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"...Now almost five years into the program, I believe
the ombuds office has added value as an early warning system. Whether it is for
emerging trends or for a still brewing problem. Clearly, it has helped the organization
surface and resolve issues to increase American Express employee satisfaction..."
- Harvey Golub,
former Chairman & CEO of American Express,
addressing the Ombudsman Association
Annual Meeting, May 17, 1999
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Conflict in the workplace is a drain of company resources. Fines, fees, and
stock prices are merely the tangible result. What may be impossible to
measure is the effect that unmanaged conflict has on everyday operations
in companies of all sizes.
We do know that workers who feel that their concerns are being addressed are
happier and more productive, and that dedicated conflict resolution services
can play a significant role in establishing and maintaining workplace
harmony and productivity. To perform that function, most large and many
medium-sized companies offer some form of dispute resolution service through
the Human Resources department or other prescribed avenues. Virtually
ninety percent of conflicts and disputes can be resolved using these in-house
resources.
MORE is dedicated to finding solutions to the remaining ten percent
that do not find resolution through company channels - the ones that are potentially
the most costly and most damaging to the company.
Ten reasons why your company needs an Ombudsman Process
- Need to reduce the fear of reporting bad news and violations of the law and
company policy throughout the organization. (e.g. Eliminate letters-to-file
as an alternative to raising concerns.)
- Need to improve the ethical climate in your values-driven work environment
for employees, shareholders and customers. (e.g. How does your company react
when an important vendor makes an inappropriate comment at your National meeting?)
- Need to comply with the Sarbanes Oxley Act and the U.S. Federal sentencing
guidelines. (e.g. effective corporate governance, code of conduct, and whistle
blower programs.)
- Need to improve two-way communication, in order to reduce discrimination,
harassment, fraud, other diversity and environmental issues. (e.g.
What is the trend on lawsuits against your company?)
- Need to create a safe place to resolve conflict in your organization in order
to reduce the stress on spouses and significant others at home due to that being
the only place where an employee may feel safe to discuss negative work related
issues.
- Need to reduce and uncover control issues like theft, security concerns, other
criminal activities, and activities that leads to lawsuits. (e.g. Give employees
a safe place to say "I think John is stealing from the company, but I am
not really sure.")
- Need to improve your ability to handle the more subtle forms of insensitivity
& unfairness that do not meet the formal criteria of being discrimination.
(e.g. If your leaders have a best employees/direct report they are probably
perceived to be practicing favoritism.)
- Need for an early warning diagnosis system the alerts you to new negative
trends and failing organizational changes, initiatives, and programs. (e.g.
Do all your leaders give proper feedback during the internal job posting process?)
- Need to improve the ability to uncover the tough issues that the organization
is reluctant to investigate. (E.g. reporting a "good" leader with some
bad behaviors.)
- Need to avoid negative press. (e.g. "Ex-chairman indicted"; "Executive
says he was demoted for whistle blowing." and "lgnorance at the top.")
Don't get blind-sided!
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