Courtesy B. Murphy23 Dec 2012 15:09
Corporate Investigations
We all know that there are bumps in the road, people do wrong things, people perceive that they are wronged, laws and regulations get trampled upon in the rulabula of doing business. However, when the alarm goes off, many in business are at a loss as to how incidents should be investigated. This article is by no means a full treatment of investigations, but does cover the ground.
Once an incident or complaint is made, the first action is to identify someone who will investigate the claims and the responses to claims. The personality and role of this person is critical. Whoever is nominated and put in place, they must be outside the decision making chain as they must report first to a decision maker (line manager or sectional head or team) and to an appeals person or group, the Managing Director or Board.
Without losing my drift, I should explain that whatever happens, any decision to impose sanctions for a wrongdoing must be subject to an internal appeals process. Companies cannot operate on the basis where a person or group of persons are judge and jury, for lots of reasons, most importantly, legal ones.
Once appointed the investigator has to be clear on their role. They are independent and removed from the day to day corporate consideration. their role is to objectively collect information and to present it to the decision maker.
Of crucial importance is the management of defamation risks. Allegations are very dangerous things and a badly executed investigation can result in defamation actions. And defamation actions are hard to defend and are really expensive, so don't go there!
Often, the investigator is exposed to high emotion, stress and pressure, not least because all parties are entitled to representation and are naturally responding emotionally to either the incident or the claim of an incident. In my experience, a parent, trade union official or a lawyer are very much the same and you need to set out a clear method of investigation before you start, otherwise the pressure will damage the investigative process. This method of investigation must be communicated to all parties and submissions considered. However, at the end of the day, it is for the investigator to apply the process for it is they who will be defending it in another forum, be that internally or in a court room.
The investigative process must operate against a number of criteria. It must be fair, open, transparent and objective. This said, it must also be highly confidential and protected from internal or external interest. Remember, any actions and risk management initiatives arising from the investigation report depend on the investigation. A poor quality investigation will really compromise the company and many a reasonable action has been undermined to the point of high levels of compensation because the investigation was flawed.
However, the starting point of the investigatve process lies within the person's contract of
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