W&M Featured Events

Location

Sponsored by the American Bar Association, Ombuds Day encourages organizations worldwide to consider the importance of ombuds programs as a vital part of a healthy conflict management program. Some of the benefits of an Ombuds program include:

1. Ombuds programs provide an alternative informal channel to provide information to policy makers and prevent wrongdoing.  

2. Ombuds programs provide a safe place for employees to brainstorm options to address their concerns or questions without going on the record with a formal channel and trigger formal investigations. Ombuds can coach employees to go to a formal channel to consider an investigation or can help navigate options to address their concerns which they would not have ordinarily considered. 

3. Ombuds programs reduce costs by resolving disputes at the lowest possible level.   

4. Ombuds programs facilitate employees' use of internal formal processes to address their grievances in lieu of external systems. 

5. Ombuds programs provide advice and early pattern analysis and identify potential emerging trends and sensitive issues. 

6. Ombuds programs increase Employee Engagement, Productivity, and Retention and serves as another Candidate Recruitment Tool: Employees using Ombuds programs have shared that they would have left but for having this safe alternate channel to air their concerns and an Ombuds to help them navigate their workplace challenges. Prospective candidates have shared that they were also interested in working for a company that cared enough to have another safe place for them to air their concerns outside of the formal channels.  

7. Ombuds programs provide an agile, responsive and safe place for workplace conflict and coaching, helping address changing demographics and talent shortages, workforce demographics also changing resulting in expected potential cultural and personal workplace conflict. 

Contact

Mark Patterson [[w|ombuds]]

This Event Appears On

• W&M Featured Events
• University Ombuds Events