04/ 03/ 2007
by Charles R. McConnell
An anonymous person once said, "Might as well forget your old troubles; there are more coming." Chances are, there are not many managers who consistently welcome complaints from employees or customers. Complaints come at the manager as problems demanding attention--annoyances that consume their precious time. It's easy to see complaints as unwelcome troubles; we know that although today's problems may be history by the day's end, tomorrow will bring new ones. Like it or not, complaints are an inevitable part of supervising employees and serving customers.
Although we don't welcome complaints, and they worry and stress us out, complaints can produce even greater levels of worry and stress by their absence. To complain is normal. Employees gripe about what bothers them at work; customers complain when they feel they've been inadequately served. So if you never get complaints from employees or customers, something is wrong; people who don't speak up at all are usually silent out of fear or they feel it's a hopeless exercise because their concerns are never addressed.
If no complaints are forthcoming, be concerned about the silence. If complaints are a normal part of your working life, recognize them and consider it a legitimate part of the job to address them. Why? Complaints are a significant source of feedback from employees and customers alike, and we need regular feedback to keep doing the best we can. Legitimate or otherwise, a complaint is a sign that something is wrong and demands your attention.
Part of the manager's role is to respond effectively and promptly to both legitimate and imagined complaints. You may be able to see at once that a particular complaint is baseless, but chances are, it's anything but in the mind of the person complaining. Baseless or not, unaddressed complaints have a way of nagging those who deliver them and sometimes surface as grievances, lawsuits or loss of business.
Following are seven helpful steps for handling complaints:
1. Always begin with listening--not just "hearing" the complaint, but taking in the entire message: words, tone of voice, mannerisms, body language. Sometimes the initial complaint is only a trial balloon to test your reaction, so you may have to probe for its real substance.
2. Investigate before deciding that you do or don't need to take action. Is the complaint legitimate? Are there less obvious but more serious problems underlying this one? Are other people affected?
3. Decide what, if any, action is needed, and whether you can resolve it yourself or need the help of others. In forming your decision, ask the complaining individual what he or she hopes to accomplish. If the desired solution is unrealistic, negotiate a compromise.
4. Inform the complainer of what you're proposing as a solution and the reasons for your recommendations. If your answer isn't satisfactory to the individual, look for alternatives. Do this with as little delay as possible; as the often-quoted Murphy's Law would say: Left alone, a problem usually goes from bad to worse.
5. Implement your decision.
6. Follow up on implementation, looking at the effectiveness of your actions and judging whether it satisfies the complaint.
7. Document both the complaint and the resolution, doing so for several reasons including: your solution may be useful if a similar complaint arises in the future; if the problem should resurface as a grievance or lawsuit, you'll have a record of your actions; and if future complaints come from the same person, you have the basis for discerning a pattern of behavior.
The jargon of total quality management (TQM) tells us that we should not just satisfy, but delight the customer. Especially in addressing the complaints of external customers--those who buy the product or service--it's often important to underpromise and overdeliver. That is, look for acceptance of a satisfactory solution, but deliver more than promised. This way of managing the customer's expectations is usually effective, whereas the reverse--promising more than you're able to deliver--invites disaster.
What should you do when complainers are employees who go over their manager's head and directly to you? Ideally, you should send them back through proper channels to avoid undermining your manager's authority. If you attempt a direct solution, be sure to discuss the situation in a closed door meeting with your manager first.
Complaints from both employees and customers are inevitable in business; they're not to be avoided or ignored until "a more appropriate time." Complaints are valuable feedback, and it is through addressing them, that you can strengthen your relationship with employees and retain customers.
