Defining ombudsman
1. A man who investigates complaints and mediates fair settlements, especially between aggrieved parties such as consumers or students and an institution or organization.
2. A government official, especially in Scandinavian countries, who investigates citizens' complaints against the government or its functionaries.”
Later on, the word “ombuds” has been defined by the www.answers.com , as “commissioner, agent”, derived from the Old Norse umbodh, “charge, commission, administration be delegacy.” Ombudsmanship is a Swedish concept, as in 1809 the office of riksdagens justitieombudsman, was formed, which was responsible to serve as an “agent of justice, that is, to see after the interests of justice, that is, to see after the interests of justice in affairs between the government and its citizens.” The term concept was later adopted by different regions of the world and is being practiced at large up to this date.
Who is a corporate ombudsman?
In corporate context, as defined by The Merriam Webster’s dictionary, “an ombudsman is a representative of the organisation’s consciousness. An advocate of ‘fairness’, he is expected to resolve conflicts and employee concerns in the organisation, guided by the principles of justice, objectivity, confidentiality and independence.”
In a corporate environment the main responsibility of an ombudsperson is to make sure that the organizational system is free from biasness, abusiveness and ill-treatment with employees. Integrity, justice and trustworthiness are the critical elements in an ombudsperson. For this sake, it is highly recommended that an ombudsman should not fall prey of subjectivity in his ...