Topic Background :

 

Wherever there are employees, there are employee relations issues. Every company will inevitably encounter times when they must conduct an internal investigation.

Knowing how to conduct an internal investigation in regards to a complaint, an accident, or upon receipt of reports of misconduct or even in regards to a performance situation, is one of the most critical skills every manager, supervisor and certainly, every HR professional needs in today’s workplace.

A professional investigation helps an employer defend against legal liability and can send a message to employees that they work for an ethical company.

However, whether the investigation, from fact-finding to writing reports, defends the company and limits your legal liability or blows up into an incredible, embarrassing mess (that incurs even greater liability) may depend largely upon HOW the investigation is conducted.

​

Why You Should Attend :

 

When a complaint is received, or the employer becomes aware of a potentially problematic situation, the employer is on notice that there may be a problem. However, since many companies do not have a person who does investigations as their job and the few persons pressed into service as investigators are often untrained; an untrained person trying to handle an investigation has the potential to escalate a small problem into a bigger problem.

Many employers struggle to gather information during witness interviews in investigations. Many employees, for a variety of reasons, are reluctant to be involved and can be less than forthcoming. Friends of employees and those accused of an offense are often downright angry and vengeful. In investigations, to meet employer obligations, it is crucial that interviews are structured to capture and gather all available accurate information, notwithstanding employee emotions that are often running high.

Even routine investigations can uncover unexpectedly ugly aspects of the people and/or even of the company so untrained investigators even operating under the best, most routine of circumstances may not do nearly enough to uncover the problem, be easily dissuaded from doing anything at all or not protect complainants and witnesses from being retaliated against.

Learning on the job can be costly in a number of way to the employer, not just in attorney fees or judgments, but also in loss of employees, damage to morale, vicious gossip and damage of reputations and loss of productivity that can take years to repair.

 

Areas Covered in the Webinar :
 

• How to take a complaint

• Managers and supervisors role in an investigation

• HR’s role in an investigation

• The investigative process

• The interview

• Decision making

• Closing an investigation

• After the investigation

​

Presenter : Teri Morning

​

Note : Recorded access is available for this topic. If you are interested, write to us at contactus@compliancefeed.com