Having an in-house ombuds shows the importance that an organization attaches to the well-being and mental health of its staff as well as to creating and maintaining a healthy work climate. The presence of an ombuds within an organization brings several advantages.

In addition to intervening directly with staff members and managers to help them deal with their disputes in real time, as an ombuds, Joëlle Thibault contributes to the organization’s long-term relational health, notably by helping senior management identify blind spots and systemic risks and review practices related to the organization’s challenges.

As a key figure in an organization’s resources, Joëlle Thibault plays a unique and complementary role compared to other options made available to staff members.

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Joëlle Thibault’s practice is guided by ethical values and principles, including simplicity, respect, empathy, fairness and accessibility, and is aimed toward promoting dispute resolution.

Joëlle believes that:

• most of the tensions in the work environment can be resolved simply, through informal interventions such as discussion, coaching or mediation;
• ombuds’ interventions make it possible to find creative, humane solutions adapted to the situation, whatever its complexity;
• an organization that emphasizes relational health should offer several intervention options to its employees and managers, including ombuds services.
• ombuds’ work helps to reduce recourse to the courts and to divert situations that are only partially addressed by legal frameworks and processes;
• the ombuds contributes to the United Nation’s sustainable development targets by facilitating access to swift and equitable resolution mechanisms.