CASE STUDY
Equipping NASA Volunteer Ombuds to Address Workplace Bullying
CHALLENGE
NASA’s ombuds program provides employees with access to trained volunteers who can listen to workplace concerns, help individuals evaluate their options, and guide them toward constructive next steps.
Volunteer ombuds were hearing concerns about workplace bullying, but they were unsure how to recognize bullying, respond appropriately, or help employees advocate for themselves. Because ombuds serve as a confidential and impartial resource—not investigators, decision-makers, or advocates—they needed practical strategies that would allow them to support employees without overstepping the boundaries of their role.
NASA engaged Civility Partners to provide specialized training that would strengthen the ombuds team’s confidence and ability to respond when employees described bullying, incivility, or other difficult workplace behavior.
SOLUTION
Civility Partners designed an interactive workshop grounded in our expertise in workplace bullying, toxic behavior, and constructive intervention.
Participants learned how to:
- Recognize workplace bullying and distinguish it from conflict, incivility, and legitimate performance management
- Ask effective questions to help employees clarify what they were experiencing
- Guide employees through their available options without telling them what to do
- Help employees prepare to speak up and advocate for themselves
- Introduce practical intervention strategies employees and witnesses could use
- Build trust while navigating sensitive concerns and workplace power dynamics
The workshop incorporated realistic scenarios, facilitated discussion, and breakout-room exercises. This allowed participants to apply the concepts, learn from one another, and strengthen relationships across the agency’s ombuds community.
OUTCOMES
Evaluation results demonstrated a strong and consistent response to the workshop. Across all four quantitative measures, participants gave the training an average score of 4.6 out of 5.
Participants identified the most valuable elements as the trust-building content, new strategies for asking questions, practical ways to step in, and the opportunity to work through scenarios with other ombuds.
By the end of the workshop, participants had a clearer framework for responding to bullying concerns, practical tools they could apply in future conversations, and greater connection with fellow ombuds facing similar challenges.
BUSINESS IMPACT
Workplace bullying can contribute to employee complaints, conflict, disengagement, lost productivity, and turnover. Equipping ombuds to respond skillfully gives employees a more effective early resource for addressing concerns before they become more disruptive or costly.
The training strengthened NASA’s volunteer ombuds team the internal capacity to navigate sensitive workplace behavior, guide employees toward constructive action, and identify organizational conditions that could limit the ombuds program’s effectiveness. It also established clear measures for immediate learning and readiness to apply the material—creating a foundation for future evaluation of behavioral and organizational impact.