Many companies start out using spreadsheets to record complaints. But spreadsheet-based systems cannot cope with the complexities of modern complaints management. We explain our top 4 reasons why complaints management software will help you build oversight and rigour into every part of your process.
Many HR departments report being overstretched and stressed by the pressure of unpredictable workloads – often without effective systems to help them. Almost every other profession uses tailor-made software to simplify their tasks and improve efficiency. Why should HR be any different?
One of our clients made an enormous saving by replacing their Excel spreadsheet with our HR case management software. A process that previously took 15 minutes is now taking only 45 seconds.
It depends on the kind of complaints you typically get – how complex they tend to be.
It also depends on the consequences of non-compliance with agreed process – how much risk in terms of cost and reputation would poor complaint handling expose you to?
We present a couple of questions to consider.
Workpro V4.0 is being rolled out with exciting new and improved features.
In addition, we have significantly upgraded our cloud hosting infrastructure to offer increased performance and very high levels of resilience.
Please read on to find out more...
Employment Tribunals have gone up by 137% in the last 9 months in the UK, a huge factor being the removal of tribunal fees. Pressure on the tribunal system is reflected in a 9-month backlog.
Organisations are under pressure too; it is estimated that the average cost of a tribunal is £30,000 to an employer if legal fees, staff time and compensation all feature – much more if a replacement has also to be recruited.
Anything that can make this process easier and reduce the risk, becomes a worthwhile investment.
CAS, the team behind Workpro case management software, has signed up to the Scottish Business Pledge, a government and business partnership that champions fair employment practices and sustainable business growth.
The DE&S HR team support 12,000 employees working in the procurement and supplies area of the UK MOD. The HR team needed a new case management system to track ER casework for this large workforce, with improved efficiency and reporting as key drivers - and they needed it deployed within 6 weeks.
There is estimated to be a shortfall of approximately 11,000 ICT professionals in Scotland per year. Recruiting more women in to the digital sector is a key part of the Scottish Government’s plans to reduce the Digital Skills Gap in Scotland, a goal the Workpro team strongly supports.
In fact, we are passionate about supporting people of all ages and genders in to ICT careers. We support three great initiatives, all aimed to encourage more people into this rewarding career.
Managing the trickier issues that inevitably arise with any workforce can be a headache. Not to mention a risk if correct employment law is not followed. Grievance, disciplinary, long term sickness cases etc. can be complicated and sensitive.
We have identified 20 key benefits of an HR case management system, in what we hope will be a useful guide to those considering a new system for their organisation.
We are pleased to announce that Workpro has been accepted on the G Cloud 10 framework, available on the UK Government’s Digital Marketplace.
June 29th 2018 is the 6th annual EO Day, a national celebration of the benefits of being an employee owned company. CAS has been employee owned for 4 years now and can testify to the difference the move to employee ownership has made. Read about how we are celebrating this year - and why!
Complaints cost UK economy £23 billion a year…what share is your organisation causing and carrying?
Citizens Advice has called for the government to simplify and improve processes for resolving consumer problems.
Many veins run through a complaint. Properly recorded and analysed, the lessons learned really can become the lifeblood of continuous improvement and disaster aversion. Squander these opportunities to improve and your organisation risks death by a thousand cuts.
With the deadline for compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) approaching fast (25th May 2018), it is a good time to review file and records management policies and how your case management system supports this.
At the Freedom of Information Conference 2017 yesterday in Edinburgh I was struck by two things: the challenges involved in pulling FOI responses together, and how much time and resource this costs organisations. So many people I spoke to yesterday are managing these often complex cases with spreadsheets – how they keep track is a minor miracle!
Is your HR team attempting to keep track of employee relations casework with spreadsheets? Maybe a separate spreadsheet per case type – e.g. one for disciplinary cases, one for grievances etc.?
This can lead to some common headaches, explored in this article.
CAS now offers an online support portal where Workpro clients can securely log and monitor their technical support requirements 24/7/365.
Employee Relations teams face a range of issues day in day out. Keeping track of all this is no mean feat. East Kent Human Resources (EKHR) is a shared services HR team serving three councils and a housing ALMO, set up as an innovative response to these challenges.
A dedicated HR employee relations management system can help ease the burden of a busy HR team.
It’s challenging trying to handle complex HR casework at the best of times, and even more so if you are having to make do with ad hoc systems, such as spreadsheets.
Organisations that embrace complaints have the opportunity to improve their systems and processes and restore goodwill with their customers - they provide the essential feedback we need.
The secret to dealing with difficult complainants is in having robust and transparent complaint handling systems and processes, according to Amy Fish of Concordia University.
Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé stressed the importance of a fair and credible complaints handling process during his keynote speech at the recent 2017 Forum of Canadian Ombudsman Conference in Canada.
Scottish businesses need to take action to deal with customer complaints, says a report.
The latest data published by Ombudsman services, an independent provider of complaint resolution services, found that there has been an increase of 4 per cent in customer complaints in businesses across Scotland.
Companies who invest in complaints handling systems and software have an opportunity to learn from their mistakes, reduce risk and improve customer satisfaction.
This short video introduces Workpro software for complaints management. It gives an overview of the main features and benefits, with some short product video clips to whet your appetite!
As a busy HR manager you know that you can’t rely on ad hoc systems, such as using spreadsheets to record your Employee Relations casework - the consequences of ‘dropping the ball’ are just far to great and it’s probably causing you stress.
Persistent customer complaints can be the most difficult for organisations to handle effectively and it’s easy for emotions to run high; whether it’s multiple complaints about one issue or repeated frustration from one particular customer.
The complaint handling experts at Workpro have put together these top 5 tips to help you maintain control, reduce frustration and handle repeat customer complaints more effectively.
The New Year will see an increase in spending on cloud-based Human Capital Management (HCM) technology in the workplace, according to a report. We consider how advances in technology are helping deliver efficiencies in HR case management.
Business leaders that tackle customer complaints and implement a good complaints management system will boost customer retention and save costs.
There is no doubt that there are some costs associated with implementing a good complaints management system into your organisation, but you may be unaware of the harm and greater costs that poor complaints handling is causing to your business.?
Faced with a budget cut of 37%, the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) implemented a radical business transformation project, which combined significant culture change with simplified, streamlined ways of working.
A key part of the organisational revamp was updating their Workpro case management system to match and support their redesigned business processes.
CAS Ltd, developer of Workpro complaints and case management software, has moved office.
We are still based on the lovely Heriot-Watt University campus in Edinburgh, but our address has changed from 10th October 2016. Our email addresses and telephone numbers remain the same.
Just how far do companies allow things to go with a complaint, irritating a customer? And what impact does this have on caring team members?
CAS Chief Executive Ken Naismith has been giving this some thought after he found himself embroiled in his own real-life example of a badly-handled complaint.
Ontario’s first Patient Ombudsman came into effect on July 1st 2016.
A robust procurement exercise led to the selection of Workpro case management software from Edinburgh-based Computer Application Services Ltd (CAS).
Computer Application Services (CAS) is delighted to have achieved the Silver Investors in People award in recognition of our excellent team engagement and management practice. The award’s handover date to the team is 1st July, coinciding with Employee Ownership Day (EO Day) celebrations.
With just over a week remaining until the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) new rules on customer complaint handling come into force, is your firm ready to comply?
It's a big headline number. A payment of £18m in consumer redress was imposed on Scottish Power following an investigation by regulator Ofgem into poor customer service and complaints handling. Problems which led to more than 1 million complaints within 18 months.
But the true cost goes beyond the compensation payments. Might it look something like this?...
“Teams of all sizes can individually benefit from the collective experience, and cumulative spend, of the Ombudsman community”
If you are one of the “big players”, there are a number of systems available to support your case management – the bigger the budget, the wider the choice. But finding affordable software for smaller casework teams can be something of a challenge. Indeed schemes of all sizes have to ensure that their case management system is giving them value for money.
Brightside Group aim to ensure the best possible experience for customers, whatever the issue. CAS Ltd is delighted to announce they have selected our Workpro complaints management software to underpin this.
The 15th Annual Complaints Management Forum for Financial Services took place in London last week (16-17 March 2016). CAS was there, exhibiting our WorkproFS system, Workpro complaints management software for Financial Services.
The rules, regulations and trends surrounding financial services complaints change rapidly and it is crucial for those working in this field to keep up to date.
Next month the 15th Annual Financial Services Complaints Management Forum will offer an unrivalled opportunity to get up to speed and hear from experts.
Computer Application Services (CAS) welcomes Skipton Financial Services (SFS) as the latest customer to choose Workpro complaints management software.
Ombudsman schemes - so used to dealing with complaints about other organisations - are facing a new challenge, the phenomenon of online critics.
Workpro will be exhibiting at the 15th Annual Financial Services Complaints Management Forum to be held 16-17 March 2016 in London.
Come and join us! As a conference sponsor we are pleased to be able to offer a 30% discount off the conference delegate rate. Please quote discount code FKM63336WP when you register to claim your discount. Event website: click here
The staff at Computer Application Services have received glowing praise in a customer satisfaction survey carried out about the company.
100% of customers who responded to the survey rated CAS staff as professional, with 88% describing them as friendly and helpful.
Health service ombudsman Julie Mellor has described the NHS in England as responding to concerns and complaints with a "wall of silence". Her powerful criticism came as a new report was published into the quality of NHS complaints investigations.
Did you know the biggest change to data protection rules for 20 years is imminent? The new laws will set in place robust new standards that must be followed by any organisation dealing with personal data.
Complaints are inevitable at some point for most organisations; it is how they are dealt with that matters. A swift response is crucial, not just for keeping the customer happy but also to keep costs down.
Long gone are the days when complaints had to be made by writing a letter and sending it in the post. Now there are so many ways for unhappy customers to make their views known, including social media, with the frightening possibility that a complaint can be seen by hundreds or even thousands of people. It is a potential minefield for a company's reputation. Thankfully there is new help available from BSI to make it easier for organisations to negotiate the tricky complaints handling process.
Business leaders attended an event in Edinburgh last week to hear about Computer Application Service's journey to Employee Ownership.
Well handled complaints really are crucial in the NHS. This has become even clearer to us at Workpro after we had a fascinating meeting with a specialist feedback and complaints consultancy service that has a particularly appropriate name: WellHandled.
The devastating impact on families and loved ones of poor complaints handling by health and care providers is highlighted in a new report. It suggests there is considerable room for improvement.
CAS has been awarded Cyber Essentials certification for our Workpro solution, as part of our commitment to the highest levels of security in client data handling.
Ofcom has revealed the latest figures for the best and worst customer complaints for landline and broadband service, with EE receiving the most complaints. However, data for the nine months to Dec 2014 showed a continuing decline in total volume of complaints overall. This led me to wonder - are services getting better? Are customers becoming less likely to complain (contrary to what general trends would suggest)? Or is another factor at work?
Imagine a place where all the documents associated with an HR case stood in orderly fashion until you wanted to refer to them, and no its not a filing cabinet!
Now the polling stations have closed their doors, we take a look at what the changes may mean for busy HR teams and daily life at their organisations.
Picture the scene. You are a small HR team in a big company. You have thousands of staff requests to deal with. The phones are ringing off the hook, your inbox is about to burst and you really want to at least try to get out of the office by 6pm tonight.
Certain considerations come up every time we discuss website integration with Workpro case management software clients so our Business Relationship Manager has created a summary list as a useful starting point for your own website integration project.
Hands up, be honest, who knew that there was a British Standard for the management of customer complaints?
The most recent standard in this area (ISO 10002) was published several years ago and we believe, with so many organisations being penalised for badly handling complaints, it is high time for a new standard in this area. Best practice, as well as the technologies available to support it, have moved on considerably.
So timing couldn’t be better for BSI’s forthcoming publication of an up-to-date standard....
The Scottish Government is proposing changes to the NHS procedure for handling complaints. Key NHS stakeholders in Scotland were notified of this in writing on the 28th January 2015 (see SPSO News dated 18th February 2015).
Finance and Insurance sector readers will be aware of the next business day rule. Clear up a complaint within one business day and it does not need to be reported to the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority). The current FCA consultation on improving complaints handling proposes that the “window” on less formal front line resolution should be widened to 3 days, along with the suggestion that all complaints should be reported to the FCA in future.
But is it really necessary to log and report every complaint?
It's hardly the headline you'd expect to see in professional publications - more like an ad for a wonder spray that's on special offer. Workpro complaint management software is not quite a magic wand, but organisations are invited to save a whole lot of time and trouble while they return the shine to a tarnished reputation by bearing in mind a simple rule...
...what the best organisations have been doing for years.
The legal profession is putting its weight behind the importance of good complaint handling. Increasingly organisations are required to demonstrate that clients can easily and constructively complain and achieve resolution without the need for costly legal action.
Our five busts to some of the most common complaints handling myths...
UK Financial Services firms have to provide the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with data on complaints received every 6 months, which the FCA then publish for all to see. How can a good complaints management process help financial firms with this somewhat painful requirement?
Speaking at a recent complaint handling seminar in London, one of our customers made a very valid point; there's a big difference between a person being outraged about something that doesn't suit them, and an outrage being committed against them.
This week our Business Analyst Team Manager, Simon Harbisher, headed down to Nottingham to represent CAS at the Employee Ownership Annual Conference. Simon is currently the elected Employee Benefit Trust Director.
Traditionally, if a customer received a bad experience from a product or service, they would go and tell their close friends and family. Perhaps no more than a handful of people would hear about it.
Now, with the power of social media, a customer can vent about their experience immediately and to an incredibly large audience.
Handling complaints is possibly the most important aspect of customer relations - so why do we fear them so much? A badly managed complaint can lose your business valuable time, resources and customers, and as businesses we often fear them. Do not worry we are here to help!
At the start of 2014 CAS and Workpro team made the bold move into employee ownership, led by our CEO Ken Naismith.
Why did we make this move? What were the benefits for us, and most importantly, what are the benefits for our customers?
When it comes to complaints, persistent complaints can be the most difficult to deal with; whether it is dozens of complaints about one issue or repeated frustration from one particular customer. Now that it is easy and quick for customers to complain, you might even find the same complaint coming in through several different outlets. Here are our top tips for dealing with repeat complaints…
Ever thought that your complaints can be handled more effectively, or had a further complaint due to a poorly managed existing complaint? Having a complaints management system to collate and collect these issues has many advantages…
Faced with a complaint (and even the best organisation gets them) an organisation not only has the potential cost of putting the situation right (such as compensating the ill-served), but risks big fines for poor complaints handling, for the lack of a good system itself. Homeserve were fined £30.6m by the FCA * earlier this year for poor complaints handling. Complaints handling at Npower is currently under investigation from Ofgem
It used to be said that UK citizens were poor at complaining. Picture a restaurant scene - diners discussing how disappointing the meal is, yet when the waiter asks how everything is, "Fine thanks" comes the grimacing chorus.
If you work in front line services you'll have realised that Britain its finding its voice (and not just for talent shows). Not only more willing to complain, we have latched on to the US compensation culture which, until recently, was so derided elsewhere.
As a supplier of complaint management software to several UK and Irish Ombudsman and Commissioner schemes, I had the opportunity to attend the Ombudsman Association’s annual conference earlier this month (15-16 May, 2014). I was struck by the Ombudsman community’s concern to ensure they are visible and accessible to the people who need them, and how important it is for suppliers like ourselves to ensure our software supports them in that goal.
At CAS, our mission is to minimise the impact of complaints while maximising the opportunities they afford.
Consumer group Which? recently launched a campaign designed to make sure that public service organisations take action when people complain about the services they have received.
It’s just the latest in a series of moves to empower the consumers of both public and private services – and in our view it is a positive move. Why? Because at the end of the day effective complaints systems not only benefit the people complaining but also the organisations complained against.
My last blog post was about the cost of complaints. But what about the non-financial costs of complaints? Or to put it another way: the benefits of complaints.
Delighted to be at the United States Ombudsman Association Annual Conference. Looking forward to sessions on tools… https://t.co/sYGOnId3Mb
We are looking forward to this event. Keeping abreast of changing regulation and any implications for the complaint… https://t.co/2NUIxIUIMw
@StevensonLaw @MacKayHannah This should be a very interesting event. Looking forward to it!
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