| Introduction |
The Ombudsman has always been an
advocate for a positive complaint handling culture of taking
complaints as a management tool in achieving higher service
standards and improvements in public administration. It was with
the vision of inculcating this positive complaint handling
culture that The Ombudsman introduced the Internal Complaint
Handling (INCH) Programme in 1996 to afford an opportunity for
organisations to reflect on the service environment and make
improvements and adjustments where due. This positive complaint
handling culture forms the foundation upon which effective and
professional complaint handling infrastructures could be built
to better serve the community.
The purposes of this handbook are - |
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To inculcate a positive complaint
handling culture among organisations. |
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To promote professionalism in the
handling of complaints by organisations. |
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To serve as a guide to organisations,
including those not under The Ombudsman's jurisdiction, which
are planning or in the process of setting up or reviewing their
internal complaint handling system. |
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| This handbook sets out in easily
understood terms how an effective complaint handling system can
help your organisation improve its services to customers, the
main features and ingredients of a good and professional
complaint handling system and how one can be established, some
basic complaint handling skills and what redress and remedies
can be afforded to the complainants. |
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Complaints should be welcomed in
order to prevent them. The emphasis should be on resolving and
preventing similar complaints. An organisation is much more
likely to gain public confidence if it listens to complaints and
moves quickly to resolve or deal with them appropriately. This
should also result in a more professional and effective
functioning of any organisation. Most importantly, a proper and
thorough investigation of a complaint not only redresses
individual grievances but also provides a golden opportunity for
perfecting the administrative system of an organisation.
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Why a complaint handling
system is needed? |
It is fundamental for any well
managed and responsible organisation to have clear and well
publicized complaint handling procedures. A good complaint
handling system will ensure that most complaints are resolved
swiftly and readily as close to the root of the problem as
possible; that there is a defined procedure for dealing with
complaints remaining unresolved; and that lessons learned from
the investigation of complaints can be used to improve an
organisation's services. |
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The aims of an effective
complaint handling system |
2. The principal test of the effectiveness of a
complaint handling system is whether it helps to resolve
dissatisfaction of customers about the services they have
received or believe they should receive. An effective complaint
handling system should provide : |
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a straightforward means for customers to make a
complaint to the organisation |
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a procedure for investigating a complaint |
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a means of keeping the complainant informed about
progress and outcome |
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redress where complaints are substantiated |
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a means of preventing recurrence of identified
problems |
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feedback for management decisions on resource
allocation, prioritization, strategic planning, service delivery
and quality assurance. |
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| The principles of a
good complaint handling system |
3. A good complaint handling
system should be : |
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easily accessible and conspicuous to customers |
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simple to invoke and operate, with clearly defined
stages and responsibilities |
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efficient, offering speedy action and resolution
within pre-determined time limits |
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objective and free from undue influence or
interference |
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feedback for management decisions on resource
allocation, prioritization, strategic planning, service delivery
and quality assurance. |
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| The essence of an effective
complaint handling system |
4. An effective complaint handling system
should be clear on : |
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the definition of a complaint - this will be for
each organisation to determine and will largely depend on what
the organisation wishes to get out of the complaint system. A
complaint system can be narrowly defined as a way of properly
dealing with serious grievances. It can also be more widely
defined as an expression of dissatisfaction with the
organisation's policies, procedures, charges, employees, agents,
quality of service or articles sold or provided. It may be
helpful also to clarify what the complaint handling system does
not cover, for example |
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requests for a service (e.g.
reporting a faulty street light which needs attention) |
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requests for information or
explanation of the organisation's policy or practice |
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matters for which there is a right
of appeal (an independent appeal channel, e.g. an appeal
tribunal or board) or a legal remedy. |
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who can complain - this should be anyone receiving
or seeking a service from the organisation, including where
appropriate anyone authorized by those unable to lodge the
complaint personally. It may also be useful to develop a policy
to deal with anonymous complaints. Generally anonymous
complaints can be acted on where the matter is relatively
serious and there is sufficient information in the complaint to
enable an investigation to be conducted. Similarly, you may need
a policy on how to deal with repetitive complaints. |
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the stages of the procedure - experience suggests
that a staged approach is the most effective but the number of
stages should be minimal, for example :
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First stage - the service
providers deal with initial approaches by customers and attempt
to resolve their concerns. To achieve higher customer
satisfaction, front-line staff should deal with the complaint on
the spot as far as possible. |
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Second stage - complaints from
customers still dissatisfied are investigated by an identified
complaints officer at a senior level within the organisation,
and the outcome reported to the complainant. |
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Third stage - the complaint
should be handled by an independent body outside the
organisation concerned if the internal procedure fails. For
administrative complaints, organisation should inform
complainants that they can seek an independent and external
review from The Ombudsman or other appropriate bodies.
While this model suggests a hierarchical approach to complaint
handling, this will not always be the case. Some complaints will
never be dealt with by service providers but will enter the
second stage or the third stage. For example, some complainants
may take their complaints directly to The Ombudsman, who may see
it fit to refer simple complaints to the organisations under the
INCH Programme, and the complaints would enter the second stage
of the process. |
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the form of complaints - As most organisations
have set up telephone hotlines to handle enquiries, you should
be prepared to receive most of your complaints over the
telephone. At the first stage it may not be necessary to require
complainants to file in any particular form but from the second
stage onwards complaints are best put in writing. Complaint
forms whilst useful can be couched in a more user friendly form
by the use of wordings such as 'tell us what you think' or 'your
opinion counts'. Assistance should be provided for those who
have difficulty in writing down their complaint. Wherever
possible the written complaint should include details of what
the complainant feels went wrong and what he or she would like
your organisation to do to put things right. |
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time limits - limits need to be set for each stage
of the procedure, including acknowledgment of receipt,
investigation and final response to the complainant. The more
promptly a grievance can be resolved, the more likely the
customer will be satisfied and think highly of your
organisation. If a complaint lodged through the telephone cannot
be resolved on the spot, dissatisfaction significantly rises if
no response is given in a week's time. With written complaints,
generally, it would be reasonable for complainants to expect
public organisations to give an interim reply or acknowledge
within two weeks and provide a substantive reply within three
weeks. |
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redress - where a complaint is found to be
justified, consideration needs to be given to providing a
redress. The redress needs to be appropriate to the complaint.
An apology can often be the best remedy for a complaint,
particularly if the complainant's concern is addressed. In fact,
a surprising number of people would be satisfied with an
acknowledgment of error. |
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language - replies to complainants should be in
Chinese or English as used in their complaints. Simple and
easily understood terms should be used and technical and
professional jargons should be avoided as far as possible. |
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further channels - complainants should be given
information about what they can do and where they can go within
the organisation or external redress channels such as The
Ombudsman if they are dissatisfied with the outcome of their
complaint. The alternative for complainants to seek redress from
The Ombudsman should always be included in an organisation's
performance pledge. This will only enhance more public
confidence in the organisation's commitment to be open, fair and
accountable in serving the public. |
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how to deal with difficult customers - preparation
should be made to deal with more difficult customers,
particularly those who appear to suffer from a mental illness.
It may be useful to identify a specific member (or team) of
staff who have relevant training to ensure that this group of
customers is not disadvantaged in the complaint process. |
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| Arrangements for training |
5. Training in complaint handling can be an
integral part of the customer care training to foster a customer
service culture, with emphasis on the positive benefits for both
users and operators of the system. Training arrangements have to
meet the different needs of : |
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officers who will investigate complaints |
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service providers who will often deal with
complaints |
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The training programme needs to include
induction training to be provided prior to the introduction of
the system and subsequently for new staff, regular refresher
training as a continuing process and training of staff who take
up new roles in the system. |
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How can complaints management
help your organisation to improve your services? |
| 6. Although the primary objective of the complaint
handling system is to provide an effective means for customers
to make complaints and have them resolved, another very
important objective will be to improve services and service
delivery. The system needs to include mechanisms for recording
and analyzing the types and subjects of complaints and the
result of investigations. If investigation reveals any mistake
or problem they should be reported to the relevant section heads
so that appropriate action can be taken to avoid a recurrence.
For grave mistakes with serious consequences or major problems
the head of the organisation should be alerted to see if a major
overhaul of the system is required. Each complaint is an
opportunity to reflect and improve on your services in a
positive way. You can identify root problems and improve the
system by asking : |
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Where did things
go wrong? |
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Was this kind of problem/complaint
foreseen? |
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Was there a system in place to
deal with such problems? |
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Was the system operating as it
should have? If not, why did the system fail? |
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| How can we do better in the
future? |
Ask these questions : |
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Could this kind of problem/complaint recur? |
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What likelihood is there of recurrence? |
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What would prevent recurrence? |
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Would the cure be worse than the problem? (Would
the cost and complication of guarding against another mistake
end up being counterproductive?) |
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One indicator of the effectiveness of a
complaint handling system may be the number of systemic
weaknesses or problems that have been identified and fixed as a
result of complaints.
If few systemic weaknesses have been identified since the
introduction of the complaint handling system, either you
have a perfect organisation, or most probably you may need
to review the type of information you collect about
complaints. For example, if you do not collect information
about the branch office which deals with the customer, but
your experience tells you that quite a lot of complaints
have related back to the same office, you would want to
start collecting this information more thoroughly.
If many systemic weaknesses have been identified since the
introduction of the complaint handling system, you can feel
confident that you are collecting some good quality information.
Before you conclude that your complaint handling system is
effective from the organisation's perspective, you should check
to ensure that the problem has actually been fixed, not just
identified and accepted.
How do complainants expect to be treated?
When people complain they want six essential things : |
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EFFECTIVE COMPLAINT HANDLING |
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to be heard |
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to be understood |
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to be respected |
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an explanation |
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an apology |
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action as soon as possible |
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Even if you are unable to take the action they
want, if you can provide the other elements they will usually be
reasonably satisfied.
The rights and responsibilities of
complainants |
| 2. Complainants should be aware of and understand
their rights and responsibilities. Complainants' rights could
include : |
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fair treatment |
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courteous treatment |
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timely, accurate advice |
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privacy |
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reasons for decisions |
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providing timely and accurate information |
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treating the organisation's staff with courtesy |
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adopting a reasonable and co-operative attitude |
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Complaint handling skills |
| 3. Complaints may be handled more effectively if
the concerned staff adopt the correct attitude and skills, which
may include : |
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showing empathy - remember that whether the
complaint is justified or not, the complainant's sense of
grievance is real. Your organisation is to deal with that
grievance successfully by treating complainants respectfully,
pleasantly and professionally. |
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seeking clarification whenever necessary in a
non-judgmental way - use open ended questions such as how? when?
who? why? and avoid using prompting questions with a
disbelieving tone such as Are you sure this is what actually
happened? Is ... the underlying reason for making the complaint?
etc. as far as possible. |
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trying to defuse any anger of the complainant
before dealing with the problem. Courtesy, using good listening
skills and showing empathy are extremely important when dealing
with this sort of customer. A good tactic is to go along with
any statements that do not convey blame or contradict the aims
and objectives of your organisation. Use statements starting
with "I quite agree" or "You may be right ..." You can usually
agree with statements of fact, broad uncontroversial principles
and the person's right to hold their own opinions. Finally,
don't debate the facts or query the rationale or logic of his
arguments until the person is settled. |
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making sure that when you are referring a
complaint to another person or organisation, you are referring
to the appropriate party and fully briefing that party before
you pass the complainant on. Being referred from party to party
is perhaps the most frustrating experience of any complainant.
People will generally tolerate one 'warm' referral if they don't
have to explain everything again. |
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| Remedies |
4. Remedies may take many forms and may include
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explaining why the action complained about was
taken, having regard to the relevant policies, procedures and
legislation of your organisation. Often it is useful to provide
the customer with a copy of a particular policy. |
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apologizing with sincerity whenever warranted.
Even if an apology is not warranted, the act of apologizing can
be a potent weapon to appease an aggrieved person. In those
cases, give an apology that does not accept blame for the
organisation e.g. "I'm sorry that this situation has made you
dissatisfied with us". |
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trying to meet any reasonable requests that
would resolve the matter or taking some particular action, such
as : |
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providing the service not delivered |
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undertaking to make sure outstanding action is taken within a
defined time frame and making sure it is done |
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fixing an identified mistake and informing the complainants of
it |
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providing further detailed/meaningful information to customers
about the services available |
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allocating a different officer to oversee the customer's case
(particularly if the relationship is likely to be ongoing) |
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reviewing/revoking/revising the original decision |
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reverting to the original decision maker for reconsideration |
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agreeing to annotate the customer's file to indicate that
facts are disputed |
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changing policy or procedure, so that the problem will not be
experienced by other customers and informing the complainant of
this |
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waiving a charge or surcharge |
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providing other financial compensation according to existing
policy. |
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| What if your organisation is
unsuccessful in resolving the complaint? |
5. Internal complaint handling does have its
drawbacks in that the complainants tend to doubt its
independence and impartiality and that it is usually restricted
by the policy of the organisation. It will be up to the
organisations to act positively and more openly in order to
eliminate these doubts.
6. It will not always be possible to satisfy complainants
or agree to all the terms of settlement that they want.
Common sense will dictate what is reasonable or achievable
having regard to the organisation's policy and resources.
Further action may not always be necessary so long as your
organisation has properly listened to the complainants,
understood them, respected them, and provided an appropriate
explanation and apology. Your organisation can take the
following approaches : |
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the complainant should be told in clear terms what
your organisation can and cannot do |
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your organisation should inform the complainant to
seek an independent review by The Ombudsman |
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the complainant should be advised of established
appeal mechanisms, both administrative or statutory, to seek an
external review and where appropriate the possibility of seeking
other legal remedies.
(April 1998) |
