Managing Employee Complaints
Employee complaints are inevitable even in the most work-friendly companies. Some complaints are quickly and easily resolved, while others take more time, energy and patience. Complaints can cover everything from cleanliness of restrooms to job flexibility.
However, employee morale and enthusiasm may suffer as the complaints become more frequent and tiresome. Department leaders and human resources staff have an obligation to address employee complaints before they affect the overall workforce.
According to Rachel from SHRM-CP, “Complaints can be a good thing because they inform you about matters that may have escaped your notice and they indicate that your employees trust you to resolve those matters.” An increase in complaints can actually mean that your employees have become more comfortable talking about their issues and are more likely to tell you rather than vent to each other or, worse, on social media.
Even if complaints are bothersome to a supervisor, they should be welcomed as early warning signals. Complaints can:
1) Alert you to a new or growing problem before it gets out of hand and turns into a grievance.
2) Draw attention to a chronic problem you thought was resolved.
3) Give you a chance to retain valued employees by attending to their concerns promptly.
Citation - C Upadhya - New Technology, Work and Employment, 2009 - Wiley Online Library
Role of HR in Managing Employee Complaints
1) Assess the workplace issues the employee is complaining about. Determine whether the employee's complaints are isolated or if other employees are voicing the same sentiments. Talk to the employee's supervisor about specific complaints and ask what the supervisor has done to resolve the employee's concerns. Discern whether the supervisor is using effective leadership skills in addressing the employee's complaints.
2) Meet with the individual employee privately and away from the employee's work station to discuss her complaints. Listen carefully to the employee's concerns, noting concerns that could affect other employees. During your discussion, encourage the employee to offer solutions. Many times, employees have ideal solutions to problems; however, for unknown reasons, some supervisors and managers are reluctant to use employee suggestions to improve department processes or the overall work environment.
3) Explain how constant complaining about workplace issues can affect the motivation levels and enthusiasm of the employee's co-workers, particularly when complaining employees don't offer ideas for resolving the problems they complain about. Describe how incessant complaints will eventually alienate the employee and make it difficult for her to build and sustain productive working relationships. Ask the employee to consider the effects his complaints have on his ability to focus on his job duties and his general attitude about work. Schedule a follow-up meeting with the employee to review areas you agreed to look into and to determine if there are any changes to the employee's attitude about the work environment.
Conclusion
An important role of HR is to have an effective complaint management system in place. Employee complaints should be promptly addressed in order to maintain employee morale, prevent absenteeism and reduce staff turnover.
Reference
https://www.kellyservices.us/us/business_services/business-resource-center/managing-employees/how-to-manage-a-constantly-complaining-employee/ [Accessed 18 March 2022]
https://peninsulacanada.com/blog/employer-advice/how-to-manage-employees-who-complain-too-much/ [Accessed 18 March 2022]
https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/business/trends-and-insights/articles/dealing-with-employees-who-complain/ [Accessed 18 March 2022]
https://edwardlowe.org/handling-complaints-and-grievances/ [Accessed 05 April 2022]
Employee grievances might be of any kind. They could be about various forms of harassment, abuse, micromanagement, low morale, or anything else that makes employees feel uneasy. Employee complaints are a feature of every organization. It is the HR manager's obligation to go deep and discover answers to these issues, as well as to deal fairly with the situation. You have nicely describe the Role of HR in Managing Employee Complaints. Good Article and wish you all the best Dilini!
ReplyDeleteWhen complaints were unresolved,
ReplyDeleteIt will become collective conflicts.
As a result,it will negatively impact on employee morale and productivity.
Frustration, unhappiness, low productivity, a lack of enthusiasm in work, absenteeism are the bad results which could be expected from unresolved grievances.
In a nutshell, a grievance emergeswhen a company fails to meet the expectations of its employees,resulting in a sense of unhappiness
and dissatisfaction.
An important topic.Good luck Dilini..
You have covered an extremely important part of an organization. Effectively managing employee complaints is a must since it helps employees to bring their complaints to the attention of management without fear of repercussions, provides a quick way of resolution, and helps to avoid serious conflicts. It is one of the primary tasks of HR to manage complaints before they escalate into a major disagreement or dispute inside the organization. Excellent article. Best wishes!
ReplyDeleteAs you have clearly explained Employee complaints can be considered as warning signals. If the company fails to address the Complaint properly, the ultimate result may be loosing of good employees. Unsatisfied employees can spread wrong information among other employees and may cause serious damages to the company reputation as well. Best of luck.
ReplyDeleteManaging employee complaints is vital for every organization to reduce employee conflicts. On the other hand this will impact the performance of the employee following the organization. As we experienced, there are various kinds of complain handing procedures in organizations, but most of the instances, the employees are not satisfied with the methods they used.
ReplyDeleteThis blog clearly explained the role of HR in handling complains. Well done.
If you mentioned, as complaints grow more regular and repetitive, employee morale and enthusiasm may decline. Employee concerns must be addressed by department leaders and human resources personnel before they influence the entire workforce. excellent work
ReplyDeleteIf I add a little more, "There are many things leaders should not do when an employee complains about harassment or other wrongdoing in the workplace, according to experts, such as discussing the complaint on a social networking site".
ReplyDeleteVery well done, Good job.
You clearly explained in this blog the a good complaint management system is one of HR's most critical responsibilities. In order to sustain employee morale, employee complaints should be handled as soon as possible.well written blog
ReplyDeleteManaging complaints from employees is very important. It is also something that most business owners struggle with. This blog clearly mentioned that how to handle complaints effetively
ReplyDeleteYou've discussed an extremely crucial aspect of a business. Employee complaints must be well managed since it allows employees to express their concerns to management without fear of sanctions, provides a speedy settlement, and helps to avoid significant confrontations. One of HR's main responsibilities is to handle concerns before they become a big disagreement or conflict within the company. Very good article. Best regards!
ReplyDeleteAs you have discussed above complaints of the employees are something that cannot be avoided even in companies where there is a most work friendly environment. Some of these complaints can be solved easily and others take more time and energy. It is the responsibility of the HR team to consider these complaints as previous warning signs and find measures to address them. By inspiring mangers to have regular feedbacks on the performance of the employees and considering the ides of employees when planning their work number of complaints can be reduced. Good article. Well done.
ReplyDeleteManaging employee complaints is very important to maintain employee satisfactions and Management of any organization should focus on employee grievances and handle them proper way. Preventing complains through employee satisfaction is important than finding solutions after arising complaints.
ReplyDeleteEmployee concerns must be handled carefully. It is also a problem that most business owners face. Good article
ReplyDeleteComplains are very much common in any organization. No one is perfect and in every movement there can be pros and cons, and that leads to complains. Organizations should not be blamed for their mistakes if they prepare to redress them and HR plays a crucial role in this. Here you have shown us how HR handles them in 3 different ways. good one. well done.
ReplyDelete