PART III - Protect Your Case: How to Conduct an Effective Workplace Investigation

The most important part of the process, of course, is the investigation itself. A quality investigation brings value to the company and assists the business managers who must correct the situation you have investigated. A workplace investigation also tangibly affects the people involved, from the implicated employee who may be terminated to the manager who may be blamed for what he did or didn’t do, or should have done.

A good investigator never forgets that real-world consequences are the results of his efforts. This outcome is different from that of other departments in the company. For instance, the accounts-receivable people can assume a certain percentage of bad debts from customers no matter how diligent their efforts, or the sales people can know that a significant amount of time and resources will be spent on potential customers who never wind up buying anything. We are only human, and we are not infallible. But we must remember that our colleagues will pay personally for our sloppiness and mistakes. “Good enough” should never be good enough for us.

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