A new article in the Journal of the International Ombuds Association explains "What an Ombuds Charter is and Why it Matters." The authors are Chuck Howard (attorney and Ombuds consultant; former Executive Director of IOA, and Chuck Doran, CO-OP (outsourced Ombuds and Executive Director/Founder of MWI). They urge Ombuds to have a comprehensive written document that defines the role and relationship between Ombuds and the organization is serves. The article covers the benefits to all parties.
Here is the abstract of the article:
The organizational ombuds profession has expanded in all sectors - internationally and in government, corporations, colleges and universities, and nonprofits - over the past thirty-plus years that we have been involved in creating, advising, and administering ombuds programs. During this time the role of an ombuds charter has also expanded, and a good (i.e., comprehensive and complete) charter is now critical to the work that ombuds do. Yet despite this progress, some ombuds programs still do not have a charter, and many more do not have good charters. Our purpose here is to explain why we believe this reluctance to adopt a comprehensive charter is not in the best interests of either the organization or the ombuds program it has created.
Related posts: Chuck Howard; Chuck Doran.
Thanks for this article. Very relevant. Although the protection for Ombuds SOPs is more clear in jurisdictions outside the US, we have created a Charter for the Ombuds Network that protects the function for the reasons stated in the article.
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