Guidance on creating a complaint handling process
As a membership organisation you may receive complaints from time to time. Therefore, having a clear process for logging and dealing with complaints will benefit your club by offering people a safe and structured way to express their concerns.
To help resolve a complaint, affiliates should make sure they have the appropriate tools and procedures in place. The complaints process should work seamlessly with other procedures, feeding into them rather than bypassing them.
A robust complaints process will include details of
- How to make a complaint
- How the complaint will be investigated
- When the process will apply
- Timelines confirming progress updates
- Confidentiality
- Links to other policies
- Outlines of potential outcomes
- An appeals process.
A good complaints process will help defuse tension, but care must be taken to ensure it’s spliced into other policies. Empowering someone to raise a concern is of limited benefit if the club does not have the tools to take action.
A complaints process provides an opportunity to raise a concern
It may be that the nature of the concern is best dealt with under a specific process. For example:
- A complaint about poor conduct at a racing event should be referred to the protest committee for consideration under the Racing Rules
- A complaint of a safeguarding nature may be addressed under the clubs Safeguarding or Disciplinary procedure
- A complaint against a member of club staff may be dealt with in accordance with the clubs HR policies.
Outcomes could range from referring to another policy for formal action, through to issuing an apology on behalf of the club. Ensure that any outcome is within the club’s constitution and that those tasked with handling complaints have sufficient authority.
Include a process for those who are unhappy with the outcome of their complaint. This may involve escalating to someone else within the organisation who has not previously been involved with the issue. Unfortunately, the RYA is unable to act as an appeal body for affiliate complaints.
Questions to ask
- Does your organisation have a system in place to receive everyday feedback?
- How will your organisation receive the complaint, written format, online form?
- How will your organisation investigate complaints independently?
- How will your organisation ensure that the investigation element of the process is kept separate from the decision-making element?
- If a complaint is made around a members conduct, has the club told members the standards they expect, and does the club have the power to impose an appropriate penalty?
- How will your organisation manage realistic expectations regarding a time line for resolution?
- Does your organisation have a range of policies and procedures to support your complaints policy (safeguarding, disciplinary, HR policies)
- How will you manage anonymous complaints?
- How will you manage confidentiality, and when you need to share information?
- How will your organisation ensure that your complaints process is not being used to bypass the Racing Rules of Sailing, or to undermine other processes that may be used in the club?
- Will your organisation consider conduct outside of the club environment?