It's an Incident Investigation

When I first got into HR, I thought it was about those things they covered in school – recruiting, job descriptions, workforce planning, compensation & Benefits, and some HRIS system that would cover it all. What I didn’t realize is that there is so much more, from dealing with the day-to-day issues, conflict and incidents. On the one hand, it is a balancing act between employee vs employer needs. On the other hand, there are some things that need to be totally separated from employee/employer – being impartial. Also, I did not realize that I was going to be the go-to investigator – and then have to gently explain my findings to both the employer and employee, regardless of what it was.

Incident reporting, in many respects - more than any other, is when I feel the most alone as a professional. The reason for this is because the only support I have is the legislation that generally back-stops things like safety, harassment and ethics. There is nothing like telling your employer that “the legislation says so.”

I have done many investigations and created several “internal responsibility systems” for company’s in my career. I have learned several lessons that I feel are important to HR Professionals and Managers.

It is best to turn everything in your mind off, when you are dealing with an investigation. Forget that you work for the company, that you are friends with some of the parties and that something might happen that you are not expecting.

Some-how believe that everyone is telling the true and lying at the same time. The only way you can keep getting information is to respect what people are saying and really believe and document exactly what they say. Later on, as you evaluate your finding you will have to assume nothing is true and search for “not truth” but what really happened. Truth is a morale issue, fact is an actual issue.

Force yourself to ask questions and do a lot of listening. But that is sometimes difficult. So, in your mind, keep asking “Why.” There is an investigative term “the 5Ws” – what, where, when, who and “w”how. But, what is more important is that you ask “Why 5 Xs”. It is about digging.

Finally, it is vital to have a “plan”. Whether it is an investigation process or form or a plan that you create custom for each situation, you need to have an investigation plan. Even if it is just a framework, you need to have something that can help you move along the investigation. You can’t investigate adhoc!

Good Hunting!