A corporate internal investigation helps you address any allegations of wrongdoing within your company. They give you a chance to establish the facts before proceeding with any actions. They’re an integral part of every business and are crucial for working out exactly what happened during times of controversy.
But how do you conduct effective corporate internal investigations? You need to ensure you always reach the right outcomes and leave no stone unturned. This guide will explain the best ways to do that, along with some other key considerations.
Importance of Corporate Internal Investigations
Companies need corporate internal investigations to restore integrity and maintain a sense of stability within the organization. These investigations are only required when something bad happens, such as:
- Violating key company policies
- Conducting illegal activities
- Sexual misconduct in the workplace
- Embezzlement of business funds
All of these things are serious allegations that will have severe consequences for the business and everyone else involved. Therefore, it’s vital to find the right solution and understand how to deal with any of these cases. That’s where an internal corporate investigation comes into play. It enables businesses to discover what actually happened and work on the best possible solution.
Effective investigations will either clear someone of any wrongdoing or ensure they’re suitably punished. They’re also crucial in displaying transparency to clients, customers, board members, and the general public. Showing that you’ve gone through a rigorous internal investigation can be essential for protecting your company’s reputation.
The Internal Corporate Investigations Process
To run an effective corporate internal investigation, you must go through the right stages during the entire process. A typical internal investigation will look like this:
- The Trigger Point: This is what causes the need for the investigation and can stem from employee complaints, audit findings, etc.
- Assessing The Issue: Before any investigation begins, you must figure out the scope of this particular issue. Who does it affect, and what are the consequences? This also gives you a chance to see who’s involved, which will help during any future interviews.
- Assigning Your Investigators: Decide who’ll be in charge of the internal investigation. More often than not, this will be handled by your HR department or internal legal team. It might be necessary to bring in an independent corporate investigation law firm as well.
- Gather All Evidence: Evidence collection is imperative for any successful investigation. You must find and store anything that can be used to present facts during this process.
- Interview Those Involved: Host one-on-one interviews with anyone involved in this particular scandal. It’s a chance to see different perspectives and cross-reference accounts for a more accurate view of what happened and why it may have happened.
- Deliberation: After collecting evidence and interviewing everyone, you’ll need to gather your findings and make sense of them. This is often the hardest part, as you must objectively assess everything to reach a conclusion.
- Ending The Investigation: The investigation ends when you decide what to do following your analysis based on everything you’ve seen and gathered. You’ll need to document the investigation and formally close it when this is done.
Best Practices for Conducting Internal Investigations
Despite knowing the internal investigation process, you can still make mistakes during the various stages. The underlying rule is that a corporate internal investigation should be fair and legally compliant. Here are some best practices to keep in mind:
- Don’t Waste Time: Be sure you react as soon as you hear about the internal issue. The more you delay, the easier it is for people to destroy evidence or forget what happened.
- Comply With All Laws: Corporate investigations will brush upon countless workplace laws, such as Employment Laws, Confidentiality Laws, Data Protection Laws, and so on. You should always work with legal counsel to guarantee you don’t violate any laws.
- Pick Investigators With No Stake In The Matter: Never choose an investigation team with conflicts of interest. Those investigating this matter should be completely detached from it, allowing them to be truly impartial at all times.
- Carry Out Fair Interviews: It’s always wise to interview people separately, so they can’t agree on a pre-determined story. Additionally, you should interview everyone fairly and avoid accusing interviewees of any wrongdoing.
Benefits of Hiring a Corporate Investigations Law Firm
While the whole point of a corporate internal investigation is to deal with the matter in-house, it’s often more beneficial to get outside help from a corporate investigations law firm. Working with a professional and experienced law firm will help you with some key aspects of your investigation.
- A Much Better Legal Understanding: Law firms have a deeper understanding of the laws/regulations, which means they will help you follow everything by the book throughout the investigation process. It reduces the chances where you accidentally break laws or leave your business open to lawsuits by the individuals involved.
- Completely Impartial: Try as you might, it may be impossible to find internal investigators with true impartiality. Corporate investigation law firms have no connection to your business or any of your employees. This allows them to be 100% partial, ensuring you reach the most accurate outcomes.
- Improved Evidence Gathering: Employing a law firm means you benefit from people who know how to collect evidence. They can gather more evidence and be more thorough in their analysis, which helps you uncover all of the facts during the case.
- Gain Vital Legal Protection: It’s worth mentioning that bringing in a corporate investigations lawyer will grant legal protection through attorney-client privilege. As such, everyone involved in the investigation will feel more inclined to tell the truth. They know any sensitive information or comments will be made confidential thanks to this privilege.
Conduct Better Corporate Internal Investigations Today
If you want the most effective corporate internal investigations, then it makes sense to partner with a corporate investigations law firm. The Cobalt Agency can help you with any type of corporate investigation and will provide 100% impartial legal guidance throughout the process. Get in touch with us today to learn more!
