Ombudsman Programs

An Ombudsman program is an additional resource for your business, especially if you are an Association with members as clients. An Ombudsman program would provide an invaluable resource for members to work out their issues without involving the Association directly unless there was a serious breach of ethics. There are a number of models available from a facilitated process to one that includes a formal complaint process. The most popular Ombudsman process outside of formal legislation such as government is the facilitation model.

Sue Vandittelli is the current Canadian Franchise Ombudsman for the CFA, the Canadian Franchise Association and the International Franchise Ombudsman for the IFA, the International Franchise Association. These facilitative Ombudsman programs have been successfully running for over 10 years and are a great example of an association providing an innovative resource to their membership.

MORE DETAILS ARE AVAILABLE ON THESE SITES:

CFA Franchise Ombudsman program are available on www.cfa.ca/ombudsman-program. 

IFA Franchise Ombudsman program are available on www.franchise.org/ifa-facilitative-ombudsman-program

*Bilingual Services are available

"The process we participated in with the IFA Ombudsman program was seamless from start to finish.  Our group had our specific goals and agenda before beginning, and we shared those with our Ombudsman.  She always took great care to restate our concerns or goals so that they were clear. 

Our guided interactions with the other party were also very streamlined, mostly because our Ombudsman took the time to make sure we were only discussing the issues on the table. 

The timeline was a bit longer than we had hoped, but it was due to some timing issues on our end based on our business cycle.  The outcome was in line with what we had hoped for and outlined from the beginning, with both sides making important compromises and working through our Ombudsman to achieve a great outcome.  We would use this process again if necessary; it was well worth the time and effort."

~ Franchisee