Doing it by the numbers...

“OIA timescales


"When staff are fatigued and under pressure, how do you balance rigour of your complaints investigation with the limited time allowed by the OIA (where you are faced with multiple issues involving different areas of your HEI)?

Is the answer cultural?”

About me

About me

No

The push of pressure
vs
The need for speed

Classic approaches...

• Increase investigators' skills in content knowledge and customer care
• Create complex workflows to try to handle everything
• Buy / build case management technology
• Manage quality by review / panels / audit
• Give difficult cases only to a 'trusted few'

Classic fears...

• ...blame
• ...setting unwanted precedents
• ...OIA reversals
• ...judicial review
• ...having to prove that cases have been handled well
• ...cost challenges

Classic problems

• Lack of consistency
• It's hard to scale / flex
• Cases that drown in information
• Delay
• Black-boxing
• Customer unhappiness
• High baseline stress levels for staff

Sheer heart attack

When it matters...
When time is tight...
We do it by the numbers

We don't think
about
how we think

What do
customers want?

Complainants typically want these things

• To be acknowledged
• To be validated
• To get an explanation
• To receive redress
• (To have someone's head on a platter)
• To add value

Complainants typically want these things

• To be acknowledged
• To be validated
• To get an explanation
• To receive redress
• (To have someone's head on a platter)
• To add value

Manage complaints by questions

• Stage 1: Have we heard the complaint?
• Stage 2: Did something go wrong?
• Stage 3: Why did it go wrong?
• Stage 4: What should we do to make it right?
• Stage 5: How can we make things better for others?
• Stage 6: Have we done everything we can (to address this complaint)?

Have we heard the complaint?

Did something go wrong?

Why did it go wrong?

Answering why...

• Isolate the core problem
• What was the proximate (direct) cause?
• What were the circumstantial cause(s)?
• What were the behavioural cause(s)?
• What other problems are there? Repeat
• How can we be sure our explanations are correct?

What should we to make it right?

How can we make things better for others?

Add value

• Eliminate proximate cause
• Adjust relevant circumstantial cause(s)
• Adjust work environment to reduce behavioural causes
• What caused the causes?
• What else needs to be fixed the same way?

Have we done everything we can?

Manage stages by questions

• Know which question you now need to answer
• Determine the kinds of information you need to answer it
• Establish a checklist for each stage
• Manage by stages

Issues

• It can be hard to separate issues (especially downstream)
• Rigorous diagnosis is hard and requires structure
• Extra effort is needed in customer care
• Need explicit and robust policies for managing political / publicised / legal borderline issues

Manage stages as questions

• Stage 1: Have we heard the complaint?
• Stage 2: Did something go wrong?
• Stage 3: Why did it go wrong?
• Stage 4: What should we do to make it right?
• Stage 5: How can we make things better for others?
• Stage 6: Have we done everything we can (to address this complaint)?

Outcomes

• Greater consistency
• Faster, clearer resolution
• Fewer escalations
• Easier complaints management
• Greater case portability
• Better auditability
• Better communication
• Happier customers

Results from elsewhere

• Complaint delays reduced by 1600 years/year
• Average complaint close time reduced from 26 days to 3
• Fewer escalations
• Greater resolution acceptance
• Capacity released to drive improvement

What questions
do you have?

Mike Bird

mike.bird100@me.com
0791 888 4845