Most investigations involve at least two interviews: one of the employee accused of wrongdoing, and another of the employee who complained or was the victim. Sometimes, you will also want to interview witnesses -- others who may have seen or heard something important. When you interview people, try to elicit as much information as possible by asking open-ended questions.
Gather documents and other evidence. Almost every investigation will rely to some extent on documents -- personnel files, email messages, company policies, correspondence, and so on. And some investigations will require you to gather other types of evidence, such as drugs, a weapon, photographs, or stolen items. Evaluate the evidence. The most challenging part of many investigations -- especially if witnesses disagree or contradict each other -- is figuring out what actually happened.
There are some proven methods of deciding where the truth lies -- methods all of us use in our everyday lives to get to the bottom of things. You'll want to consider, for example, whose story makes the most sense, whose demeanor was more convincing, and who if anyone has a motive to deceive you.
And in some situations, you may just have to throw up your hands and acknowledge that you don't have enough information to decide what really happened. Take action. Once you decide what happened, you'll have to figure out what to do about it.
If you conclude that serious wrongdoing occurred, you will have to take disciplinary action quickly to avoid legal liability for that employee's behavior and to protect your company and other workers from harm. In deciding how to handle these situations, you should consider a number of factors, including how serious the actions were and how you have handled similar problems in the past.
Document the investigation. Once your investigation is complete, you should write an investigation report that explains what you did and why. This will not only give the company some protection from lawsuits relating to the investigation, but will also provide a written record in case of future misconduct by the same employee s. Among other things, your report should explain how and when the problem came to the company's attention, what interviews you conducted, what evidence you considered, what conclusions you reached, and what you did about the problem.
Either way, hopefully your investigation with result in an early understanding of workplace culture issues. A proper investigation will reveal workplace issues one way or another, enabling business leaders to create a plan for further action and avoid potential workplace liability.
The issues you spot are then identified and the opportunity to correct them is available. This presents the opportunity for positive workplace culture changes that enable your organization to shift towards inclusion, diversity and a friendly place to work for your talent. Company policies should be followed, not violated.
Investigators must determine employees' credibility. Interviews provide differing accounts and even conflicting versions of the events. Be aware that the issue is very personal to employees involved. Because of the personal and emotional nature of the issue, their individual perceptions of what happened may be clouded by personal interests, or if their jobs are on the line, they may even lie.
Investigators must consider the credibility of the individuals being questioned during an investigation and use techniques e. Investigators should be cautious when conducting interviews to avoid any harsh interrogation tactics that could result in charges such as coerced false confessions and false imprisonment.
Through the investigation, the investigator must be careful not to jump to any conclusions before all the facts are available. Once the interviews are conducted, other necessary procedures, such as evidence collection, should be completed. Once any credibility issues have been resolved, the investigator will evaluate all the information for a formal recommendation. The investigator or member of management, as well as legal counsel, should make the final determination of any employment actions that are warranted based on the investigative report.
The employer must consider all the parties involved as well as organizational processes, not just whether the accused is guilty, in the final determination. Once a decision is made, the employer should notify both the complaining employee and the accused of the outcome. It is important to let the complainant know that the organization took the complaint seriously and took appropriate action.
The organization must ensure the complainant agrees that he or she has been properly heard and understood, even if he or she is not in agreement with the results. The investigator should set a time frame to follow up with the complainant to ensure there are no other issues and that he or she is settling back into the work environment. The employer should encourage communication and follow-up until the complainant is comfortable again.
Finally, the investigator should remind all parties to preserve confidentiality as appropriate. When necessary, employers must take corrective action that is appropriate to the situation, such as discipline or even termination. The employer should:. If operating on the premise that every investigation of a serious nature could potentially be heard and reviewed by a court, the employer should consider preparing a final investigative report.
The organization should keep a clear paper trail of the evidence, such as examining documentation of previous employee behavior and incidents. The investigator should have a clear record of everything done and any findings as well as other steps taken during the investigation.
Employers should also document interviews with the accused, the accuser and witnesses. Investigators should ensure their notes from interviews are as factual as possible, contain as much relevant information as possible, are dated and indicate the duration and time of the interviews. The goal of the document is to ensure that if a court, jury or government agency were to review it, the reviewers would conclude that the employer took the situation seriously, responded immediately and appropriately, and had a documented good-faith basis for any actions taken during or as a result of the investigation.
You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. Please enable scripts and reload this page. Reuse Permissions. Page Content. You have successfully saved this page as a bookmark. OK My Bookmarks. Please confirm that you want to proceed with deleting bookmark.
Delete Cancel. You have successfully removed bookmark. As the nation engages in a long-overdue reckoning with systemic racism and inequality, American businesses of all stripes have expressed their support for the Black Lives Matter movement or voiced their commitment to fighting discrimination and injustice. Companies know that silence is no longer an option, but neither is lip-service. They must adopt policies and establish protocols that demonstrate their intolerance of intolerance.
When complaints arise about harassment, discrimination, or other workplace misconduct , businesses need to investigate and respond to such allegations quickly, thoughtfully, and proactively. Here are six key elements of workplace investigations that deliver clarity, fairness, and conclusiveness:. Almost all workplace investigations begin the same way: with an employee complaint.
Workers need to have confidence that they can make their concerns known without fear of retaliation or blowback and that those concerns will reach someone with authority and commitment to respond. The EEOC recommends that the employees responsible for receiving, investigating, and resolving complaints:. Upon review of a complaint, the investigator needs to develop a plan for how to arrive at the truth of what occurred.
0コメント