Overview

Many people and organizations do not understand what organizational ombuds are and how they work. When confronted with requests to create these programs, those in charge often raise questions about the need for yet another overhead expense that does not produce revenue. They want to know what value these programs really add, and they frequently express skepticism about ombuds' claim of confidentiality and how these programs can operate independently within an organization when an ombuds may be an employee of the organization. This book is a practical guide for anyone with questions about what ombuds programs are and how they operate. Part I responds directly to the many difficult questions that the author has been asked over the years-questions about what organizational ombuds offices are, why they fill a need that other functions cannot address, why confidentiality is important, and why the office's structure is important to achieving that confidentiality. Part II consists of stories that provide actual examples of what ombuds do. These are real, anonymized examples provided by real ombuds-not composite or hypothetical. Better than any abstract discussion, these examples make plain the unique value that ombuds programs provide.

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9781639050536

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Chuck Howard is currently an Organizational Ombuds Consultant.  His website is charleshowardllc.com.  Previously, he was a Partner and General Counsel of Shipman & Goodwin LLP. From 1985-2000 he was Chair of the firm's Litigation Department. From September 2019 through February 2022 he was the Executive Director of the International Ombuds Association.   He is a former Chair of the Ombuds Committee of the Dispute Resolution Section and served on the Dispute Resolution Council and as Budget Office for the Section. He has extensive litigation experience in state and federal court in a wide range of matters, including over seventy-five appeals. His intellectual property litigation experience encompasses copyright, trademark, trade secret, covenant not to compete and patent litigation. His business and public sector litigation experience includes representation of business clients in many diverse matters, and representation of the State of Connecticut, quasi-public state agencies, and municipalities. For almost thirty years he represented ombuds clients at major corporations, universities and other organizations.     Chuck is the author of The Organizational Ombudsman: Origins, Roles and Operations-A Legal Guide, published by the ABA in 2010.  More recently, he is the author of The Organizational Ombuds--A Practical Guide:  How They Help People and Organizations, published by the ABA in January, 2022.  While in private practice, he had a national practice representing organizational ombuds at universities, multinational corporations, national defense laboratories, and other organizations. Reviews of his books, which also are available for purchase, can be found on amazon.com or on the ABA Bookstore website. As an organizational ombuds consultant, he has continued to assist major corporations and other organizations create ombuds programs.     He has lectured and written extensively on ombuds and related topics. In January of 2002, he was appointed by the United States Sentencing Commission to serve as one of sixteen members to a national Advisory Group to review and recommend revisions to the federal organizational sentencing guidelines.    Chuck was an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association. He was an Assistant Attorney General for Attorney General John C. Danforth of Missouri from 1975-1976.

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