Journal of IOA Article Reflects on COVID's Impact

The Journal of the International Ombuds Association has published its first article of 2023. Fred Wright, Workplace Conciliator (Organizational Ombuds) in the Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning for Victoria, Australia, recaps his presentation at the 2022 IOA conference. The article is titled: "Reimagining Ombudsing. An Operational Reflection on How the Pandemic has Impacted the Work of Ombuds."

Here is the abstract of the article:

This paper is a write up of a presentation made to IOA’s 2022 conference. It explores the incredibly disruptive impact the COVID pandemic has had, not only upon world communities, but also upon organisational life. Ombuds have been at the pointy end of thi impact, and it is timely to reflect upon the impact and the challenges that the COVID pandemic has had upon the work of ombuds. Out of the adversity of the pandemic has come opportunities for the Ombuds profession to reimagine it’s role, and some of thes e opportunities are considered in this paper.

This is Wright's second JIOA article. In 2020, he co-authored an article with David Miller, "An Initial Enquiry Towards a Model of Supervision and Support for Organisational Ombudsmen." (JIOA.)

Related posts: JIOA: Proposing a Model for Ombuds Supervision; IOA Releases Detailed Agenda for 2022 Virtual Conference.