By Nick Jacobs, FACHE & Marianne Miele, JD, MBA,

The IOA lists the many benefits of an organizational ombuds. Among them is that an ombuds office is a proven and effective way to build and improve workplace culture, and to uncover and address systemic trends and issues to create healthier organizations. 

Although neither of us are ombuds, our research and experience confirm an ombuds office brings value to strategic planning and culture change efforts. It conveys to employees that their concerns matter. It directly impacts aligning culture with an organization’s mission, values, and corporate social responsibility goals.

We found several similarities between the ombuds value and Harvard’s research and online course Building a Culture of Health:

• Every organization is in the health business.
• Businesses can thrive by adopting a culture of health.
• No one can assume that their organization has a high-performance culture.
• Organizations must create an environment where talent is identified and nurtured.
• People need to feel heard. If they cannot speak up, they can remain fearful or stuck and do not advance. They will not rise to their potential and beyond. That will also negatively impact morale.
• Unfulfilled stakeholders will leave, and their departure creates extensive costs for any organization.

While examining the ombuds value in workplace culture with Harvard’s culture of health, we realized the potential efficacy of an ombuds office with the organizational culture tied into its marketing efforts. Businesses prioritize marketing to create brand awareness, drive growth, and maintain competitiveness. Marketing gets to the heart of the core business, but how do workplace culture, employee satisfaction, and employee well-being play into this?

Consider that each person in an organization represents that organization internally and externally. They market the business. When employees experience a healthy, supportive, and sustainable culture, their organization becomes an employer of choice. But for employees experiencing work frustrations either real or perceived such as missed promotions, a lack of manager support, bullying, or that their transparency has repercussions, they may express vastly different realities to co-workers, family, friends, the community, and social media.

• What are employees sharing?
• How would positive employee experiences promote the organization, the products, services, and the brand?
• Are employees promoting the organization as an employer of choice?
• Are these questions typically considered in an  organization’s marketing strategy?
• Is there a process in place to address these questions?
• What is the value of an ombuds in that process?

We arranged a meeting with a regional marketing firm to discuss these questions and how they might relate to their marketing strategy and final marketing product. We learned that their process includes informal marketing team meetings with employees. What was most interesting was that the conversations frequently revealed workplace issues, concerns, and opinions consistent with an unhealthy work culture.

The marketing firm shares this information anonymously with the organization’s executive team, but their findings are not part of the final marketing product. If, as discussed above, those employees who talked with the marketing team are not personally promoting their employer, there is a disconnect between the organization’s culture and marketing efforts.

It is well-established that an ombuds office would provide excellent value. If finances are a consideration, a part-time or external ombuds program would also be invaluable. Organizations like the one discussed with the marketing firm would benefit from a culture assessment tool. If properly presented, the results could positively influence outcomes.

It is an ombuds office that conveys the employees are valued and respected by the organization and that a healthy workplace culture is consistent with their mission, values and corporate responsibility goals. The greatest challenge, however, is that organizational culture is set at the top. The organizational strengths on which to build brand awareness and enhance marketing efforts will only work if the leadership is responsive, and that’s Part II of the scenario, “Ombuds and Boards.” 

	Nick Jacobs, FACHE F. Nicholas Jacobs, LLC [email protected] 412-992-6197
	Marianne Miele, JD, MBA [email protected]  724-880-6002