74 (c) Predictable: providing a clear and known procedure with an indicative time frame for each stage, and clarity on the types of process and outcome available and means of monitoring implementation; (d) Equitable: seeking to ensure that aggrieved parties have reasonable access to sources of information, advice and expertise necessary to engage in a grievance process on fair, informed and respectful terms; (e) Transparent: keeping parties to a grievance informed about its progress, and providing sufficient information about the mechanism’s performance to build confidence in its effectiveness and meet any public interest at stake; (f) Rights-compatible: ensuring that outcomes and remedies accord with internationally recognized human rights; (g) A source of continuous learning: drawing on relevant measures to identify lessons for improving the mechanism and preventing future grievances and harms. Operational-level mechanisms should also be: (h) Based on engagement and dialogue: consulting the stakeholder groups for whose use they are intended on their design and performance, and focusing on dialogue as the means to address and resolve grievances. Q 78. Why does this matter? Both State-based and operational-level grievance mechanisms need to be effective in order to provide remedy to those affected by corporate-related human rights abuse. A truly effective operational-level grievance mechanism can generate the kinds of benefits discussed under Guiding Principle 29, including the early identification of problems, early and agreed solutions, increased trust, and the avoidance of public protest, litigation or other forms of opposition. A poorly designed or administered grievance mechanism may distort assessments of how well human rights risks are being managed. It may raise expectations that concerns will be addressed, without providing the processes to deliver on that expectation. In the worst instances, an ineffective grievance mechanism may compound stakeholders’ sense of grievance. It is therefore important that operational-level grievance mechanisms should meet certain criteria that help ensure their effectiveness.