Conducting Workplace Investigations

The goals of any workplace investigation are to provide employees with reassurance that the company cares about their concerns and to address any inappropriate behavior as quickly as possible to protect the company from potential legal action, security breaches, or even workplace violence. One of the most important tasks that a supervisor, manager, or HR professional performs is to respond appropriately to employee grievances and reports of inappropriate behavior. Not all reports by employees are legitimate or require investigation, but it is best not to make this decision before investigating the facts and circumstances. There are many such situations that can bring legal liability to a company (and in some cases to supervisors and managers) so the best practice is to investigate before deciding how to respond.  How you handle an investigation and the follow-up to the investigation could also be grounds for legal action.

Some investigations will be completed very quickly, while others will be very involved and will take much more time. It is a skilled leader or HR professional who knows how to quickly assess the situation and does not waste time investigating baseless claims while doing so in a manner that protects the company from costly and time-consuming litigation.

Learning Objectives

• This course will cover common areas for investigations with pointers on how to investigate effectively and efficiently: harassment and discrimination, workplace violence, workplace safety, whistleblower reports, employment disputes, misuse of company resources, cybersecurity breaches, performance issues, and code of conduct violations.
• We will cover the process of ensuring your workplace investigation is complete.  It will also cover what documentation is the best practice to create during the investigation. 
• We will review the steps in planning for an investigation, how to notify the affected parties, how to gather necessary statements, how to analyze the information gathered, the evaluation process, reporting results, and following up on any findings. 

Who Should Attend?

Any supervisor, manager, or HR professional who is in a position to receive employee complaints. Even if HR leads the investigation, supervisors and managers need to understand the process, what role they play in investigations, and what information they can share both during and after an investigation.