Study Finds Ombuds are 'What Works' for Diversity and Inclusion

A new study published by the Center for Employment Equity at the University of Massachusetts Amherst aims to answer the question: What steps to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion are actually working. Sociologists David Pedulla (Stanford) and Devah Pager (Harvard) convened leading experts on bias, technology, discrimination, and organizational design. From this research, they found five key insights that can serve as tools for making their workplaces more diverse and thriving: 

1. Set goals, collect data, and examine change;
2. Deploy alternatives to legalistic grievance mechanisms;
3. Test for biased technology;
4. Provide more visibility opportunities for underrepresented individuals;
5. Involve managers from the start when making change.

Pedulla and Pager found that alternatives to formal grievance processes are critical and include Ombuds programs. Here's a relevant portion of the report:

Alternatives to Legalistic Grievance Mechanisms

Alternatives to the legalistic grievance mechanism have been experimented with for decades but have yet to be widely adopted. While we need more research on these alternatives, some of them promise to replace the broken formal grievance procedure with a system that incorporates a menu of alternatives that is better able to stop discrimination and harassment.

One alternative is the ombuds office, which acts as a neutral party in hearing complaints. The system is common in Scandinavia and in U.S. universities, although few places use it regularly to address harassment and discrimination.8 The classic ombuds is an independent party, located outside the chain of command, whose role is to listen to the victim’s story and provide confidential advice. The ombuds has substantial freedom in how they help employees resolve problems in the workplace. They may advise an employee on how to speak with the person who has discriminated against or harassed them, what to do if it happens again, or how to move to another job. In some systems, they may address the accused directly, or talk with human resources about modifying work conditions, assignments, or team configurations.

The full report is available online. Pedulla has a good summary in the Harvard Business Review. (What Works: Evidence-Based Ideas to Increase Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace; HBR.)

Related posts: NASEM Report on Mentoring Recommends Wider Use of Ombuds; Greater Chicago Midwest HERC Webinar: Diversity and the Ombuds.