6 Principles for Effective Complaint Management - Principle 1 - Respectful treatment

Give your full attention by making time and allowing space for the complainant to express negative feelings.

Show active and reflective listening by not interrupting or commenting too early, other than to ask clarifying questions, not talking over the other person and not allowing distractions. When someone is listening actively, they will:

• reflect their understanding by paraphrasing key content and asking whether they understood the complainant’s concerns correctly
• if talking over the telephone, make affirmative sounds, and
• if meeting in person or via video call, using appropriate body language, such as nodding their head.

Make time to build rapport by allowing the person to speak first and for you to listen. If you immediately challenge the complainant’s version of events, they are less likely to accept your perspective.

• Building rapport with the complainant develops trust and encourages open dialogue about their complaint, and any concerns or fears they may have. While this may seem to be time consuming, it may prevent matters from unnecessarily escalating at a later stage.

Accommodate where you can by offering choices and seeking feedback when planning for future communication or contact. Be flexible about the time of day for phone calls, location of meetings and sending of hard copy correspondence or emails.

• Ask all complainants if they need any particular assistance or have specific requirements for communication, a support person or the physical environment (if meeting face-to-face) – and ensure that these requirements are considered and provided, where possible.

Acknowledge and validate feelings by expressing empathy and understanding. If a person does not feel they have been heard or understood, they will be less likely to listen to your advice. You may feel confronted by strong emotions, such as anger and disappointment, expressed by complainants. These emotions are normal when things do not go as expected.

• Acknowledging the complainant’s feelings does not mean that you agree with their assessment of the situation that led to the complaint. Even if the complainant’s interpretation of the situation may be factually incorrect, their feelings are real and deserve to be treated as such.
• You can acknowledge a person’s situation, feelings or point of view by saying something like:
  • ‘I can absolutely see why you are concerned/feel that way. I really appreciate you bringing this issue up with me. I know that’s not easy.’
• Before you tell the person what they could do next or give them your perspective, ask for permission to do so. After acknowledging their feelings, you can say:
  • ‘Can I tell you what I would need to do next to find out what happened in this case?’
• If you are having trouble acknowledging someone’s feelings, be curious and ask them clarifying questions, such as:
  • ‘What about [the issue] do you feel was unfair?’
  • ‘Then what did [staff member] say to you?’

Use inclusive language to help people feel valued and appreciated, not judged. If you find the complainant’s behaviour challenging, label the behaviour, not the person. When explaining that you have reached a different conclusion to the complainant, avoid using authoritative language or tone and explain the limitations that impacted your decision. Examples of inclusive language are saying:

• ‘I’ and ‘we’, rather than ‘you’
• ‘my organisation/agency’
• ‘and’ instead of ‘but’ – ‘I understand you said [x] happened and I can see how you could conclude that from the information that was available to you. What I found …’
• ‘there was limited available information, so we had no power to make further enquiries.’

Demonstrate fairness by being impartial, managing expectations, upholding confidentiality and, where appropriate, apologise.

• Remain unbiased when dealing with the complainant by assessing the relevant facts, providing equal treatment by consulting with both sides involved to verify information and establish common ground. This is important when the outcome is unfavourable to the complainant.
• Give the complainant clear information about the complaint management process and keep them updated on expected timeframes. This will assist in managing expectations. Explain that the process will be fair, even if they are not completely satisfied with the outcome.
• When you communicate an unfavourable outcome to the complainant, they may express strong emotions. You can show respect by communicating with them privately and confidentially (where possible and appropriate) and explaining the reasons for the outcome.
• If you or your organisation were found to be at fault as an outcome of a complaint management process, apologise and work with the complainant to resolve the issue.