You have probably have seen one recently – at the airport, perhaps after the security check or at the local public service office and after pressing one, you have wondered ‘what next?’ Where does this information go, who does what with it and does anything happen after you press the button?

Feedback buttons seem to be everywhere these days. They are an invitation to you the customer to rate your experience. You can instantaneously provide direct feedback to management on how well they are performing. If you had a really negative experience, you will likely press the button – which is precisely why these feedback mechanisms are increasingly popping up in service-oriented facilities like restrooms, post offices and the like.

Effective feedback, both positive and negative, is valuable. It is key information that can be used to make important decisions within a company or organization, thereby contributing to a culture of ‘continuous improvement.’

The increased interest in customer feedback in both the private and public sectors is echoed across the UN and in the wider humanitarian and development industry.

Organizations entrusted to provide a service to vulnerable populations with funding typically from taxpayers are being asked to measure their ‘customer satisfaction’. So how does an international organization show how effectively it is using public money?

The obvious answer is to ask the customers – the recipients of the aid or service, in this case.

Donors increasingly recognize that feedback from aid recipients is essential to improving accountability. Key donors have started to call for evidence of feedback as part of their own accountability agenda, essentially requiring all partners to establish mechanisms by which to listen and respond to the feedback of recipients and targeted populations in their programme planning/development and implementation cycle.

In response to this, numerous humanitarian and development agencies are assessing and improving existing systems for gathering feedback from aid recipients because of donor pressure and because it can improve the effectiveness of their efforts, strengthen their accountability, encourage meaningful participation, and establish stronger relationships.

IOM is undertaking an agency-wide consultation process to ensure that existing knowledge and practices for feedback and complaints mechanisms are captured and shared. A survey is being conducted of all IOM missions to facilitate a mapping of feedback across the organization.

Do you have any experience with feedback you wish to share? Send YOUR feedback to media@iom.int.

And next time you’re passing through security at the airport, take a few seconds to rate your experience…

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Amy Rhoades is IOM’s Community Engagement Programme Manager