Handling Workplace Investigations Properly

workplace investigations bc

Have you recently uncovered the need for a workplace investigation? The reality of diverse workforces is that alongside the immense benefits of having unique individuals in your organization comes the challenges of differing personalities, opinions and backgrounds. Conflict, good, bad, or otherwise, is inevitable. Workplace investigations seek to bring truth to life in the event of a conflict and to ensure that all parties have an equal opportunity to be heard.

At Pivot HR, we know that navigating investigations and handling internal conflict can be incredibly challenging for businesses and organizations. Partnering with a trusted partner like our HR experts makes it easy to handle the ups and downs of human resources complaints and ensure that you’re compliant with all necessary standards. Below, we’ll take a closer look at a few key practices for handling HR Investigations. Read on to learn more!

What Are Workplace Investigations

Workplace investigations, as the name suggests, are geared toward investigating HR matters within a workplace. This process of discovery may come as the result of a specific incidence, repeated challenges, issues, or noted behaviours within the organization as a whole. At the core, a workplace investigation is geared to shine light on what’s going on and evaluate practices, employee relations, standards and guidelines. Common triggers for a workplace investigation include:

  • A bullying/harassment complaint and/or violent conflict
  • Breaches of policy
  • Investigation into interpersonal conflict

When investigating such matters, the following must always be front of mind throughout the entire process:

Objectivity and Equality

Whether you’re dealing with a 1-1 conflict or issues that involve your entire team, workplace investigations must be impartial (more on that in a moment) and fair for everyone involved. Your approach to the conflict must be compliant with all jurisdictional guidelines and seek to unearth as many details as possible to reach a fair, honest resolution.

Choose Your Investigators With Care

Since objectivity must be one of your greatest priorities, it is absolutely essential to ensure that those conducting the investigation are able to do so without any existing bias. In many cases, this requires partnering with an external HR consultancy like Pivot HR. Working with a third party gives you access to trained, impartial experts that know what to ask, where to look, and how to conduct themselves in such a way that the disruption to your workplace is as minimal as possible.

Act Promptly, Investigate Thoroughly

When it comes to HR matters, especially those warranting an investigation, time is of the essence. Don’t put off an investigation or drag your heels in the hopes that the problem will resolve itself. While it can often feel uncomfortable to move ahead in the process formally, it’s important to remember that sometimes the best way to protect your employees (as well as yourself) is to follow the right processes and move ahead with protocols.

To get the best result, you’ll need to do a thorough deep dive, ask some tough questions and demonstrate the willingness to listen and learn to prevent repeats in the future.

Protect All Parties Involved

Regardless of the circumstances behind your workplace investigation, all parties deserve respect and dignity. Take a zero-tolerance stance towards retaliation and make sure that everyone involved knows to behave with care and respect towards the rest of their team, no matter the outcome.

Document!!!

We cannot stress this enough; you must be sure to document as much of your investigation as possible. Not only for legal purposes but for internal records, employee files (as needed) and any other aspects that may be informed by the investigation. Failure to document can lead to significant issues and potentially even fines down the road.

Once the Outcome is Clear, Act Accordingly
Workplace investigations may not always be pleasant, but they provide us with the necessary information to move forward confidently. Once you have a verdict and know your information is fair and accurate, it’s time to act. All parties should be advised of the potential outcomes (when and where warranted), pending the results of the investigation, and thus should be able to be informed of the resolution (as it relates to them) without feeling blindsided.

Following an investigation, it’s also key for management and key executives to commit to a continued path forward, utilizing everything you’ve learned to build a better foundation for the future.

Workplace Investigations with Pivot HR

Pivot HR is pleased to offer professional HR assistance across British Columbia as well as Calgary, Edmonton and Toronto. Our HR experts are here to be your objective source for navigating difficult workplace situations with confidence and integrity. Contact us today to learn more.

What Our Clients say about us

“Robin and Mia were both exceptionally professional and responsive and understood our needs. Their work was of great quality. We are a small non-profit organization and we found them very easy and wonderful to work with. Great value and highly recommend.”

~ Joy Masuhara , Co-Chair Women Transforming Cities International Society

“Cindy is a remarkable professional coach, who goes well beyond expectations in supporting her clients’ development. She knows how to ask the right questions and uncover the real and deep issues that contribute to the limitations we put on ourselves. This type of personal exploration is tough work to do alone and remain committed to necessary change. Cindy’s approach and support made this process one of the most impactful experiences of my life, professionally and personally.”

~ Monique Cotton, Firm Administrator, JFK Law Corporation

“As a medium size business with over 100 employees working in very different areas of our operation, Pivot was able to quickly understand our HR needs and offer practical solutions. Robin and the Pivot team worked closely with our Leadership group to implement effective turnkey solutions on time and on budget. We will continue to use Pivot for our ongoing HR needs and would highly recommend their services.”

~ Adam Zubek, General Manager, Point Grey Golf & Country Club

Pivot HR Services provides personalized solutions for our organization’s human resources needs. By engaging their services, we have been able to successfully outsource our HR function, as the Pivot team has demonstrated their ability to understand the HR priorities of our workplace culture and industry.

~ Areef Abraham, Chief Executive Officer Community Power

“Robin developed our employee policy manual with the goal of engaging and retaining our current staff as well as attracting new ones in this highly competitive marketplace. Her in depth knowledge of current legislation and HR policies proved to be of significant benefit. I would highly recommend Robin and the team at Pivot HR Services.”

~ Christopher Soles, President, Nextgen Technologies Ltd.

“Robin has been and continues to be an outstanding resource for our organization to navigate HR issues as we grow. She always approaches problems with professionalism and a keen eye for our best interest. I’d certainly recommend Robin to anyone looking to elevate their HR processes.”

~ Karim Abraham, CEO, Kambo Energy Solutions

“Our firm turned to Robin for advice and guidance at a time when we faced a period of serious difficulty in managing our human resources. She assisted us through the process of putting our relationship with our staff on a stronger, more stable footing and helped us implement a complete overhaul of our human resources policies. We could not be more pleased with the work she has done and continues to do with us.”

~ Robert Janes, QC, Managing Principal JFK Law Corporation

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