Actions to be taken in an Investigation

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Actions to be taken in an Investigation

It is important that before any investigation is done, logic needs to be sought in determining whether or not the investigation is really necessary. Dee Barnes has received some very serious complaints regarding the kind of service an important client received. The shipment was very important to Tweedle’s Widgets as the client was new and has the prospects of developing into one of the highest purchasers of their products. This thus means that the investigation really needs to be done and with a lot of urgency.

Dee Barnes should, before opening the investigations, find out whether interim relief is necessary. Are there quick actions that need to be taken to avoid further complaints during the investigation process? John Wilson promised to call Jim Johnson before noon. Dee Barnes should ensure that Jim is called and an agreement is reach. If possible she should order that the initial shipment be returned and the right shipment with correct specifications envoys to the client’s location. This help keep the customer satisfied as he will be pleased by Tweedle’s quick response to his complaint. Customer satisfaction is key in ensuring the success of a business.

The next course of action will be to determine the team that will carry out the investigation. She will need to involve members of the staff for a quick, accurate and precise investigation to be conducted. The people selected should not be people who are in one way or the other involved in this investigation. This is important in cases where the employees are asked to carry out the investigation so as to ensure transparency in the report that will later on be made after the investigation has been done. Having more than one investigator is important as there are some activities such as interviews that are best done by two people so that one will ask the questions as the other writes them down.

Dee should then determine when and where the investigation will take place. I prefer that she conducts private interview since people feel safer disclosing information in enclosed areas and are mostly honest. She should prepare the interview questions in advance so that she gets to thoroughly covers all the issues. During the interviews, she should ensure that the employees with substantive information deliver a written statement as this will serve as evidence in the event that the employee decides to change their previous stories due to the unfolding of events. Emails and other documents, whether electronic or not, that are related to the investigation should be submitted during the investigation.

Moving forward, Dee should obtain, review then preserve all the relevant documents regarding this investigation. She is supposed to ask all the witnesses to submit the documents that could help determine where the problem really occurred. These documents should be reviewed so as to get the facts right and help avoid pointing the wrong fingers. All these documents should be preserved since they will later on act as proof in the event that Dumm Industries decides to sue the company. They can also be attached to the report that will be made at the end of the report to validate the report itself.

What follows is then the preparation of an investigation report. This report should be a summary of the findings and an analysis of the information which is not consistent. The report should then conclude with the way forward, that is, the necessary course of action. The necessary course of action needs to be tailored to this particular situation. Some of the necessary actions may include revision of existing company policies, training of the employee to serve the customers better or disciplinary actions among others.

Lastly, Dee should follow up on the appropriate actions implemented after finding out the real course of the problem. This will help her learn of the actions were effective or not. If they are ineffective, then he can devise new ways to cub the root problem. However if punishment is administered to the employees who erred, it should not be disclosed as this is regarded as private personnel information.

References:

Fisher, R. P., & Geiselman, R. E. (1992). Memory-enhancing techniques for investigative interviewing: The cognitive interview. Charles C Thomas, Publisher.

Cooper, R. G., & Kleinschmidt, E. J. (1986). An investigation into the new product process: steps, deficiencies, and impact. Journal of product innovation management, 3(2), 71-85.