The Complaint Department

I recently heard of a colleague of mine that has one job at her agency--running the complaint department.  Oh sure, some clever administrator somewhere realized that he'd never be able to hire someone to run an actual "complaint department" so he dressed up the title a little bit and called this department the "Quality Assurance" department.  Wow! What a different feel to that department! Now instead of listening to complainers all day, you're goal is to assure that your agency is awesome!

Slow your roll. 

It's the same thing. 

Fielding complaints is a very necessary and valuable part of assuring that your agency is providing high quality service.  Naturally though, dealing with complaints is a tough aspect of an administrator's job.  I've been fielding complaints and dealing with the complaints for several years now and I've discovered some practices and strategies that have worked for me.

First and foremost, you have to realize what a complaint really is.  A complaint (albeit negative) is third-party feedback on your agency's performance.  Feedback is important for any business and it is so important so some that they pay people for their feedback through the use of surveys, focus groups, etc.  Feedback provides you with opportunities to train your staff, assure that your staff is performing up to your expectations and in rare cases, allows you to discover poor performing staff members so that you can coach, retrain, re-assign or fire. 

Secondly, you've got to know how to handle a complaint once it arrives.  For me, I typically ignore the occasional complaints here and there.  I look at it this way:  My favorite baseball team, the Texas Rangers, play 162 regular season games. If they have a stellar season, they'll win 90-100 of those games.  That means that they will lose 62-70 games.  By that thinking, no one overreacts when the team loses a game here and there.  No one freaks out when the ace pitcher has a bad outing or two each season.  It's a long season and you have to evaluate the entire body of work. 

I treat my staff the same way.  On an average month, my call specialists will talk to 1,500-2,000 individuals.  If they get one complaint out of 2,000 interactions, I'd say that they are doing a great job.  Wouldn't you?  When you receive a complaint, consider the whole body of work.  (Obviously, this does not include the staff member making an egregious error like the use of foul language, physical or sexual inappropriateness, etc.  I'm referring to simple complaints like "the girl had an attitude" or "I got hung up on.")

Each time I get a complaint, I do let the 'offending' staff member know.  Because of my previously stated stance on complaints, I don't levy any type of administrative repercussions on the staff member but it would be unfair of me not to let them know that a complaint was logged against them.  If you don't at least notify the staff member, you run the risk of alienating them if there turns out to be a trend of complaints against them.  You end up having this conversation:

"Hey Bill, we need to talk."

"Sure boss (no one actually calls me 'boss' but that would be pretty awesome) what's up?"

"Well, over the past few weeks, I've had several clients complain that you are not very engaged when you are trying to help them."

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize that I was being perceived like that.  How long has this been going on?"

"Two months."

"Two months?? Why didn't you tell me about this two months ago?  If I knew there was a problem, I could have rectified it by now!"

That's an unfair position to put a staff member in.  Always be upfront and honest with the 'offending' staff member even if you're not taking any administrative action on the complaint. 

Third, I look for trends in the complaints.  After I get the initial complaint and tell the 'offending' staff member about it, I will have to be cautious to note whether or not I get additional complaints similar to the first.  If I do, then we have a problem.  If you get multiple complaints from multiple sources over a relatively short time period, you have a trend on your hands.  At that point, you've got to be willing to take some sort of action. 

The action that you take varies based on the complaints.  Some complaints may simply require some additional coaching on your part.  Maybe the staff member just needs some encouragement and support to improve their job performance. 

You may find that you need to do some additional training or re-train the staff member. 

Sadly, if after you've tried to address the problem, and you still receive complaints, you may be forced to re-assign the staff member or relieve them of their duties. 

Long story short, don't be quick to overreact to a complaint BUT be willing to take action if you notice trends in complaints. 

What are some of the "best practices" that you've found in dealing with complaints?

The Math-hate of a CFO

I'll just come right out and say it:  I have a pretty limited skill set.

From the time I was in the seventh grade, my only tangible skills seemed to by my ability not only to be willing to be a public speaker but also to enjoy being a public speaker.  I'm not super awesome at anything else outside of that.

I majored in and attained a bachelor's degree in human communication and I thoroughly enjoy reading or hearing about any topic that has to do with communication.  Trust me, that's not nerdy at all.

I hate math.

Even though I'm confident that the Bible tells us not to 'hate' things, I'm even more sure that hating math is the exception to the rule.  Math is on the axis of evil.  The only thing that weirds me out more than math are people that love math. 

It is safe to say accounting skills are not my strong suit. 

Unfortunately, within my duties as Executive Director, I'm also our agency's Chief Financial Officer. 

Now, before you withdraw your financial support and encourage others to do so as well, let me explain how I overcome a critical deficiency.

I'm not alone in this.  In my experience in dealing with many different administrators from non-profit and social services agencies, I've noticed that there are a lot of administrators that don't like dealing with the finances of the agency.  These administrators work in the human services industry because they love to help people.  These folks move from front line, direct client interaction to administration because their agencies recognize how much they love to help people and how good they are at their job because of their passion. 

Sadly, because the administrator is focused on the hands-on aspect of helping people, they neglect the finances of their agency.  This leads to mismanagement and fraud. 

That being said, the first way that I overcome my lack of financial management skills is to recognize that I have a lack of skills in an area where those skills are critical.  The first step is to admit it. 

Secondly, I'm open with my Board about every single penny that comes into our agency and leaves our agency.  Every donation is reported and every check that is written is scrutinized by our Board.  As a matter of fact, as an increased transparency measure, all of our checks must be signed by not only me but also an Executive Officer on our Board.  Our Board and I examine the following documents every single month, line item by line item:

• Previous month's Profit & Loss statement
• Fiscal Year to Date Profit & Loss statement
• Current Balance Sheet
• Bank-issued statements for each of our checking account WITH copies of every deposit and check written
• Credit card statement
• ANY other financial item requested by the Board

By faithfully examining these reports as a Board, we ensure that (in our case) eight different people authorize every transaction and the overall financial health of the agency.  In being open with your Board, you get support in your financial management of the agency. 

Thirdly, make friends with your CPA.  Ideally, your CPA should NOT be on your Board.  If your CPA is on your Board, there's a chance that the other Board members will not be as diligent in scrutinizing the financial statements because they'll defer to the CPA's knowledge and expertise.  While that sounds fine on the surface, your agency will lose all the benefits as previously outlined in having multiple people address the finances of your agency. 

Our CPA is awesome.  She is not only really knowledgeable but she's a fantastic and willing teacher.  Though her time is extremely valuable, I try to make opportunities to visit with her in person as often as she can.  When we meet, I am always prepared with a list of questions or concerns that I have.  Then, she talks and I listen.  I absorb her expertise and in doing so, I become a little better CFO after every meeting. 

Finally, I read.  I read blogs about financial management.  I listen to podcasts about financial management.  I look forward to any quality learning opportunity that I can use to improve my performance as CFO. 

I can happily report that although I still hate math, I spend a great deal of my time monitoring our ever-changing financial situation.  I give our finances the attention that they deserve knowing that if I mismanage them or make any fatal errors, all the people that I employ and all the people that we serve will reap the fruits of my errors.  I'm a far better CFO now than I was when I arrived here nearly three years ago and I no longer feel nearly as anxious or worried about my financial management skills.  (I still feel a healthy amount of anxious and worried, just not as bad as when I first arrived.)

What about you?  How do you overcome critical deficiencies in your professional life?

The Most Freeing Word

I'm a dad.

I'm a dad of two awesome kiddos, Hannah and Elijah and a third on the way. (Could be an Abigail or a Caleb.  We'll find out in a couple of weeks.)

I'm a dad of two awesome kiddos that are, for the first time, playing softball and blast-ball, respectively.

I'm a dad that makes time to study the Bible with people at church and has to study for himself too.

I'm a husband.

I'm a husband of a nurse that works 10 hours each day.

I'm a husband of a nurse that doesn't get home in time to get supper started and the laundry rotated.

I'm busy.

I'm a busy dad and a busy husband. 

Now, I don't want to come off as dramatic.  I'm a busy guy.  You're busy too.  For a long time, my goal was to make everyone happy and one way to do that was to commit to everything.  If someone needed me, I was there and I'd "work out the details later."

However, as I've gotten older and as I've matured a little (insert my wife's sarcastic laughter here) I have learned that there is such a thing as over committing myself.  I have learned that my time during the week is finite.  If I overload on commitments, I've learned that by definition, my relationships suffer. 

I've learned that there is a cure for over committing.

I've learned how to be free.

I've learned to say 'no.'

One thing that has been tough for me to get over is the false feeling that by saying 'no' to engagements or opportunities meant that I was being selfish.

In all reality, I have to say 'no' to some opportunities in order to give my top relationships a priority and strengthen them.  In addition, if I don't take some time for myself for relaxing, hobbies and personal growth, I will run out of emotional and spiritual fuel. 

So, how do I determine which engagements that I will say 'yes' to and which engagements I will say 'no' to?  Well, that's a difficult formula and it varies from person to person.

For me, I first look at my calendar.  I have my absolutes written in.  I know that Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings are off limits because that's time for worship.  I have my kid's practices, games, school events and family outings penciled in.  I don't let events interfere with those things because my time with my kids is finite and I refuse to spend my later years with a "Cats in the Cradle" type of regret.  I have other work-related events penciled in.  Those are required and I don't move them unless an emergency arises. 

After I look at the unmovable dates and events in my schedule, and before I add anything else to my calendar, I have to ask myself, "if I add this event, when will I be able to have a Bible Study?  When will I be able to spend time with my wife?  When will I be able to relax and unwind?" 

If I can reasonably answer those questions and I have time for the commitment, then I can put it in.  If I can't reasonably answer those questions, then I have to say 'no.' 

I'll admit, at first, it is difficult to turn people down.  However, when you have the realization that in saying 'no' to someone is the equivalent of telling my kids 'yes' or telling my wife 'yes' or telling God 'yes,' then the decision gets easier. 

Everyone is busy and believe it or not, most folks will understand when you have to turn them down. 

Do you have a hard time saying 'no' to people or opportunities?  Are you a people-pleaser?

The ATM

I am still young enough to remember the days before ATMs were prevalent in rural northeast Texas. I was sixteen and had my own checking account to deposit the massive amounts of cash (by a sixteen year old's standards) that I made at McDonalds.  Before the magical money boxes dispensed cash, you had to go into the bank and write a check for "CASH" to get dollar bills out of your checking account.  Standing there at the teller's window, you had to be sure that you had enough cash in your account to back up the check that you were essentially writing to the bank.  If not, you were faced with the crippling embarrassment of a human being (usually a pretty girl) telling you that you don't have enough cash in your account to cover the check. 

At the ATM it is a different story--slightly.  If you want cash, you still have to have enough deposited in your account in order to receive cash.  However, if you ask for more than you've got, you simply get an error message saying that you have "insufficient funds".  I'll take an automated error message rather than a person telling me that I have asked for more than I have given.  At the ATM, you can only receive up to the amount of cash that's available in your account.

Lately, I have started to feel like a human ATM. 

Every day, people walk into my office for help in filling basic needs such as help with utility bills, rent, diapers, food, clothing, etc.  Some days, it is easy to gauge which people are legitimately trying to improve their life and making positive decisions but have come up a little short this month in making ends meet versus the people that are simply using our services so that they won't be forced to work hard and make positive decisions. 

Other days, it's difficult to tell those people apart.

Generally, I'm a trusting person.  That type of trusting attitude can be dangerous in this business.  So, when someone comes in and breaches my trust, I tend to spiral out of control and become temporarily untrusting of everyone that walks in.  I begin to feel as though every person that sits across from me is using me as an ATM that simply dispenses goods and money.  I feel like the clients' expectations of me are to dispense the goods and services that they need and that they only "deposit" they have to cover their needs is "entitlement." 

As you can probably guess, that attitude on my part quickly leads to resentment.  It leads me to resent my work.  It leads me to resent my calling.  It leads me to resent the people that need help.  It leads me to resent my employees.  It leads me to resent my board.  It leads me to resent my supporters. 

It leads me to resent God.

After a time of having those feelings, I tend to go on the hunt for a different job.  (When I say 'hunt' I mean that I look on LinkedIn or in the newspaper classifieds for jobs that fit my skill set.  It is the job hunting equivalent of looking for a new car by simply driving down the street in front of the dealership without ever getting out of the car.)  In my 'hunt' for a different job I list all the qualities that I want to have in my new job.  Pretty quickly I realize that all the qualities that I want in a job exist at the very place that I'm ready to leave in my rear view mirror. 

Once I have that realization that I am at my dream job, the only thing that needs to change is my attitude.  I'm often taken back to the parable that Jesus gave of the sower in Matthew 13.  One of the interesting things about that story is that the sower spread the seeds out regardless of the type of soil they landed on.  The sower had very little control over how receptive the soil would be so he just spread the seeds out regardless of where they would land. 

Therein lies a powerful lesson for non-profits.  I would certainly hope that all non-profits seek to serve the people that have legitimate needs.  However, we can't read into the hearts of the folks that walk though the door.  We have no control of the soil that we spread the seeds of our good work into.  So, we need only to concern ourselves with spreading the seed and doing our good work.  We can have certain qualifications of people that are eligible for our services (ex. residency restrictions, limits on assistance, etc.) so that we are better stewards of what we have.  But, we cannot get into the business of trying to judge the hearts and intentions of the people that are eligible for our services. 

If we do try to make judgments on hearts and intentions, we're playing a losing game and not only does it add unnecessary stress to our already stressed lives but we're alienating the people we serve and potentially the donors that support us.