Grievance Management

July 16th, 2021

Grievance management is a key component of stakeholder engagement. Complaints or grievances will have a significant positive impact on a project or the organisation’s reputation when well-received and managed. Complaints that escalate damage relationships and reputation, cause delays to projects and raise costs when trying to resolve.

A strong and trusted grievance mechanism is critical to be able to address issues proactively and as soon as they arise. A well-documented, structured grievance handling process in place can avoid risks and unnecessary costs. In addition, listening to stakeholder’s concerns and complaints can offer valuable information on improving operations, manage risks and increase product value. As a result, this helps build trust with the affected communities and stakeholders.

Some of the key elements of a good grievance management process are:

  • A clear and transparent process where all parties know their roles and responsibilities.
  • A good system to document all relevant information related to the grievance – correspondence with the stakeholders by various team members; issues raised in the complaint; other critical information that is unique to your project or work such as the site or section of project the complaint relates to.
  • Clear visibility of complaints in all stages, including response times.
  • Meaningful reports on all the Key Performance Indicators for grievance management (not just reporting on the number of complaints!)

For grievance and issues related to stakeholder engagement, Darzin offers significant value. It understands how critical it is that complaints are addressed in a structured process when managing stakeholders. Every organisation has its own process in place for managing this, and Darzin works alongside that structure by creating a single-source of truth. Therefore, this transparency allows employees to report on the range of complaints that were made during a project’s lifecycle.

Above all, establishing a grievance management process helps put the local community at ease. They know that there is a mechanism for them to raise concerns, and a clear process to address their complaints. But an established process also needs to be effective in practice. Hence, it’s beneficial if a company is doing the right thing at the early stage of a project. This can help create a foundation for an open, respectful, and trusting connection with stakeholders.

Learn more about the importance of grievance handling for stakeholders, or contact us for assistance with setting up your stakeholder management system to help you manage issues better.