(Published August 10, 2009)
One complaint I hear a lot (usually from people who have no idea what Human Resources is actually responsible for) is, "HR isn't doing anything about [my problem]." The problem might mean that they want us to be the dress code police, or it might be that they don't understand how long it takes to conduct a thorough sexual harassment claim, but either way, they expect immediate action. I know how they feel.
Not long ago, I went into a well-known fast food chain restaurant. Although there were no customers ahead of me, it was nearly 10 minutes before my order was taken and it was almost another 15 minutes before it was filled. (Fast food? I don't think so!) Another customer sent his brother out with drinks to the family members waiting in the car with the message, "Tell them I'll be another half hour." I left swearing I would never go to that particular location again.
I was annoyed enough to contact their corporate headquarters online in the "Talk to Us" section of their website. I did this 9:30 Sunday night. By the middle of that week, I received in the mail a personalized written apology and gift certificates. While I haven't decided if I'm going to use the gift certificates or not, I was impressed with the way they handled my complaint, and particularly with the timing of their response (it was postmarked 3 p.m. Tuesday).
While I know that sometimes the situations we are called upon to handle take more time to resolve than that, and are far more complicated than writing out an apology and sticking a couple of gift certificates in an envelope, this is something we should keep in mind: Our customers are the other employees and managers of the company — we not only need to resolve their issues, but we need to do so in a timely manner.
I will be the first to agree that we often get asked to manage issues that do not belong to us. But even if our response is, "That's not an HR issue; that belongs to [Jeff in Payroll/Sally in Accounting/Janine in Operations/your manager]," that response should be as timely as we can make it.
If someone working in the restaurant that night had apologized to me directly and explained the delay, I might not have gone as far as complaining online. I also would have appreciated it if someone had told me what they were doing to try to resolve the delay. That could have made my 25-minute wait more tolerable.
We need to provide the same kind of customer service that we expect our managers and employees to provide. If we can't resolve a problem in a timely manner, keep an open line of communication.
Catherine Bannon is an HR consultant in Marshfield, MA (catherine.bannon@gmail.com). Bannon worked for 10 years in HR management before starting her consulting practice.
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