Empower Your Managers to Handle Employee Complaints Effectively

Stop the Escalation to HR. Equip Managers to Resolve Employee Issues

If you are an HR leader or work in any helping field, you are likely overstretched, overstressed, and occasionally burnt out from meeting constant demands.

Human Resources departments often become the default destination for employee complaints, ranging from interpersonal conflicts and management issues to company policies and economic concerns. While HR supports employees, managers should be the first line of defense for most complaints and issues.

Unfortunately, many managers lack the skills or confidence to handle employee concerns effectively. To address this, we need to empower managers with the tools and training they need to manage complaints confidently and appropriately.

By providing clear guidelines on when to address, escalate, or dismiss issues, we can reduce the burden on HR and foster a more supportive work environment.

HR is a strategic partner, not a problem-solving crutch. While we're here to support managers, it's crucial that they own employee relations. Establishing clear expectations and holding managers accountable for effectively handling employee complaints is essential for organizational functioning and mental health.

As HR leaders, we empower front-line managers to develop the necessary skills and build stronger relationships with their teams by responding when managers consistently escalate concerns to HR.

This approach frees HR to focus on strategic initiatives and fosters a more resilient and empowered management team.

When to Escalate Complaints to Human Resources—Immediately

Managers are often thrust into management positions without any formal management training. In addition to knowing how to develop and train employees, they need to know the laws regarding management. While you can’t expect to train them on everything, start with these things.

Sexual Harassment: Any complaint, no matter how minor it may seem—from "Jim says my dress looks pretty" to "Jim threatened to ruin my career if I don't sleep with him"—must be escalated to the HR department.

Even though the "Jim says my dress looks pretty" complaint might seem trivial, HR needs to investigate. Jim might be saying it in a creepy tone of voice daily after being asked to stop, or perhaps he touches the dress.

This could be just the tip of the iceberg. Managers should focus on helping the company succeed, and any lawsuit, even if unsuccessful, can damage the company.

Illegal Discrimination: If a complaint involves race, gender, religion, age, or any protected classification, the manager must document and report it to HR. This includes complaints about unfair salaries based on a protected class. While the complaint may seem trivial or pointless, the manager must report it.

Any Other Law Violation: If the complaint involves theft, safety violations, securities regulations violations, or any other law violation, it must be escalated and investigated. It's better to investigate something that turns out to be nothing than to assume something is nothing until the SEC comes knocking on your door.

Teach Managers the LACE Approach to Deal With Employee Complaints

For other complaints, you can use the following mnemonic device to help managers remember what to do: LACE.

• Listen

• Acknowledge

• Consider

• Execute

Teach your managers the LACE technique to help them handle complaints and problems effectively.

• Listen. Employee whining is annoying because you wish the employee would just shut up and return to work. But, it’s important to listen—at least the first time. If you’ve already resolved an issue with the employee, you can cut the topic off when they bring it up again. But for almost everything, you need to start by listening.

  
  Listening is not just hearing what the person says but actively paying attention. You may have to ask questions to determine what is happening. For instance, if an employee says, “The schedule is unfair.” a good listener will respond, “In what way is it unfair?” If you say, “No, it’s not unfair,” you will resolve nothing with the employee.

• Acknowledge. This is the most difficult step when dealing with an employee who is a regular whiner. Even if you think the employee’s complaint is ridiculous, acknowledging their feelings can go a long way toward ending the whining. People keep going on and on because they feel as if no one is hearing them.
  
  So, try asking questions like, “So, what you’re saying is…” or, “Let me double-check: You feel that Jane gets the best shifts?” Keep rephrasing and repeating until the person agrees you understand their complaint thoroughly.

• Consider. This isn’t necessarily done while the employee is present, but it’s a critical step. You must seriously evaluate the complaint, even if it seems ridiculous at first glance. For example, complaints like “Why do I have to come in every time I’m scheduled?” or “Jane gets mad at me for texting during work” can seem absurd.

  Sometimes, you can quickly assess the validity of a complaint, such as whether it’s fair for an employee to show up for their scheduled shifts. However, some complaints require a more thorough examination.
  
  For instance, if an employee complains that the schedule is unfair, you should look at the schedule. You may discover that you are giving one person the best shifts.
  
  Now, you may give the shift preference because the employee is the hardest worker, so the schedule isn’t unfair—it’s just using a different standard of fairness. You’re giving the best shifts to the person who has earned them. If the complaint is that Jane is rude to customers, you need to see if that happened.
  
  A quick way to handle the consider phase is to ask the following question: “What would you like me to do about this?” Often, the employee has no idea, but sometimes, they have an idea. Then, you can consider whether their solution is practical.
  
  The solutions that employees come up with are often surprising and effective. If the employee has no solution, you can ask the employee to come up with one and return to you to talk about its feasibility.

• Execute. Once you’ve heard the complaint, confirmed your understanding, and considered all options, it’s time to act. If you determine the complaint is invalid, inform the employee that no changes will be made.

  However, if you decide changes are necessary, implement them promptly and communicate this to the employee. Otherwise, they might not notice the changes.

  Ignoring a valid problem damages your credibility and trustworthiness, so make sure the employee impacted knows exactly what you changed.

Advise managers that while they can come to you with any problems, they should try this LACE method first to help their employees feel heard and valued. Employees who feel valued are less likely to complain about trivial matters, and important issues will be resolved more effectively when managers address the actual complaints.