“In the court of justice, both the parties know the truth, it’s the judge who’s on trial.”

– Justice J R Midha (of Delhi High Court on his farewell speech)

An organisation’s grievance redressal system serves as a tool for measuring its efficiency and effectiveness and hence productivity, since it gives critical input on its operations. It is a systematic procedure to raise issues and the impact of inept policies, acts and rules in the organisation.

As it is rightly said, ‘Great place to work is not the one where no problem arises but the one that is forward-looking and focuses on solving problems rather than burying them’. Problems in an organization have multiple dimensions – competition, price, strategy, raw materials or personnel-related. As an old proverb says, there is no lock made without a key; meaning – there is no problem without a solution.

“Grievance Redressal Mechanism” is one of the most fundamental and vital things which one must understand in order to unlock such locks. In this article, we would focus on problems of the most dynamic, essential and biggest factor of production – Human Resource. A little issue arising out of work may seep in deep within the minds of a person or a group of persons causing dissatisfaction which affects the productivity adversely. It is therefore advised to nip it in the bud before it worsens.

Through this article, we will try to understand –

1. Meaning of Grievance and the difference between a Complaint and Grievance

2. Challenges of Grievance Redressal

What is a Grievance?

Before setting up to resolve issues, we first need to understand the meaning of a grievance and how it is different from a complaint. A grievance is a formal complaint filed by an aggrieved employee regarding any dissatisfaction faced at job. A grievance can be raised either by individuals, groups or by union/association.

Difference between a Complaint and a Grievance

While both look similar in nature, there is a marginal difference between the two.

Challenges of Grievance Redressal

Challenges in grievance redressal are:

• Unavailability or difficulty to access means to report grievances, at times done so purposefully, or due to lack of priority.

• Disconnect of senior decision-makers with end customers/employees.

• Lack of motivation among front-end executives/ aggrieved officers to forward negative feedback to higher-ups.

• Fear in executives / aggrieved officers to report malpractice about officers with substantial authority.

• Inaccuracy and spamming of feedback, driving false impressions.

Conclusion

Majorly, grievances received in any organization are related to excessive delays in making decisions and refusal/inability to process aggrieved officer’s requests timely. The grievances only escalate to superior levels due to inefficient handling at mid or lower-level.

The best way to resolve a problem is to prevent it from arising in the first place. A general survey indicates that a typical grievance redressal mechanism takes six months.

However, it is equally critical to recognize that for maximum productivity of the organization every employee has a specific role to play. Since each one counts, each one must be content, happy, and satisfied with high organizational commitment to deliver his best.

References

Grievance redressal mechanism to solve an industrial dispute in India