Category: Article
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Open Space meeting of UNARIO ombuds – a unique opportunity for experience sharing and professional network support
Open Space meeting of UNARIO ombuds – a unique opportunity for experience sharing and professional network support 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
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Need to step in to defuse a conflict?
Need to step in to defuse a conflict? The core of the Ombud’s mandate is to help resolve interpersonal disputes in a consensual and impartial manner. To this end, the Ombud offers mediation services, which can take the form of a facilitated conversation, shuttle mediations (good offices) or more in-depth, structured mediation. Mediation may seem
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I’m feeling harassed …
I’m feeling harassed … “Harassed”. This is a word I often hear in the Ombud’s Office. Actively listening to my visitors, I explore their definition of the term and seek concrete examples of situations where they felt “harassed”. Following this discussion, we consult the definition of harassment given in CERN’s Operational Circular No. 9 (OC9),
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Quiet quitting
Quiet quitting Although I am very much aware of inter-generational differences, I had not realised how the millennial and Gen Z attitude to work could be, in general, so different from the mindset of Baby Boomers (my generation). The subject of attitudes towards work came up naturally during a recent conversation I had with two
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Coping with pervasive anxiety
Coping with pervasive anxiety Thursday, 28 July was Earth Overshoot Day – the date when humanity has consumed all the resources that the earth can sustainably produce for the entire year. This information, heard first thing in the morning on the radio, just added to all the other bad news being broadcast daily by the
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A duty of care to junior colleagues
A duty of care to junior colleagues “Can you imagine? Taking part in the largest scientific experiment in the world. CERN needs more than physicists and engineers – if you’re a student, a graduate, just starting your career or an experienced professional, whatever your field of expertise, CERN could be your next opportunity. Find out
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The 4W repair kit for work relationships
The 4W repair kit for work relationships At the International Ombuds Association’s international conference, which I attended back in April, one of the speakers[1], Dr Patricia Robinson, shared a simple model that front-line managers can use to have productive conversations to help their people move towards better working relationships and belonging. The model helps them
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Videoconferencing and creativity: a wobbly coupling
Videoconferencing and creativity: a wobbly coupling Creativity is one of the five values of CERN. That’s why, when I heard on my favourite radio programme that Nature had published an article1 on the impact of virtual interactions on creativity, I reached out to the online journal to find out more about this piece of research.
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The cost of conflicts
The cost of conflicts Conflict is part of workplace life. It is unavoidable and inescapable because we all have different expectations and needs. There are numerous causes of conflict; amongst them, perhaps the most frequent ones shared in the Ombud’s Office are: Whatever the root cause of conflicts, they have in common the fact that,
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Leadership – easier said than done
Leadership – easier said than done In his 2020 annual report, my predecessor in the Ombud’s office asks a challenging question: “Why are relations with the hierarchy the number one source of conflicts reported to the Ombud’s Office?” Underlying this observation is another interesting question: “Why is it still the case today when our Laboratory