisions that I took after becoming Automation Director was to
create National Roll Out as a project and to identify a senior manager with extensive
experience of the network to lead it. I was delighted , therefore, to be able to
announce the appointment of Don Grey as National Roll Out Project Manger just
before Christmas. With Don at the helm I have absolute confidence that the listening
process will continue and will inform continuous improvement throughout the roll
out.

The feedback points in the direction of training, balancing and help desks as the
major improvement areas with balancing very much the common theme. However,
in each of these areas outlets are more or less evenly split between those who think
we've got it right as opposed to wrong. The trick to be pulled off is to improve
matters for those who believe we need to improve without “turning off” those who
think we've got it right.

Improvements ...../2.

Pose Office Counters Led
Gavrelie Honse

214 Bunhil: Row

Londen

BCnY BH

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-2-
31 January 2000

Colin Baker

Improvements to training have already been implemented particularly that related to
balancing and there is a small improvement in the reaction to training over the live
trial. A pre-training event has been introduced for those offices with least experience
of computers and the first benefiting from this will go live towards the end of March.
Additionally a guide to balancing has been produced and is about to be distributed.
This has been tested on a number of offices and favourably received.

Support for balancing is to be significantly increased. All first balances will be
supported by Horizon Field Support Officers. RNM clusters are being mobilised to
support subsequent balances. RNM clusters, for whom supporting the roll out
becomes a major objective, are to be supplemented with additional resource for this
purpose. This RNM support will be targeted to offices on the basis of feedback from
the Help Desk so that support gets to where it is most needed.

Our activity with ICL Pathway has , amongst other things, concentrated on
improvements to the expert cash account help desk domain within HSH. This has
very much been a process of continuous improvement and a further package of
initiatives was agreed at the beginning of this month.

Research Services have been tracking the impact that implementation has on an
office. This is called the “coping curve”. ] am pleased to be able to say that there has
been a stepped improvement in this coping curve since the live trial which is proof
that the measures introduced are beginning to bite. This will be closely monitored to
ensure that the measures more recently or about to be introduced continue to reduce
the impact on offices. I know that Don Grey intends to share this data with you ona
regular basis.

Iam particularly pleased that 90% of respondents found Horizon easy to use and
that 80% were either very or fairly satisfied with the automation programme, up
from 56% from those offices in the live trial. I believe this reflects the positive
attitude of the network and your members to Horizon without which it would not
have been possible to get this far or to face the major challenges ahead.

I would ...... /3.
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-3-
31 January 2000

Colin Baker

I would be happy to discuss further the content of this or any other feedback.

Yours sincerely

David Smith
Automation Director, Post Office Network

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Post Office Consulting

Christmas Horizon Research Report

January 2000

Lorna Green

THE POST OFFICE
specialist consultancy from people

who know the business ;
Counters Business Consultancy
Post Office Consulting
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1, Summary
1.1 Introduction

This report gives the results of 330 telephone interviews with staff and agents
whose offices have taken part in the Horizon roll in the autumn of 1999. In
these interviews they were asked their opinion on different aspects of the
Horizon system, the various types of support available (including manuals
and helpdesks) and their overall satisfaction with the automation programme.

1.2 Results and Conclusions

Results on almost all aspects of Horizon are mixed. Some staff and sub
postmasters are getting to grips with the system and are happy and satisfied
whilst others are struggling and continuously having problems. There are no
obvious patterns by office type, IP area, number of counter positions or the
length of time since migration.

However, where comparisons have been possible, these results are more
favourable than the results from the live trial research last June. This
improvement in results indicates that lessons have been learnt from the live
trial and that the remedial action taken has improved perception of several
aspects of Horizon. However, the post office should not rest on its laurels and
there is still room for further improvement.

The main message coming through is that they are not getting enough
training. They are mainly happy with what the one and a half days they
received, but the training on balancing is not long enough for their needs.

This has knock on effects in other areas where greater support as they then
lack confidence when doing their subsequent balances and require more
support from their HFSO and RNM. Also when asked about the user guide
and helpdesks there is a feeling that if they had been trained adequately
problems with these support areas would not be such an issue.

The other area for concern is the helpdesks. There is confusion over which
number to call, which is compounded by them being passed back and forth
between helpdesks. There is a problem getting through to the Horizon system
helpdesk in particular and the service from both appears to be lacking in
terms of consistency and level of knowledge.

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1.3 Recommendation

It is strongly recommended that the length of time allocated to balancing in
the training course is extended, since there is anecdotal evidence to suggest
that economising at this stage causes problems further down the line in terms
of the additional support required.

Work is also under way to measure the level of service given by the helpdesks
so that improvements can be made.

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Table of contents

1, Summary
11 Introduction
1.2 Results and Conclusions

1.3 Recommendation
2. Introduction and background
3. Objectives
4. Methodology

. Results in detail

wa

5.1 Communication

5.2 Installation

5.3 Training

5.4 Using the system

5.5 Balancing,

5.6 The Horizon User Guide
5.7 Support from RNM

5,8 Support from HFSO

5.9 Helpdesks

5.10 Overall satisfaction
6. Summary of results

7. Conclusions

8. Recommendations and future work

Appendices
1. Questionnaire

10
10

13

16

17

18

19

Appendix 2 containing all the comments is available as a separate document

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2. Introduction and background

At the end of August 1999, national roll out of Horizon commenced. By the
time installation was suspended at the end of November 1999 (due to
pressures on post offices in the run up to Christmas), a total of 1856 post
offices had had the Horizon system installed. National roll out is due to
recommence at the end of January 2000.

3. Objectives

The objective of the research was to evaluate how these 1856 offices have
found the Horizon system, in order to identify any potential problems before
national roll out recommences. The major aspects of Horizon were to be
covered, including the various types of support available. A copy of the
questionnaire used can be found in appendix 1. A similar questionnaire was
asked of the Live Trial offices in June 1999, so where possible results of the
two have been compared.

4, Methodology

Due to the limited time available staff and sub postmasters were contacted via
telephone. Also because of the additional pressures post office staff are under
in the roll up to Christmas, the interviewing took place between Friday 17
December and Thursday 23" December, as anecdotal evidence suggested that
offices were slightly quieter.

During these 4 days 600 post offices were telephoned which elicited 330
successful interviews. This is a large enough sample to be statistically

representative of the 1856 offices which have Horizon.

The interviews were split by contract type as follows:

Contract type Percentage of I number of
respondents _I respondents

BO 3% 11

Mod/ Franchise 5% 17

Sub 92% 307

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5. Results in detail

5.1 Communication

Three quarters of respondents (74%) felt that they had been kept well

informed prior to installation as can be seen in the table below. This is similar

to the results obtained from the live trial offices in the June survey.

Q1 Thinking about the information you

Percentage of

Percentage of

have received prior to and during respondents respondents
installation, would you say your office (NRO) (live trial)
has...

been kept fully informed 28% 23%
been fairly well informed 46% 51%
had only a limited amount of 16% 20%
information

not been told very much 10% 3%
been told nothing 1% 0%
Don’t know 0% 3%

5.2 Installation

Nearly half (48%) respondents stated that installation process caused only a

slight inconvenience to there office, whilst a further 21% said it caused no

inconvenience.

Q2a) Thinking about the installation of Horizon at

Percentage of

your office, would you say the amount of disruption respondents
caused...

no inconvenience to my office 21%
a slight inconvenience 48%
moderate inconvenience 19%
a major inconvenience 7%
unacceptable high level of inconvenience 4%
can’t remember/ don’t know 0%

The full comments accompanying this question can be found in appendix 2.

The main reasons for inconvenience were categorised as:

® caused major disruption (13%);
having workmen in the way (12%);
caused slight problems (7%);

small office (5%);

busy time in office (4%);

had a counter closed (4%); and
length of time taken (4%).

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The main positive comments about installation were:
¢ no problems (24%);

e did a good job (8%); and

© quick (6%).

5.3 Training

Opinion was split on the training with 50% saying that the training was good
and 50% saying it was poor. This was similar to the results from the live trial
research, except that this time there are more respondents in the very poor
category.

Q3a) How would you rate the training Percentage of I Percentage of
you received on how to use the Horizon respondents respondents
system? (NRO) (live trial)
Very good 13% 13%
Fairly good 38% 32%
Fairly poor 25% 37%
Very poor 24% 18%

Reasons given for dissatisfaction with the training were:
¢ not enough training (18%)

¢ not enough training on balancing (12%)
e not enough time allowed(10%)

® too fast/intense/crammed (10%)

e trainers lacked PO knowledge (6%)

¢ not enough detail (4%)

© basic (3%)

® poor 3%)

¢ I’m not computer literate (2%)

e more practical training needed (2%)

5.4 Using the system

The majority of respondents (91%) found the Horizon system easy to use, This
is slightly better than the results from the live trial research.

Q4a) How easy do you find the Horizon I Percentage of I Percentage of
system to use? respondents I respondents

(NRO) (live trial)
Very easy 37% 23%
Fairly easy 53% 59%
Fairly difficult 6% 14%
Very difficult 3% 4%
Don’t know 1% 0%

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Reasons given for ease of use were:

e
e
.
°

easy/ straightforward / fool proof (26%);
got used to it now (17%);

good (7%);

all right (4%); and

no problems (3%).

Reasons for dissatisfaction with using the system were:

some things are OK, some things are not (9%);
balancing is difficult (6%);

OK if computer literate otherwise not (6%);
system is slow (5%); and

had problems (5%).

5.5 Balancing

Nearly a fifth (19%) of respondents are finding balancing using Horizon very
difficult and a further quarter (24%) are finding it fairly difficult. However
there has been an improvement since the live trial, possibly due to changes to
the training.

Q5a) How easy do you find balancing with I Percentage of I Percentage of
Horizon compared with previously? respondents I respondents

(NRO) (live trial)
Very easy 16% 2%
Fairly easy 39% 17%
Fairly difficult 24% 35%
Very difficult 19% 44%
Don’t know 2% 2%

Reasons for finding balancing difficult include:

eoeceneee

time consuming/ slower (24%);
problems (8%);

difficult and slow (4%);

mixed (4%);

need more training (3%);
complicated (3%); and

worse than before (3%).

Reasons for finding balancing easy include:
e easier than before (15%);

® getting/ got used to it (11%);

¢ easy but slow (6%);

e quicker (3%); and

e fine (2%).

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5.6 The Horizon User Guide

Just over half (55%) of respondents found the Horizon user guide easy to use,

whilst nearly a quarter (24%) were unable to comment due to lack of use.

Q6a) How easy to use do you find the Horizon User

Percentage of

Guide? respondents
Very easy 19%
Fairly easy 36%
Fairly difficult 16%
Very difficult 6%
Don’t know 24%

Nearly a third of respondents were unable to comment on the Horizon user

guide because they don’t use it:

® don't use it/much (23%);
® use an alternative source for information (7%);

Reasons given for finding it easy to use were:

¢ easy/simple (19%);

* OK/fine/no problems (7%);

e good/useful/helpful (5%); and
* well laid out (5%).

Reasons given for finding it difficult to use:

difficult to use/ can't find answer (10%);
too detailed/too big (4%);

takes too long to find anything (3%);
incorrect/ missing (2%);
useless/unhelpful/ poor (2%);

no index (1%);

poor (1%); and

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5.7 Support from RNM

Those respondents who've had support from their RNM rate them highly
73% thinking the support is good to some extent. However 14% have not
received any support from their RNM.

Qa) In terms of the support you have received from Percentage of
your retail network manager (RNM) during the roll respondents
out of automation, which of the following statements

do you most closely agree with.

The support has been very good 40%
The support has been fairly good 33%
The support has been fairly poor 6%
The support has been very poor 5%
haven't had any support 14%
Don’t know 1%

Reasons for satisfaction with support from their RNM include:

helpful/explain/ answer questions (24%);

available/ there if needed/only a phonecall away (14%);
good/excellent/ brilliant (7%);

supportive (4%);

visits/ phones to check we're OK (3%); and

OK (2%).

Reasons for dissatisfaction with RNM support include:

have not seen RNM/hardly there (14%);
can't help/no knowledge of Horizon (8%);
don't need them (5%);

over stretched (2%); and

difficult to contact/ get hold of (1%).

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5.8 Support from HFSO

Three quarters (76%) of respondents are happy with the support they get

from their HFSO.

Q8a) In terms of the support you have received from
your horizon field support officer (HFSO) during the
roll out of automation, which of the following
statements do you most closely agree with.

Percentage of
respondents

The support has been very good

44%

The support has been fairly good

32%

The support has been fairly poor

11%

The support has been very poor

6%

haven't had any support

6%

Don’t know

2%

Reasons for satisfaction with HFSO include:
good/excellent (17%);

helpful (16%);

knowledgeable (4%);

explain clearly (4%);

there when needed (3%);

answer questions/solved problems (2%);
OK (2%); and

supportive (2%);

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Reasons for dissatisfaction with HFSO include:
limited knowledge/help (9%);

more time and training (6%);

no support (4%);

made mistakes (3%); and

no help/no knowledge/ incorrect (2%);

5.9 Helpdesks

There is some confusion (13%) over which helpdesk to call, which has

deteriorated since the live trial research.

Q9) When you need to call a helpdesk, do I Percentage of I Percentage of

you know which Helpdesk to call?

respondents
(NRO)

respondents
(live trial)

Yes

86%

90%

No

13%

8%

Never needed to call

1%

2%

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Satisfaction with the Horizon system helpdesk is mixed. 59% are satisfied to
some extent. This is an improvement on the results from the live trial

research.

Q10a) How satisfied are you with the
Horizon System helpdesk ?

Percentage of
respondents
(NRO)

Percentage of
respondents
(live trial)

Very satisfied

24%

9%

Fairly satisfied

35%

44%

Fairly dissatistied

19%

27%

Very dissatisfied

17%

20%

Never used it

3%

a,
%

Don’t know

1%

0%

Reasons for satisfaction include:

helpful (14%);

solve problem (5%);

OK (4%);

excellent (3%);

good (3%);

quick (3%);

getting better (1%);

always call back with answer (1%); and
good if get through (1%).

Reasons for dissatisfaction include:
slow to answer (7%);

passed around (7%);

lack knowledge (5%);

too many questions (5%);
variable/ depends who you get (5%);
can't get through (4%);
unhelpful (4%);

wait for answer (3%);

poor/ useless (3%)

directed to NBSC (2%);
incorrect advice (2%);

never call back (2%); and

rude (1%).

eeceeew eee eee wo

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Nearly a third (32%) of respondents were unable to comment on the National
Business Service Centre because they had not used it or were unsure what it

was. When you look at only those who have used it, the NDSC gets a more
favourable rating than the Horizon System Helpdesk.

Ql1a) How satisfied are you with the Percentage I percentage
National Business Support Centre ? of all I of those that

respondents I have used it
Very satisfied 18% 27%
Fairly satisfied 32% 46%
Fairly dissatisfied 10% 15%
Very dissatisfied 8% 11%
Never used it 28% na.
Don’t know 4% na.

There was more confusion over the role of the NBSC:

* not used (20%);
° who? (4%); and

* rarely used (8%).

Reasons for satisfaction include:
helpful (15%);

OK (7%);

solve problems (5%);

good (4%);

knowledgeable (2%);

quick (2%);

always call back with answer (1%);
easy to contact (1%);

coe eee eee

Reasons for dissatisfaction include:
passed around (4%);

variable/ depends who you get (4%);
slow to answer (4%);

unhelpful (3%);

directed to HSH (3%);

lack knowledge (2%);

useless (1%);

too many initial questions (1%);

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5.10 Overall satisfaction

When asked, 80% were satisfied to some extent with the automation

programme, in general. This is much higher than the 56% satisfaction in the

live trial research.

Q12) In general, how satisfied are Percentage of I Percentage of
you with the automation respondents in I respondents in
programme? NRO live trial
Very satisfied 28% 10%
Fairly satisfied 52% 46%
Fairly dissatisfied 11% 28%
Very dissatisfied 8% 13%
Don’t know 1% 3%

The majority (61%) respondent felt that customers were getting a worse

service with Horizon

Ql3a) My customers are getting a better service now I

Percentage of

have Horizon respondents
agree strongly 10%
agree slightly 22%
disagree slightly 35%
disagree strongly 26%
Don't know/No opinion 7%

with Horizon

Q13b) My back office processes are easier with

Percentage ofI

Horizon respondents’
Agree strongly 29%
Agree slightly 28%
Disagree slightly 15%
Disagree strongly 23%
Don't know/ No opinion 5%

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More than half (57%) of respondents felt that back office processes were easier

13

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More than half (55%) of respondent felt it was more difficult to serve

customers with Horizon

Q13c) It is easier for me to serve customers with

Percentage ofI

Horizon respondents
Agree strongly 19%
Agree slightly 22%
Disagree slightly 28%
Disagree strongly 27%
Don't know/No opinion 4%

Four out of five (80%) respondents believe that in the long term Horizon will

have a positive impact on the post office’s business.

Q13d) I believe that in the long term Horizon will

Percentage of

have a positive impact on the post office's business respondents}
Agree strongly 56%
Agree slightly 24%
Disagree slightly 5%
Disagree strongly %
Don't know/ No opinion 8%

When asked if they had other comments on improvements which could be
made to any aspect of the roll out of Horizon, the majority of these
improvements were related to training in some form or other.

more training 15%

improve training 15%

software/ specific transactions 9%
training on balancing 7%
helpdesk 4%

organisation of training 4%
speed of system 4%

support 3%

printer 3%

balancing 2%

balancing speed 2%

balancing support 2%

HFSO 1%

communication 1%
happy / pleased/ satisfied 1%
visit existing office 1%

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Other comments (less than 1%) included:

back up

go-live timing

on-line links

split training by different needs
lottery

remove it

installation

migration

pay

survey

eoeeeeeere ee

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6. Summary of results

Three quarters of respondents (74%) felt that they had been kept well
informed prior to installation. Nearly half (48%) respondents stated that
installation process caused only a slight inconvenience to there office, whilst a
further 21% said it caused no inconvenience. The main reasons for
inconvenience were because it caused a major disruption to the office; and
having workmen in the way.

Opinion was split on the training received with 50% saying that the training
was good and 50% saying it was poor. Reasons given for dissatisfaction were
that there was not enough training generally, not enough training on
balancing, not enough time allowed and that the training they had received
was too fast.

The majority of respondents (91%) found the Horizon system easy to use,
because it was straightforward and fool proof, but that it had taken time to
get used to it. Nearly a fifth (19%) of respondents are finding balancing using
Horizon very difficult and a further quarter (24%) are finding it fairly
difficult. The main reasons given were that balancing was time consuming
and slower than their previous method, and they were having problems.

Just over half (55%) of respondents found the Horizon user guide easy to use,
whilst nearly a quarter (24%) were unable to comment due to lack of use,
because they were using alternative sources to resolve their problems.

Those respondents who've had support from their RNM rate them highly
with 73% thinking the support is fairly or very good. Reasons include them
being helpful, explaining things and answer questions, and also because they
are readily available if needed, only a phonecall away. However 14% have not
received any support from their RNM. Three quarters (76%) of respondents
are happy with the support they get from their HFSO, saying they are
excellent and helpful.

There is some confusion (13%) over which helpdesk to call. Satisfaction with
the Horizon System Helpdesk is mixed. 59% are satisfied to some extent.
Reasons for dissatisfaction includes the time to answer the call, being passed
around between operators, the lack of knowledge of operators, the variability
of service depending on who you get, and the number of initial questions.
Nearly a third (32%) of respondents were unable to comment on the National
Business Service Centre because they had not used it or were unsure what it
was. Reasons for dissatisfaction include taking a long time to answer the
phone, the variability in the service, depending on who answers, and being
passed around between operators.

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In general, 80% were satisfied to some extent with the automation
programme, this is an improvement compared to 56% satisfaction in the live
trial research. 80% of respondents also believe that in the long term Horizon
will have a positive impact on the post office’s business.

More than half (57%) of respondents felt that back office processes were easier
with Horizon. However, 56% of respondent felt it was more difficult to serve
customers with Horizon, and 61%of respondent felt that customers were
getting a worse service with Horizon.

When asked if they had other comments on improvements which could be
made to any aspect of the roll out of Horizon, the majority of these
improvements were related to training in some form or other.

7. Conclusions

Results on almost all aspects of Horizon are mixed. Some staff and sub
postmasters getting to grips with the system and are happy and satisfied
whilst others are struggling and continuously having problems. There are no
obvious patterns by office type, IP area, number of counter positions or the
length of time since migration.

However where comparisons have been possible the results are more
favourable than the results from the live trial research last June. Although one
could argue that by their very nature the live trial offices experienced more
problems, so one would expect their results to be lower. However, as a small
group the live trial offices had more support per office. This improvement in
results indicates that lessons have been learnt from the live trial and that the
remedial action taken has improved perception of several aspects of Horizon.
However, the post office should not rest on its laurels and there is still room
for further improvement.

The main message coming through is that they are not getting enough
training. They are mainly happy with what the one and a half days they
received, but the training on balancing is not long enough for their needs.

This has knock on effects in other areas where greater support as they then
lack confidence when doing their subsequent balances and require more
support from their HFSO and RNM. Also when asked about the user guide
and helpdesks there is a feeling that if they had been trained adequately
problems with the helpdesk would not be such an issue.

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The other area for concern is the helpdesks. There is confusion over which
number to call, which is compounded by them being passed back and forth
between helpdesks. There is a problem getting through to the Horizon system
helpdesk in particular and the service from both appears to be lacking in
terms of consistency and level of knowledge.

8. Recommendations and future work

It is strongly recommended that the length of time allocated to balancing in
the training course is extended, since there is anecdotal evidence to suggest
that economising at this stage causes problems further down the line in terms
of the additional support required.

Changes to training have already taken place and there are now preview
events available so staff and sub postmasters can go and see Horizon working
before their training. It will be interesting to see if this has an impact long
term.

The helpdesks are also an area for concern and work is underway to measure
the service provided on a continuous basis. It is recommended that the
staffing levels are reviewed as many staff and sub postmasters are unable to
get through

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Appendix 1: Questionnaire

Horizon Review Xmas 1999 Questionnaire

Good morning / Afternoon, my name is... and I work for

_. We are doing some work on behalf of Business Service
Management in Post Office Network into staff views on the Horizon
automation of post offices.

We would like to get some idea of how effective the various stages of the
automation roll-out were and your views on Horizon. I appreciate this is a
busy time for your office, but could you spare about 10 minutes to answer
some questions? Or arrange a time to phone back later? All your answers will
be treated in total confidence.

QI Thinking about the information you have received prior to and during
installation, would you say your office has

been kept fully informed
been fairly well informed
had only a limited amount of
information

not been told very much
been told nothing

Don’t know

oOo ooo

Q2a) Thinking about the installation of Horizon at your office, would you say
the amount of disruption caused

no inconvenience to my office
a slight inconvenience
moderate inconvenience

a major inconvenience
unacceptable high level of
inconvenience

can’t remember/don’t know

Oo oof ofo00

Q2b) Why do you say that?

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Q3a) How would you rate the training you received on how to use the
Horizon system?

Very good

Fairly good

Fairly poor

Very poor

Haven't had any training
Don’t know

obooooo0

Q3b) why do you say that?

Q4a) How easy do you find the Horizon system to use?

Very easy
Fairly easy
Fairly difficult
Very difficult
Don’t know

nooogd

Q4b) why do you say that?

Q5a) How easy do you find balancing with Horizon compared with
previously?

Very easy
Fairly easy
Fairly difficult
Very difficult
Don’t know

oooo00

Q5b) why do you say that?

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Q6a) How easy to use do you find the Horizon User Guide?

Very easy
Fairly easy
Fairly difficult
Very difficult
Don’t know

oooo0d

Q6b) why do you say that?

Q7a) In ters of the support you have received from your retail network
manager (RNM) during the roll out of automation, which of the following
statements do you most closely agree with.

The support has been very good
The support has been fairly good
The support has been fairly poor
The support has been very poor
haven't had any support

Don’t know

noooongd

Q7b) Why do you say that?

Q8a) In terms of the support you have received from your horizon field
support officer (HFSO) during the roll out of automation, which of the
following statements do you most closely agree with.

The support has been very good
The support has been fairly good
The support has been fairly poor
The support has been very poor
haven't had any support

Don’t know

oooooo

Q8b) Why do you say that?

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Now, thinking about the helpdesks...

[there are two helpdesks which the offices use - the Horizon system
helpdesk which answers technical queries, and the National Business
Support Centre which covers everything else!]

Q9) When you need to call a helpdesk, do you know which Helpdesk to call?

Yes im GO TO O10
No im GO TO Q10
Never needed tocall GOTO Q12
Don’t know im) GO TO QI10

Ql0a) How satisfied are you with the Horizon System helpdesk ?

Very satisfied
Fairly satisfied
Fairly dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
Never used it
Don’t know

ooooog

Q10b) why do you say that?

Ql1a) How satisfied are you with the National Business Support Centre ?

Very satisfied
Fairly satisfied
Fairly dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied
Never used it
Don’t know

ooo0o0go

Ql1b) Why do you say that?

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Thinking about Horizon overall .
Q12) In general, how satisfied are you with the automation programme?

Very satisfied oO
Fairly satisfied a
Fairly dissatisfied 0
Very dissatisfied i]
Don’t know o
Q13) Could you tell me to what extent you agree with the following
statements
agree agree disagree I disagree I Don’t
strongly I slightly I slightly I strongly I know/No
opinion
a) I My customers are Oo a Q QO =)

getting a better service
now I have Horizon

b) I My back office =) Q Qa Q a]
processes are easier
with Horizon

c) I It is easier for me to Oo Q o Q i)
serve customers with
Horizon,

d) I I believe that in the a Q Q Q [a]

long term Horizon
will have a positive
impact on the post
office’s business

Q14) finally, do you have any comments on improvements which could be
made to any aspect of the roll out of Horizon?

Thank you very much for your time.

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