Grievance Officer Workshop - Give staff somewhere to turn. Give them someone ready.
When a grievance is raised, the way it’s handled matters as much as the outcome. Most organisations don’t have enough trained people to manage complaints fairly, consistently and in a way that holds up to scrutiny.
A poorly managed grievance process doesn’t just fail the person who raised it — it creates procedural risk, erodes trust, and can unravel entirely if challenged.
Investing time and money in upskilling staff to become Grievance Officers is an important part of managing workplace complaints appropriately. If you are a large organisation or one with multiple work sites, it can be helpful to have multiple touch points for your staff. Employees may be hesitant about complaining to HR or managers, but they may approach an unbiased Grievance Officer
We offer this workshop as an in-house workshop or twice a year as a public workshop
Grievance Officer In-house Workshop
This is a 2-day workshop with the added option of a half day on report writing. It is highly interactive and provides practical skills that can be used in everyday interactions, as well as in the management of workplace grievances.
Grievance Officer Public Workshop
Date: Contact us to book in for a session
Time: 9am-4.30pm (Day 1); 9am-4pm (Day 2) AWST
Venue: Virtual (day 1); In-person (Day 2) – Venue for Day 2 TBC
Cost: $1600+gst per participant
This 2-day Grievance Officer Public Course provides participants with the legal framework and practical skills to recognise, manage and resolve informal and formal grievances effectively – from the initial complaint stage through to interviewing witnesses and collating the evidence. Managers who are keen to upskill in this space are welcome to attend day 1 of this course.
Why have Grievance Officers?
If you are part of a large organisation or one that has multiple work sites, it can be helpful to have multiple touch points for your staff to be able to go to when they have a workplace problem. Many people say they don’t feel comfortable going to HR or their manager; but if they had another option they would take it. Grievance Officers can be that other option.
Who is this course for?
This course is for anyone in an organisation who either has to (usually in HR) or wants to take on the role and responsibility of conducting formal investigations within their workplace.
Learning outcomes
- What is harassment (sexual), discrimination and bullying – legal definitions and case examples.
- Structure of an effective complaint management process.
- Assessment of complaints as informal or formal.
- Effective questioning techniques.
- How to manage an informal complaint.
- How to manage a formal complaint.
- Principles of natural justice and how to apply them in an investigation.
- How to structure notes and how to write a witness statement.
- What confidentiality looks like in the context of an investigation.
- How to remain impartial and unbiased as a Grievance Officer.
- When to outsource an investigation.
You will also get
- Useful checklists for having an informal and formal conversation.
- A resource book.
- The experience of conducting an investigation, interviewing the complainant and the respondent, and drafting statements.
- Ability to assess when a workplace issue requires acting on and what is the most appropriate action/s to take.
What people say about this course
For a virtual training course this was one of the most engaging and interesting courses I have ever participated in! It provided the perfect balance between learning foundations of a Contact Officer, absorbing the content, practicing the skills learnt, and gave me the confidence to use this in real life situations. Highly recommended.
The content was thorough and informative, an excellent mix of process, policy, emotional intelligence with science behind our brain chemistry. All valuable to know for my role as a Contact Officer.
The workshop provided practical toolkits and real life examples that can be immediately applied in the workplace. The resources shared were designed to be actionable and ready for use the very next day, empowering participants to effectively support their teams.
Franca is an engaging facilitator. I’ve never listened to Policy & Procedure that felt like 3 Hrs was 5 minutes before. I’m eager to learn more.
Franca is par excellence. The program was well presented. I didn’t feel sleepy throughout.
Employee Workshops
Manager Workshops
Interactive Theatre
Public Courses
November 17th 2026.
Day 1: March 31st. Day 2: April 8th
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