Managing Professional Standards: An Examination of Staff Experiences of the Complaints Management Process in an English Police Force and a City Council

This research study focuses on the experiences of staff involved in the complaint management processes within a large, English police force and a large local authority. Sixteen qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with postholders involved in the complaints management process from the bottom to the top of each organisation. This comprised managers, investigators and staff who had been subject to complaints. As most of the complaints management literature is customer focused, this study represents an original and innovative contribution to the limited, existing literature. As well as comprising case study research, this research also drew from an Appreciative Inquiry (AI) research approach to elicit respondents’ views of what constituted best practice in complaints management. This, too, addresses a gap in the existing literature which has rarely involved the AI research approach within police and local authority studies and not at all with respect to complaints management. Nineteen separate themes were identified covering both organisations and these included key sociological and management issues: such as, communication; discretion; staff support; independence and accountability; and leadership. The themes led to a core theme encapsulating the importance of communication, timeliness and ethics/values for effective complaints management. Commonalities and contrasts were also drawn between the findings for both organisations. In addition to the findings of this study, this research also points to the potential for further, fruitful research in key areas related to complaints management as well as to the fields of policing and local government.