Policy Name: Complaint Resolution Policy
Policy Number: GOV13-06
Policy Sponsors: Governance Committee
Recommendation Date: September 7, 2018
Approving Authority: ACHF Board of Directors
Initial Approval Date; November 21, 2013
Enactment Date: November 21, 2013
Date of Last Review: September 20, 2018

Background:

In all of our interactions with stakeholders, which includes donors, partners, volunteers, members of the community, and each other, we strive to provide an exceptional level of service that reflects the Foundation’s ICARE values of integrity, commitment, authenticity, respect and excellence. Our employees are empowered to make decisions and take actions that support a positive stakeholder experience however, despite our best efforts, we might sometimes fall short of stakeholder expectations. This policy outlines our internal process for complaints and issue resolution.

Purpose:

As we strive for service excellence, this policy and procedure serves to create a transparent and fair process to promptly address complaints, concerns, and issues (“complaints”) received by the Foundation about our activities, programs, initiatives, service, staff or volunteers when they arise.

Definition:

A complaint is a formal expression of dissatisfaction with the service, actions or lack of action, policies, procedures, programs, or initiatives of the Foundation, our staff, or volunteers.

This could include our failure to follow through on an action we agreed to, a policy or procedure that we fail to observe, an error made by a staff member or volunteer, or disrespectful behaviour, actions, or comments made by a staff member of volunteer.

Principles:

• The Foundation values stakeholder complaints and will take advantage of these opportunities to provide training or make changes to our policies and processes to ensure service excellence.
• Complaints will be responded to within 2 business days from the time received. When we are unable to resolve a complaint within 2 business days, we will provide an update within that time frame.
• Our review of complaints will be respectful, fair, impartial, and demonstrate our commitment to the protection of privacy.
• We will provide a resolution and supporting rationale that is clear and understandable.
• Stakeholders will have the option of speaking with our Chief Operating Officer or CEO if they are dissatisfied with the outcome.
• All Foundation staff and volunteers will have working knowledge and understanding of the complaint resolution process.

Procedures:

While our employees are empowered to make decisions and take action to ensure service excellence or in the interest of service recovery, there will be circumstances where complaints remain unresolved. In such cases, the stakeholder may verbally request further information or submit a written report by.

Any external stakeholder (such as donors, supporters, agencies and the public) who may have a concern or complaint can contact us by mail at:

By Mail: Attention: Director of People Services
Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation
28 Oki Drive NW
Calgary, Alberta T3B 6A8

Or by email to: customer feedback@achf.com

In situations where the complaint is highly sensitive, involves improper or illegal activities, involves individuals named in the process below or Board members, or where there is a concern about retribution, retaliation, or harassment, anonymous and confidential reporting is available through our third party service provider, IntegrityCounts online or by phone.

Website: www.integritycounts.ca
Phone: 1-866-921-6714

Further details on this process are provided in our Safe Disclosure Policy.

Process:

• All complaints will be received and reviewed by the Director of People Services who will determine the appropriate next steps based on the nature and sensitivity of the concern;
• Where appropriate, complaints will be addressed and resolved by the Foundation’s Customer Experience Committee (CEC) together with the Director of People Services and Chief Operating Officer (COO);
• The Director of People Services or COO will share the resolution with the stakeholder;
• Complaints that cannot be resolved by the Director of People Services, CEC or COO will be escalated to the CEO;
• Complaints will be reported in the Issue Resolution Summary by the person who resolves the issue, or by the CEC;
• IntegrityCounts will maintain the full detail on complaints that are anonymous and confidential;
• On at least a quarterly basis, the CEC will review the Issue Resolution Summary and report to the COO;
• An annual report of the Issue Resolution Summary will be provided to the Board.