How to Conduct an Investigation Step by Step

Complaints at the workplace must be thoroughly investigated. Failure to investigate only promotes impunity and increases the chances of recurrence. Upon receiving a complaint from an employee or their supervisor, initiate an immediate investigation to establish what exactly happened and the cause of action to take.

Besides finding out what happened, a thorough investigation can shield your organization from potential litigation for employee wrongdoing. Quick response to take effective, prompt action is needed. Below are ten tips for how to conduct an investigation step by step:

Step #1: Make a Decision

The first place to begin a workplace investigation is to decide whether or not to investigate. An investigation is time-consuming and costly to the organization. If there’s no need for one, you shouldn’t have one. In some cases, complaints can be solved amicably between employees.

Once the grievances of the aggrieved party are fully addressed, and all the parties agree there is no need for a full-blown investigation, a decision can be made to apologize, shake hands, and get along. In some instances, a documented warning may be all that’s needed.

However, you would rather conduct an ‘unnecessary’ investigation than fail to investigate a potentially damaging complaint. Always err on the side of caution. For instance, a serious workplace harassment complaint could snowball into protracted litigation. In some cases, there’s no way of knowing how prevalent a problem is until you start asking questions.

Step #2: Take Prompt Action

Even as you launch investigations, some situations require immediate action. For instance, if the situation could get out of hand to the detriment of your business, take action right away. In other cases, the safety of an employee could be imperilled if you don’t take immediate action.

You don’t want to continue harbouring an employee accused of sexually assaulting a colleague at work or one who is accused of coming with a gun or other weapon to work. Temporal suspension of such a worker is critical even as investigations get underway. However, the suspension should be reasonable. Otherwise, the employee may conclude you’ve prejudged them unfairly.

Step #3: Select an Investigator

When choosing an investigator, settle on a trained and experienced one who is not only impartial but also one who is perceived as impartial by the parties involved. The investigator must be conversant with investigation techniques and be capable of taking action. They should also be ready to testify in court should they be required to do so. If any of your employees meet this job description, use them, or hire one from the marketplace.

Step #4: Plan the Investigation

Instead of plunging into an investigation without planning, take the time to plan it out. Gather enough intel about the problem at hand. Get the supervisor’s report, documented warnings, the complaint itself, and evidence such as threat letters, emails, etc.

Once you have this information, decide what is needed to establish what happened. Who should you interview and what questions will you ask them? Are there other documents in possession of employees or supervisors that are critical to the investigation? Did someone witness key events related to the case? All these are pertinent questions to ask before going into the investigation full-throttle.

Step #5: Interview

An investigation’s key goal is to gather information. The most effective way of achieving this goal is by interviewing people. You should conduct at least two interviews. The first should be with the accused employee. The second interview should be conducted with the aggrieved victim or complainant.

You may also have to interview witnesses or other colleagues who are likely to have heard or seen something important. During the interviews, seek to glean as much information as you can by using open-ended questions.

Step #6: Gather Evidence

Documented evidence is highly credible in workplace investigations. In fact, it forms the bulk of evidence that an investigation is likely to rely on heavily. It includes company policies, correspondence, personnel files, and email messages, among others.

In some investigations, you may be required to collect alternative evidence such as a weapon, photographs, stolen items, or drugs.

Step #7: Evidence Evaluation

Now that you’ve collected documented or material evidence that you consider compelling, the next step is a bit challenging. It involves evaluating the evidence. In some cases, the evidence adduced by witnesses may be contradictory, making it difficult to figure out exactly what happened.

However, there are tried-and-tested methods you can use to establish where the truth is. Besides, using intuition and common sense, it’s not hard to establish who had a more convincing demeanour, whose version of events made the most sense, and who is likely to gain from lying to you.

In spite of the evidence you’ve gathered, you may come to the conclusion that you still don’t have enough information to take action.

Step #8: Take Action

Assuming you now know what happened based on the evidence at hand, you must take swift action to protect your company and other workers from the employee’s deviant behaviour and to avoid legal liability.

The action you take must be in line with the gravity of the misdemeanour and in line with that meted for similar past cases.

Step #9: Write an Investigation Report

After concluding the investigation, compile an investigation report. The report should detail how the complaint came to you, what you did and reasons for taking the action you took. This not only protects your company from litigation, but it also sets a precedent for similar future cases.

Step #10: Follow Up

Lastly, follow up to make sure the misconduct has ceased and to find out how the aggrieved party is coping. It’s important to establish if the problem has been totally settled.

You also need to establish if the wrongdoer has adhered to the recommendations imposed on them. Based on what the investigation revealed, you may recommend training on company policies and other issues related to workplace interactions.