7.4. Indicators of an effective complaints resolution process

An effective complaints resolution process will pass three key tests:

1. It will listen to people and understand why they are unhappy with the service
2. It will help resolve people using services’ dissatisfaction about the service they receive
3. Data will be collected and analysed to assist the organisation to identify problems and change procedures to prevent similar dissatisfactions and complaints in the future.

In order to pass these key tests your complaints resolution process would have the following qualities:

1. Your complaint resolution process should complement and reflect your service’s vision, mission, principles and values. It should show how you relate to the people using your service, and should be integral to your operations rather than a ‘nice to have’ add on. This philosophy should be clearly communicated to all staff and people using services.
   1. Policies and procedures must be developed with involvement of staff and people using services and be easy to understand, regularly reviewed and widely known.
2. The executive leadership group of the organisation should be receptive to feedback passed up the line.
3. The process for lodging complaints should be widely known and easy to use:
   1. complaints can be lodged in person, by phone, email or in writing
   2. appropriate support and formats to enable people with disability to lodge complaints
   3. easy to understand process for handling complaints.
4. Direct support staff should be empowered to handle complaints:
   1. Staff need to have clear delegation to resolve complaints. This may specify the nature of the complaints they can seek to resolve.
   2. A key staff member at direct worker level within the organisation should have responsibility for providing information and education to other workers on approaching complaints.
   3. Staff should receive appropriate and ongoing training and support to be clear on how to approach complaints and to reinforce the message that complaints will not reflect badly on them but rather may identify areas for additional resourcing or training. Such training should use real life examples and offer clarity on the complaints resolution process used by the organisation.
   4. Complaints are discussed in groups in a de-identified way to enable staff to learn from each other. The outcomes of complaints, particularly where this has led to service improvements, should be made known to staff as a way of reinforcing their value to the organisation.
   5. The process for referring complaints that cannot be resolved at this level needs to be clearly understood.
   6. Managers should be actively involved in coaching staff in complaint handling.
5. Managers must have overall responsibility for seeking to resolve complaints in their area and encourage staff to come to them with any complaints they have been unable to resolve or that raise systemic issues for the organisation. (AS 4608-2004: 9)
6. There should be a sound approach to complaint resolution in which:
   1. the person handling the complaint is clear about the outcome the person who made the complaint is seeking as a result of bringing a complaint
   2. resolution occurs within agreed timeframes as much as practicable
   3. people who have made a complaint are kept informed of the progress of their complaint
   4. responses are consistent and appropriate.
7. There should be a means of recording data about complaints and the time taken to resolve them, and identifying any trends and reporting these regularly to the executive leadership group as a basis for potential service improvement. This is one of the most common areas where complaint processes fail.
8. No targets should be set to reduce the number of complaints.

Thought

Is your complaint process working?

• Are the people who use your service satisfied with the resolution of their complaints?
• Do staff feel confident in responding to complaints?
• Does it provide accurate, useful and/or necessary factual reporting and business improvement information for the service?
• Have service improvements resulted from the handling of complaints?
• Is resolving complaints efficiently projecting a good image for your organisation?