Welcoming negative feedback and complaints in the education sector seems like a bad idea…
School and universities already have enough to do without having an increased and unwanted workload, going through complaints lodged by students, parents and the general public.
However, complaints handling doesn’t have to be complicated.
In fact, handling complaints well can actually be hugely beneficial and important in the education sector.
Here’s why...
Good Complaints Handling Improves Reputation
In the age of technology, news travels fast.
We’ve all seen someone posting online about a grievance they have with a school that they or their child attends, and how poorly it was handled.
This is not a good look for the school or university.
If you have a clear complaints procedure, which students or members of the public can easily access, and it is responded to quickly and effectively, the complainants will walk away satisfied.
In short, good complaints handling is good for your school.
Clear Complaints Procedures Are A Requirement
Having an effective complaint procedure isn’t just beneficial… it is also mandatory.
In fact, there are numerous clauses in both the National Regulations and National Law outlining schools’ responsibilities in the area of complaint management.
This includes the obligations to:
- Have policies and procedures in place for dealing with complaints
- Take responsible steps to ensure this is followed
- Keep them available and readily accessible to staff and for inspection
- Display the name and contact number of who the complaint can be directed to
- Notify the regulatory authority of complaints in regard to serious incidents and breaches of the National Law
Setting up an effective complaints system is imperative to ensure that you remain compliant and above board.
Easily Identify Areas For Improvement
All complaints stem from an issue.
When you have complaints organised and filed correctly, you can easily identify the weakest areas of your school.
An effective and comprehensive feedback handling system should help you to answer the following questions:
- Which departments have the most complaints?
- Which courses receive most enquiries?
- Which staff have received compliments?
- What does the complaint trend look like year on year by school and department?
- How many complaints are being resolved within the timeframes set by our policy and which departments, schools and staff are not meeting the timeframes?
With Causia’s® Education Case Management Software, you will have complete control and oversight over the feedback your school or university is receiving.
Using Complaints Pro®, you will be able to store courses and link them to different departments, manage systemic issues and access real-time data to see department and school specific complaints, enquiry and compliment performance.
Additionally, the software can be integrated into your website to make student self-service simple, meaning they can lodge complaints, enquiries and compliments 24/7.
Book a demo today to see how this solution can improve your complaints processes.
