Thursday, 13 October 2022 is International Ombuds Day, dedicated to the global promotion of the ombud role in organisations. In the past, my predecessors reported to you regularly on their participation in the international conferences of the IOA (International Ombuds Association) and shared with you the topical issues addressed by the profession at its annual get-together, including:

• the ombuds’ code of ethics and common standards of practice
• the damaging, abrasive effect of micro-inequities and the healing effect of micro-affirmations
• evaluating fairness in the work environment 
• the importance of bystanders’ actions 

Although I attended the online IOA conference in April this year, I garnered more relevant insights and professional support from the meeting of ombuds in the United Nations and related international organisations (UNARIO) from 19 to 21 September.

With 19 international organisations having sent representatives from their ombud and mediation offices, I had the great pleasure of meeting 30 colleagues from all over the world.  

The meeting was facilitated by an external consultant and followed the “Open Space meeting” concept – a first for me – which consisted of establishing the agenda on the first day of the meeting, together with the participants. We were all asked to write down on posters the questions and the concerns that we had had in mind when we had decided to attend the meeting. Then, we were free to take part in as many discussions as we wanted and to stay as long or as little as we felt comfortable. That way, the “bumblebees” going from one meeting to another would help spread ideas and creative proposals between groups. 

As a result, some lively, open and extremely useful discussions took place on the following topics put forward by the participants:

• How best to coordinate between ombuds/mediators/ethics/human resources on misconduct and harassment cases?
• Intergenerational conflict such as ageism – how can ombuds help? 
• The future of hybrid work and the role of ombuds and mediators 
• The role of culture in the ombud’s practice
• Neuroscience and conflict resolution
• The evolution of people’s relationship with their work – a fact to be aware of?
• How can we support each other’s missions? 
• Data reporting for ombuds 
• What is the return on investment for organisations investing in an ombud function?
• Ombuds services versus mediation services – separate or together?
• Mental health: how can we better support employees and take care of ourselves as ombuds? 
• Are ombuds forming a biased view of an organisation or revealing the elephant in the room? 
• How to build psychological safety for our organisations and visitors

Following these discussions, a number of working groups were created to build on the fantastic momentum generated, and we are today actively working on developing solutions to these common ombuds challenges. 

Throughout my career, I have been a member of various professional networks, in different fields. The UNARIO ombuds network is not only an extraordinary source of inspiration but also a great way to break the isolation of the ombuds’ role and foster mutual support among ombuds colleagues.

It is also proof that, whatever the nature and mission of the organisation the ombud works for, the difficulties, problems and challenges experienced by our visitors are, to a large extent, the same. 

                                Laure Esteveny

I want to hear from you – feel free to email ombud@cern.ch with any feedback or suggestions for topics you’d like me to address. 
 

NB: If you would like to be notified about posts, news and other communications from the CERN Ombud, please register to receive the CERN Ombud news.