admin
It is true that the customer is important, key to a business’ survival. However, this is only a part of it. A business concern is more dependent on its employees for success than it is on customers.
This particular stakeholders should be treated as well as you treat your customers if you plan to maximise the benefits they bring to the table.
Like your customers, employees have grievances which should not be set aside, ignored or treated as non-issues. Employee grievances can be pointers to issues which, if you don’t nip them in the bud, can become quite serious later.
Herein are five tips on handling employee complaints in your company.
Have a clear framework for handling grievances
This is especially important for small businesses and start ups. It is central to your growth as a firm to have a laid down channel for employees to lodge whatever grievances they have, be it with the organisation or fellow employees. These framework can include Grievance Forms, Complaint Forms. In addition to this, there should be roomade available for appeal of any decision made.
Understand the grievances
It is not enough to have grievances taken. You have to understand the spirit behind it. The why especially as understanding the source means you can stop it from reoccurring.
Communicate your readiness to listen
While many organisations tell their employees that they have an open door policy and welcome employee feedback, the vibe given is the opposite. The employees are made to feel it is wrong to report or that such a decision might have negative backlashes.
To do this, you can hold short talks on how the grievance procedure works. You can open anonymous complaint boxes. Ask for feedback on thoughts of employees regarding the employer or managers.
Resolve complaints in a timely fashion
When you first receive a complaint, it is important that you act on it as soon as possible by requesting more details from the employee who complained. A delay in following up may reflect negatively on the sincerity and efficiency of your company in dealing with complaints.
This also extends to the time the employee would receive feedback.
Make sure the process is transparent
A transparent process is a fair process. Let the process is open, keep the participants in the loop at all times and try as much as possible not to let information leak, especially the identity of the complainant.
If a copy of the complaint would be shared, let the complainant know and with whom it would be shared. Upon resolution, let the parties involved be told. You can share the details of the complaint and the process of resolution sans identity of the parties involved.
