The "work-related
concerns" often arise as some sort of conflict between individuals or
among groups. While some degree of workplace conflict is inevitable,
conflict is neither good nor bad in itself. Handling it effectively
can stimulate innovation and growth; handling it poorly can damage
individuals and operations. Managing conflict is a complex topic,
especially at a place as complex as the Berkeley campus, with its
many and varied positions, decentralized structure, shared
governance, diversity of cultures, represented and non-represented
groups, and so forth. In such an environment, conflict can arise from
many different sources and can
take many different forms.
As conflicts surface,
the Staff Ombuds Office offers a versatile set of tools to enable the
campus community to:
- resolve specific
problems as they arise
- identify broader
problem areas and strategies for addressing them
- institutionalize
principles and values that will forge an increasingly harmonious
work environment
A
UNIQUE ROLE
The sources and forms of
workplace conflict can be subtle: hard to identify, and even harder
to deal with. In recognition of this difficulty, the Chancellor
established the Staff Ombuds Office in 1984. The office was placed in
a unique position, with an unusual degree of independence
from and access to the
highest levels, to enable it to identify and address these concerns,
and to influence management to address them, as appropriate. This is
consistent with the ombuds profession as a whole. (Ombuds offices
were first created in nineteenth-century Scandinavia to help citizens
navigate bureaucracy, and to provide an independent perspective on,
and critique of, its workings.) We subscribe to the standards of
practice and code of ethics of the University and College Ombuds
Association (UCOA) and The Ombuds Association (TOA).
The essential elements
of ombuds effectiveness are:
- independence (being outside the management line)
- impartiality (not advocating for either party to a
dispute)
- confidentiality (never revealing who has been here or
what was said, unless explicitly authorized by the visitor)
- informality (never participating in a formal
arena, whether for an individual or for the institution)
- concern for
justice and fairness
These qualities create
an environment where people feel safe raising concerns.
THE
MANY TOOLS OF OMBUDSING
Ombud services are
delivered in many forms--all with the goal of providing people with
the specific tools they need to resolve their work-related problems.
Our chief ways of working with people are counseling, referring,
facilitating, mediating, training, and consulting:
Counseling. The
Staff Ombuds Office helps staff at all levels to identify the nature
of their work-related concerns, and the means for resolving them.
Because visitors feel safe to express concerns and explore issues,
the office serves as a safety valve
for the campus. For many clients, ‘being
heard’ for what may seem to them like the first
time is the most valuable service we provide. The next step is to
move beyond the surface to identify underlying concerns--the ‘questions beneath
the question.’ This helps prevent other problems
from developing. We help identify options, and we coach on potential
strategies for resolving the problems.
Referring. We
provide clients with information on resources (both internal and
external), and on rights and responsibilities. The campus has a rich
array of resources, including policies and programs that support fair
treatment--but employees often do not know they exist, or how to use
them. The Staff Ombuds Office is the ‘place to
go when you don’t know where to
go’--the office that helps make sense of what
may seem like a daunting bureaucracy.
Facilitating.
Most work-related conflicts involve at least a partial--and sometimes
a total--breakdown in communications. The Staff Ombuds Office works
to restore relationships by helping people remove barriers to
open, effective communication.
Facilitation operates on a larger scale as well: we often collaborate with other offices (such as CARE Services;
Human Resources; Workers’ Compensation/Vocational
Rehabilitation; Environment, Health and Safety; Title IX Office; UC
Police Department; and Internal Audit) to address multi-faceted
and/or systemic problems.
Mediating. The
Staff Ombuds Office mediates disputes informally, and provides formal
mediation services when
warranted. Informal mediation often entails
‘shuttle diplomacy’ between the
parties to bring them together. Through mediation, the parties
attempt to reach an agreement satisfactory to both. Because mediation
works best when there is not a power imbalance, sometimes we assist
in leveling the playing field.
Training. Much of
the training takes the form of one-on-one coaching, but many group events (classes,
workshops, discussion sessions)
are offered as well, for both managers and staff. Training is offered
in conflict resolution, communication (particularly effective
listening, effective speaking, and raising concerns with management),
dealing with difficult situations or individuals, and other matters
as the need arises. Many training programs are tailor-made
to address the concerns of particular work groups, and all training
addresses issues of cultural sensitivity and
inclusivity.
Consulting.
Because we work with staff at all levels, and with top management and
faculty as they touch upon staff concerns, the Staff Ombuds Office is
in a unique position to ‘read’
the campus climate. In so doing, the office serves as an early
warning system for management,
identifying problem areas and systemic sources of conflict. On the
positive side, we also identify best practices. In identifying both negative and positive
practices and trends, we aid campus planning efforts.
WHO
USES THE STAFF OMBUDS OFFICE?
Total Client
Contacts. The Staff Ombuds Office provides service to over a
thousand staff employees
a year. (The four-year average is
1,031.) These service contacts include individual and group sessions
and training programs. The average of all service contacts dropped
during the past two years as a result of significantly reduced
staffing between October 1995 and January 1997. (In order to maintain
the level of individual and group client appointments in the face of
this temporary staffing reduction, fewer classes were offered.)
Client appointments have remained steady over the past four years,
averaging 489 per year. Of these, an average of 314 per year (64%)
were new clients.
Departments. The
number of campus departments using Staff Ombuds Office services has
increased from 106 to 115 over the past four years. Although this is
not a large increase in terms of raw numbers, it is statistically
significant in view of the fact that campus streamlining and
reorganizations have significantly reduced the number of departments
on campus. Consequently, the more significant figures are these:
four years ago 25% of campus departments used our services; today,
48% do.
Job
Classifications. By far the largest client groups are the
Professionals/Management tier and the Clerical/Administrative tier.
Use of our services by the Professionals/Management group
has grown somewhat (from 38% of our client base to 46%), so that this
is now our largest group of users.
The Clerical/Administrative percent has dropped slightly during this
same four-year period, from 49% to 42% . Usage by staff in other
classifications is much smaller and has remained fairly steady over
the past four years: Technical, Service, and Academic approximately
3% each; Other/Unknown 2%; and Crafts 1%. (Note: There is a separate
Academic Ombuds Office on campus. Academics seen by the Staff Ombuds
Office are primarily those who are supervising staff employees.)
The Four Personnel
Program Tiers. Approximately 1% of our clients are in the Senior
Management tier, 6% in the Management and Senior Professionals tier,
and 47% in the Professional and Support Staff tier. Approximately
42% are covered by collective bargaining agreements.
(This figure has remained fairly steady over the past four years.)
The vast majority of our clients (93%) are in career positions, but
we also assist clients in all other kinds of appointments (casual,
casual/restricted, contract, and per diem). Only 3% of our clients
are probationary employees.
Gender. 75% of
clients over the past four years
have been female (as
compared to 60% of the campus staff population). The figures for
males are 25% for our office versus 40% of the campus population.
Thus, the Staff Ombuds Office has a disproportionately large number
of female visitors.
Race/Ethnicity.
The percent of clients who are white (54%) is roughly proportionate to the white
staff members on campus (57%). The percentage of black and Hispanic
clients is higher than the proportion on campus (22%
black, as compared to 16% on
campus; 9% Hispanic,
versus 6% on campus). The percentage of Asian clients is noticeably low (9%, as compared to 17% on campus).
WHAT
KINDS OF PROBLEMS DO PEOPLE BRING?
Relationships in
Which Conflict Arises. The vast majority or problems (an average
of 59% over the past four
years) concern problems between employees and their
managers/supervisors. There is a
big drop to the next biggest category: concerns that
managers/supervisors are having with other managers/supervisors 16%).
Problems between co-workers represent 13% of those seen, and
individual concerns represent 9%. 3% of clients have some other sort
of concern.
Primary Conflict
Issues. The primary issue which brings people to the Staff Ombuds
Office is difficulty in communication (37.8%). Next in importance are job
conditions (25.8%) and
job status (22.0%).
These three strongly predominate; the fourth issue, discrimination,
represents 4.8% of cases. Other primary issues (reprisal and ethics)
represent very small percentages. Of the forms of discrimination brought to our office, discrimination
based on race/ethnicity is by far the highest category (47.7%). Other
forms of discrimination, in order of frequency, are: disability
(16.7%), gender (15.6%), age (9.2%), and sexual orientation (3.7%).
All other forms of discrimination total 7.1%.
Secondary Conflict
Issues. When people visit the Staff Ombuds Office, they often
bring several issues to explore. Those which are not the primary
reason for the visit, yet are sources of significant underlying
concern, are termed "secondary issues." Of these, treatment
strongly predominates (28.1%). Next in rank are work styles
(15.3%) and structural/organizational problems (13.9%). There is a significant drop in numbers for
the other secondary issues: performance evaluation, 6.3%; discipline,
5.0%; workload, 4.5%; rewards/recognition, 4.4%; and health/safety
and classification, both 3.8%. Concerns with still lower percentages
are, in descending order of importance, layoff, leaves/pay,
separation, and workers’ compensation/vocational
rehabilitation.
OMBUDS
OFFICE ACTIONS
The Staff Ombuds Office,
like all ombuds offices, has no line authority. Its power is the
power of influence. Typically,
after a client is given the necessary counseling, coaching, and
training to be able to address the problem with the appropriate
party(ies), she or he is referred to the place/places where effective
management action can most likely occur. Typically the
employee is given the tools, then pointed to the most effective place
to put them into action. Often,
the office needs to do some preliminary investigations (always protecting the
employee’s confidentiality) in order to counsel
appropriately. (Approximately 20% of cases entail investigation.)
The Ombuds Office does
on occasion take direct action, as when there is a direct and immediate
threat to safety. Other direct actions include frequent informal
mediation, and, less frequently, formal
mediation. (Both the Director and the Associate
Ombudsperson have received extensive formal training as mediators, in
accordance with alternative dispute resolution (ADR)
professional standards.) Upon management request, we occasionally
conduct departmental interventions,
in which a report is produced following extensive exploration and
analysis. We also inform management of significant
trends in order to influence
the campus climate to be more
responsive to staff concerns (see discussion below).
Referrals.
Clients are most often referred, almost equally, to the Personnel
Office (28.8%) and/or the
client’s own departmental line management
(28.0%). Because issues are
sometimes complex (for example, they may involve family problems,
health problems, or psychological components), a large percentage of
clients (20.5%) are referred to the employee assistance program (CARE
Services). Other referrals are far less frequent: Vocational
Rehabilitation/Workers’ Compensation (5.8%),
Internal Audit and Title IX Officer (2.8% each), and the UC Police
Department (1.7%). There are many other places to which we refer
clients, both within and outside the university (Payroll, outside
agencies, community resources, and so forth). They total 9.6%.
Training. A large
proportion of the work of the Staff Ombuds Office is preventative:
training employees and managers in conflict resolution, effective
communications, workplace treatment, putting the principles and
values into action, and related issues. Besides regular classes
offered via the Employee Development and Training catalog, many of
our classes are tailor-made to the needs of particular campus groups.
We were not able to offer many classes during our temporary staff
reduction, but with the office now fully staffed, we expect to meet
or exceed our earlier level of more than 20 classes per year with
over a thousand participants. Staff Ombuds Office training sessions
have received uniformly enthusiastic and high ratings,
averaging 8.8 on a scale of 1-10.
Committee
Service. In order to keep apprised of the campus climate, and to
influence it to put into action the principles and values expressed
in the campus administrative vision statement, we participate in
approximately a dozen campus committees and task forces each year.
Collaborations have included chairing the Employee Involvement
Committee and the Staff Recognition Awards Committee; co-chairing the
Behavior Risk Assessment Team (BRAT); and serving on the
Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Dependent Care,
the Chancellor’s Committee on Alcohol and Other
Drugs, the Disability Management Team, the Cal Awards Committee, the
Faculty/Staff Health Advisory Committee, the Committee on HIV/AIDS,
the Emergency Preparedness Task Force, and many others, including
search teams for key positions.
RECENT
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Communications.
The effectiveness of the Staff Ombuds Office requires that staff be
made aware of the kinds of services we offer. Great strides has been
made recently in communicating our services to the campus community.
These have been in the form of publications
(a new brochure and a bookmark), a web site,
and greater presence at campus forums. To support campus flexibility, and in
conjunction with our participation on the
Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Dependent Care,
we have written a booklet on flexible work arrangements which will be both a part of the new Guide
to Dependent Care as well as a free-standing document.
Training. We have
designed customized training programs for several departments in
major transition or conflict. We worked with CARE Services to develop
a new program on dealing with difficult situations and behaviors in
the workplace, and a new component on dealing with angry people for
our regular classes. We are currently collaborating with CARE
Services and Human Resources to determine how to deliver training
that meets assessed campus training needs. We incorporate reference
to the campus principles and values in all our training
efforts.
Other
Collaborations. Because so many of the issues we identify are
multi-faceted , we collaborate extensively with other campus
departments to address them. Some examples: We chaired the team that
developed assessment tools for, and training to address, potential
workplace violence (BRAT team). We established regular meetings with
staff organizations to keep apprised of the campus climate and to
help them develop plans for putting the campus principles and values
in place.
TRENDS
Because we see staff at
all levels, as well as managers and faculty who have staff-related
concerns--and because our role as a confidential, impartial office
leads people to communicate concerns that they do not necessarily
feel comfortable expressing at their work site--we are often able to
identify department-wide, control-unit-wide, or campus-wide trends.
Here are some campus trends we
have identified recently:
- The development of
Berkeley’s Administrative Vision, together with
several systemwide pronouncements as the new personnel program was
developed, has made staff more aware of the gap
between the campus community’s stated intentions
and how we all actually behave. Employees are
increasingly expecting to be treated in accordance with stated
principles.
- The workplace has
become more complex, with multi-faceted new laws (such as FMLA and
the ADA) and new personnel and other administrative programs. As a
result, employees, and managers as well, seem to be less clear as to their
rights and responsibilities.
- Workplace conflict
is less often a result of alleged policy violations, and more and
more a result of communications breakdowns
or perceived disrespectful treatment. (Note: Extensive inappropriate
use of e-mail also seems to
have contributed significantly to communication breakdowns.)
- Professional
staff and managers are increasingly seeking ombuds help, in regard to interactions with those
to whom they report as well as those they supervise.
Trends at the
national level include:
- rapid growth in
alternative dispute resolution (ADR) as an effective means of
resolving conflicts that is less costly than resort to the courts
or outside agencies, and has fewer long-term negative
effects
- rapid growth in the
ombuds profession as an effective means of identifying and
addressing staff concerns
GOALS
In addition to our
on-going goals of providing effective direct client services to both
individuals and groups, we have several specific goals for the
immediate future:
- To take a lead in
developing community-building activities on campus
- To provide mediation
skills training for management
- To meet with the
Chancellor and control unit heads on a regular basis to provide a
neutral perspective on campus staff issues
- To develop closer
ties with the Academic and Student Ombuds Offices to jointly
address campus concerns
- To focus more on
prevention by developing new training programs and new means for
alternative dispute resolution (ADR)
RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on our assessment
of the campus climate, we offer the following
recommendations:
- Many of the problems
that are brought to the Staff Ombuds Office could have been
prevented with adequate management training. We recommend that the
campus consider whether the time is now ripe for instituting
mandatory training of those
who manage staff (including academic managers).
- As the first step in
creating a campus climate that fosters the stated principles and
values for treatment of employees, management should convey an
expectation that the norm
is to resolve difficulties informally.
Too often, managers attempt to
‘win’ in a formal forum
rather than to thoroughly explore informal methods that might
achieve a potentially more effective long-term solution (one that
addresses root causes).
- Most staff conflicts
are about treatment, not
about policy violations. Lack of attention to human dignity
frequently escalates problems and creates wounds that lead to
future problems. We recommend that the campus community be held
accountable for respectful treatment as described in the campus
"Principles and Values" statement. This requires
building treatment into performance requirements, and developing
mechanisms for obtaining feedback.
- Because
communications breakdowns
play such a large part in creating conflict, the campus must take
steps to insure that interpersonal interactions do not take a back
seat to technological developments. Emphasis needs to be placed on
the appropriate use of communications technology
(including e-mail and voice mail), so that it does not contribute
to discord.
- To support the
campus commitment to diversity, there is a need for on-going
training in multicultural competencies,
targeted to all levels.
These are some of the
key ways in which the campus can begin to translate principles and
values into forms of treatment that will enable Berkeley to recruit,
retain, and motivate a first-rate staff.
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