Learning from Complaints - How to resolve complaints efficiently while developing a constructive complaints handling culture

Complaints about purpose built student accommodation (PBSA) are increasing every year, with students keen to seek remedy and recompense through formal processes.  There may be some cause for dissatisfaction, with supply-chain issues affecting availability of parts and contractor shortages.  Increasing rents and the cost of living pile on financial pressure and price sensitivity is felt intensely.  Students demand value for money, with expectations never higher.   As the student demographic shifts and PBSA accommodates an ever more diverse student population, one size doesn’t fit all.  Multiple intersecting needs must be met and adjusted for. 

So, with ‘business as usual’ more complex than ever, how to do you establish a welcoming and inclusive complaints culture to handle complaints constructively and effectively?

This course is suitable for staff working in both universities and private PBSA:

• The nominated ANUK/Unipol National Code Complaints Contact

• Managers with a responsibility for handling complaints

• Tenant-facing accommodation staff

Spaces Available

Agenda

Speakers

Victoria Peckitt, Code Complaints Investigator, National Code/Unipol Student Homes

Vic is the Code Complaints Investigator at Unipol and deals with hundreds of student accommodation complaints every year so has a deep understanding of current issues and effective approaches.  With over ten years’ experience working in Student Property, she’s been with Unipol since 2015, performing roles including Housing Management and Tenancy Support. 

Jess Carrier, National Codes Co-ordinator, Unipol Student Homes

Jess joined Unipol in 2018 as the National Codes Coordinator after spending two years as the Welfare and Community Officer at Leeds Beckett Students’ Union. Her role includes administering the ANUK/Unipol National Codes and undertaking project work on various issues across the student accommodation sector. Having held a key Higher Education role during the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, she is experienced in student engagement and advocacy.

Simon Kemp, National Codes Administrator, Unipol Student Homes

Simon joined Unipol in November 2002 from the National Union of Students and has been the National Codes Administrator since 2005.

Details

From time to time things will go wrong.  An effective complaints process will see problems put right swiftly, while lessons are learned and improvements made to benefit all living and working in PBSA.    

Complaints are an opportunity to demonstrate quality customer service.  They’re also an invaluable source of information on performance and culture, providing a measure of how well providers are meeting the needs of students. 

Some providers see complaints as a negative, seeking to ignore or supress, while others see it as a transaction process, aiming only to disprove the student’s claims or ignore the impact of adverse experiences. But a well-designed and operated complaints system will have many benefits for an organisation, for example:

• Preventing issues from snowballing, draining precious time and resources
• Limiting reputational damage (word of mouth and reviews)
• Avoiding formal escalation to external bodies (ANUK/Unipol National Codes, Office of the Independent Adjudicator, redress scheme, etc.)
• Documenting performance and highlighting areas for improvement
• Empowering staff to take ownership of issues and pride in solving problems
• Building trust and reinforcing positive relationships between students and staff

 

Participants should gain an understanding of:

• How an effective internal complaint handling process should operate
• The role of the National Code Complaints Procedure, and how to access this
• The values upheld by the National Code and the standards relating to complaints handling
• Changes in the student demographic and the concerns of the current cohort

 

And develop skills in:

• De-escalation and effective complaint resolution
• Managing unacceptable/ difficult behaviour
• Investigating allegations of discrimination fairly
• Accommodating diverse and intersecting needs
• Considering reasonable adjustments
• Cultivating an inclusive complaints culture
• Establishing a safe environment where everyone can ‘get on’

 

This one day course is delivered online.  It’s designed to be interactive, involving group-work and discussion.  To participate, each delegates must have access to an individual work station (with working camera and microphone) and be prepared to engage in discussion, free from distraction.

We’ll consider accommodation-related cases received by the OIA (Office of the Independent Adjudicator) and the ANUK/Unipol National Codes.