We believe that every voice has the right to exist, to be heard and to be considered. Therefore, a complaint against our organization or members of facility and staff will be taken seriously and will be dealt with care, compassion, and confidentiality.

Bringing in a complaint usually takes courage and means the individual cares about the growth of the responsibility of our organization. We need to respond with the same attitude to help the individual be heard and find a solution for it.

Submitting a complaint

• A complaint may be submitted to a trainer who may work with the student to resolve it. If it is not resolved at that level, then the trainer is to elevate the complaint to the director of training.
• A complaint may be submitted to the support team who may work to resolve it. If it is not resolved at that level, then the complaint is elevated to the Direction.
• A complaint may be submitted directly to the Direction

Complaint Review Process

When receiving a formal complaint, we will follow this process:

• Consider the complaint and decide where the complaint should be heard to best serve the person who has brought the complaint.
• Start by listening, starting a conversation, verbally or by email, for clarity and understanding, asking what the individual’s needs are and how we can best meet them.
• If a resolution is found and appropriate, move forward.
• If the complaint or desired resolution are beyond your scope, elevate it to the Direction.

Further Review and or Action:

• Review the input from the person making the complaint and the person against whom the complaint is made.
• Determine the need and/or appropriateness of either resolving with appropriate action immediately or a more comprehensive investigation.

Investigate:

Meet with the person making the complaint to learn more. Either in person, over the phone or over zoom. Also meet with the person to whom the complaint is made to learn more. Consider additional applicable information.

Explore Options and Opportunities:

• Ask each person involved to offer multiple options for resolution. Ask each person involved how they see it working for everyone within any constraints such as program guidelines, ethics, and company policies.
• Reflect on other possible solutions.

Determination and follow up:

• Decide which of the options best serves all involved.
• Notify everyone involved of the determination.
• Establish the process and timeline for follow-through and follow-up.

Appealing the decision

• If the person making the complaint or the person against whom the complaint believes the determination is not satisfactory to what they believe it should entail, offer them the space to be heard and understood.
• If it makes sense to reevaluate, go back to investigating, exploring options, and then determine the best action.
• If it does not make sense to reevaluate, advise the person, bring listening and empathy as your tools.
• If they want to know what else they can do, let them know about ICF’s review board.