Effective management of complex or senior HR investigations

Best practice for conducting complex investigations in the UK

With the steady rise in employee grievances that all require investigating, we wanted to share with you some ideas for the effective management of the more complex situations you might come across, including investigations relating to senior staff and directors.

Managing multi complaints or serial complainers

Many organisations will have a few known faces who regularly make complaints. Some of these will be genuine complaints which must be taken very seriously, however others may be vexatious or frivolous. We recommend you put in place a triage system for complaints that identify.

Those where you might encourage the employee themselves to take responsibility for (eg speaking to the person who has upset them) ahead of the organisation deciding if a more formal approach needs to be taken
Those that require a relatively straightforward investigation
Those that require a more complex investigation and that will require a senior investigator or possibly the outsourcing of an investigation to ensure confidentiality and/or impartiality.

It’s our experience that those raising multiple complaints often complain about the same thing or same person, just in a different way each time. To avoid time being taken up by similar or identical complaints:

Set out your expectations to those who raise complaints – there is no need to be heavy handed but at times some complainants may need reminding of the importance of following the procedure, how its not acceptable to just ‘drop’ a grievance and then refuse to discuss it or go off sick refusing all contact, that malicious complaints may be considered to be an act of misconduct, that it is professional to have cameras on in all online meetings as things are always more easily discussed and resolved when we can see the other person, that professional and respectful behaviour is expected of all parties at all times. A complaint does not give anyone the right to be rude or unco-operative.
Take time during any meetings to identify the root cause of the issues and address those rather than just the ‘example’ that has been raised on this occasion.
Be clear on boundaries and professionalism – no employee can tell you how to do your job or how the organisation should be run. For example someone not accepting a managers right/responsibility to manage performance requires the re-setting of boundaries. Sometimes you might decide that commercial understanding training may be valuable for staff. Sometimes you may identify training for managers to give them confidence to hold their ground in a difficult situation.
If you receive a second or subsequent ‘similar’ complaint to one already investigated, take time to understand how this can be resolved properly, rather than taking a sticking plaster approach. A broader investigation may be needed or other strategy required. Multiple investigations into a similar issue or person should be a red flag.
Planning and consideration ahead of every investigation is absolutely key for you to understand what you are dealing with, what emotions are involved, and how the complaint/concern might be investigated and resolved long term. Keep an open mind about solutions.

Tip: It will be more cost effective to provide one or several individual with coaching/training to develop their communication, accountability and/or assertiveness skills enabling them to better raise and resolve interpersonal frustrations and conflict than for the HR team to manage multiple grievances.

Managing senior investigations

There are of course certain sensitivities when managing an investigation relating to a senior member of your organisation.

In almost all cases consideration should be given to the preservation of the relationship of the individual so that the outcome of the investigation does not inadvertently solve one problem, but then create a new one. Confidentiality, impartiality, understanding of status and position within the organisation and an acknowledgement of public or wider interest in the outcome of the investigation are all things to consider.

This is not to say that senior staff should get favourable treatment, but consideration should be given to the additional challenges of conducting a fair and full investigation when someone senior is involved.

Outsourcing senior investigations will give a great chance of an impartial report. Equally using an internal investigator from a different area of the business will often achieve much of the same. The key is for you to be able to demonstrate impartiality, as well as the fair application of a process of course. The reissuing of a confidentiality agreement may be a sensible step as a reminder to all parties of the need for confidentiality.

In terms of timing, it is critical for senior level investigations to take place as quickly as possible given potential impact both internally and externally should it come to be known that a senior member of your team is being investigated.

Tip: It is not uncommon for us to want to think the best of those we work closely with and who are of a similar level/role to us and who may have attended our children’s weddings or socialised with us outside of work. However we could all do with remembering that there is data that shows the majority of fraud is committed by senior people with access to money and in the same way the working patters and habits of senior people do expose the organisation to risks that may simply not exist elsewhere – hotel stays, conferences and networking, international travel, late night working etc. Your familiarity with someone in a senior position in the organisation should be something to consider when investigating allegations of misconduct. With the best will in the world we would all find it hard to conduct an impartial investigation into a close friend.

Managing investigations with non co-operative employees

It’s incumbent on all employees to do what is asked of them at work provided what is asked is fair and reasonable (ie you cannot ask someone to sign away any employment rights such as to working hours). Given this, it is a reasonable request to ask people to attend meetings, to turn cameras on during online meetings, to answer questions that you put to them, to refrain from swearing or raising false allegations etc.

Sometimes managers will need to be reassured of their rights as managers when setting out their expectations of those they manage. When managers don’t understand their rights or feel that they will not be backed up by their employer when they do assert their rights, we find that employees are often not managed or not managed well. Please don’t disempower your managers by not supporting them in difficult situations. Equally take time to ensure that your employees understand what is expected of them if they are not to be in breach of their contract of employment.

Tip: Non co-operation is an act of misconduct. It does not have to be tolerated or ignored. Not treating it as misconduct will begin to blur the boundaries of how all issues are managed within your business. Now is not the time to blur boundaries. That said, you do not have to launch into disciplinary action, just a gentle reminder of obligations and expectations is often sufficient to ensure appropriate behaviours.

How Jaluch can help

There are certain circumstances where appointing an external investigator will be the best choice for your organisation, this is often the case with senior or sensitive investigations, if you’d like to discuss how we could support your organisation with an internal investigation, get in touch or call 01425 479888.

Training courses we offer to develop your skills in this area:

Managing workplace investigations
Managing performance
Accountability
Managing discipline

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Disclaimer: The information contained within this article is for general guidance only and represents our understanding of employment and associated law and employee relations issues as at the date of publication. Jaluch Limited, or any of its directors or employees, cannot be held responsible for any action or inaction taken in reliance upon the contents. Specific advice should be sought on all individual matters.