Office of the Ombudsman (2020 Presidential transition)
| Book 3 - Organization Overview
|
|---|
| Entire 2020 DOE Transition book As of October 2020 |
The Office of the Ombudsman (Ombuds) is aligned with and supports the Department of Energy’s (DOE) mission and Strategic Objective 12, attract, manage, train, and retain the best federal workforce to meet future mission needs. The Ombuds provides the workforce with a confidential, independent, informal, and neutral resource to address workplace challenges. The Ombuds engages on many complex and high-profile issues and has successfully worked with employees at all levels to help address workplace challenges that distract from achieving the Department’s mission.
Mission Statement
Help DOE work better together by tapping into the power of collaborative approaches to address workplace challenges.
Budget
| Fiscal Year | Budget |
| FY 2019 enacted | $850,000 |
| FY 2020 enacted | $850,000 |
| FY 2021 request | $850,000 |
Human Resources
FY 2020 authorized full-time equivalents (FTEs): 4
History
The Ombuds was established on March 6, 2012 and was created to provide an alternative for federal headquarters and field employees who want to speak with a neutral, independent party about workplace challenges in a confidential environment. To date, the Ombuds has supported over 7,000 individuals and addressed over 20,000 issues.
Functions
When faced with workplace challenges, the Ombuds provides confidential, independent, and neutral support to individuals and groups seeking a path forward. The Ombuds brings expertise identifying and addressing root causes of workplace challenges and offers tailored approaches to solutions. The Ombuds provides support to individuals, groups, leaders/management teams, and the Department as a whole by identifying the root cause of workplace challenges; brainstorming options and assessing pros and cons; and developing and implementing plans. The Ombuds identifies areas of concern or those of a systemic nature and makes recommendations on how they can be best addressed. In cases where a process exists for addressing a concern, the Ombuds makes referrals to other Department resources. Specific Ombuds functions include:
- Formulates strategic and performance plans; manages the human, financial and material resources of the Ombuds; and benchmarks against other ombudsman programs.
- Promotes understanding of existing processes for resolving disputes; advocates for alternative dispute resolution; and identifies systemic problems and proposes strategies for improvement.
- Briefs senior leadership on strategies and activities including statistical information on contacts with the Ombuds while maintaining confidentiality of the information; identifies systemic issues affecting productivity, morale and the workplace; and identifies strategies and options for improvement.
- Interfaces with the Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer; the Office of the General Counsel; the Office of Environment, Health, Safety, and Security; Office of Hearings and Appeals, National Nuclear Security Administration and other offices.
The Ombuds acts in accordance with the International Ombudsman Association’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, to the extent they conform to federal agency rules and regulations, and other federally mandated requirements. These govern the way in which the Ombuds receives workplace concerns, helps to resolve issues, and assists with general improvement of the Department.
The Ombuds is a resource for informal dispute resolution only and does not participate in any internal or external formal process. The Office does not investigate, arbitrate or adjudicate. In addition, contact with the Office does not forestall established timeframes within DOE formal processes, nor does it constitute legal notice to DOE or official notice to initiate a formal process.
Recent Organization Accomplishments
At the onset of maximum telework, Ombuds quickly developed a webinar for leaders, Leading Teams Through Change, with over 274 participants. Survey results revealed 98% of the participants agreed the content was useful, valuable, and relevant to their success at work and 95% would recommend to others
Due to the International Ombudsman Association’s conference and training being cancelled this year, Ombuds took a leading role in the Federal sector collaborating with other Federal ombuds to create and deliver training for new Federal ombuds. This resulted in 70 individuals receiving training that would not have been available for approximately one year. Survey results indicated 98% strongly agreed or agreed that the topics were relevant, the sessions were useful, and the trainers were knowledgeable, professional, & responsive to questions.
From 2012-2019 nearly half (48%) of all of the concerns brought to the Ombuds were issues within supervisory relationships. We obtained support and buy-in from stakeholders across DOE to address this systemic issue. We identified the top four areas of concern shared most frequently with us by DOE employees; developed an approach to understanding the behaviors leading to effective leadership; identified and interviewed a dozen DOE leaders and obtained input from their direct reports; collected & analyzed various sources of data; and developed recommendations for improving leadership. We are currently briefing key stakeholders on the analysis and recommendations which will culminate into recommendations to S1 during FY’21. Implementation of recommendations will result in long-term cost avoidance and increased engagement
Led in the support to over 200 individuals addressing almost 1350 issues leading to the resolution of complex problems, improved working relationships, and increased focus on mission. The average time to close cases was fewer than 5 days. Due to the risk level associated with issues, cost avoidance is estimated to be more than 5 million dollars. Solicited input from the DOE workforce to inform revised Ombuds messaging resulting in the elimination of ombuds jargon and development of messages that clearly describe our mission, vision, services, and impact.
Leadership Challenges
The four members of the Office of the Ombudsman are responsible for providing support to the entire DOE federal workforce. Present staffing levels do not permit the Ombuds to fully realize its potential as an innovator for alternative dispute resolution within DOE.
Critical Events and Action Items
From 2012-2019 nearly half (48%) of all of the concerns brought to the Ombuds were issues within supervisory relationships. We obtained support and buy-in from stakeholders across DOE to begin to address this systemic issue. We developed an approach to understand the behaviors leading to effective leadership; gathered and analyzed data and developed recommendations to improve leadership. Briefings on the findings and recommendations will conclude by the end of this year. As we have done in the past with systemic issues, we will seek the Secretary’s endorsement and support of the recommendations. [1]
Office of the Ombudsman
Links
Internal
- Department of Energy
- Department of Energy: Transitions 2020-organization overviews table of contents
External
References
- ↑ DOE. (2021). Transitions 2020: Organization Overviews. US Department of Energy.