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Managing complex investigations in the workplace can be challenging and overwhelming for any investigator. This type of investigation may involve multiple witnesses, complainants and even subjects; they can also generate a significant volume of material, so it is very important to have a structure to your approach at the onset. These are my top tips to help you structure and conduct a comprehensive and an efficient investigation.
1. Investigation Strategy: review all available material with an open mind to understand the case and to identify the gaps in your evidence. This will help you to devise your strategy on. how you will go about obtaining the missing evidence and to corroborate the evidence you already have.
2. Managing Key Evidence: once you have reviewed the material and identified all key evidence, you should establish their chain of custody (continuity) and label them individually as exhibits. Ensure to store the exhibits securely and create an excel sheet or a form of database to maintain a record of the list. This is dynamic and the list may grow during your investigation.
3. Managing Complainants/Reporters: they are key to your investigation, so it is very important to provide them with the support they need and to make them feel able to speak up freely about the case. Being genuine and respectful will go a long way to build rapport and trust. Keep multiple complainants separate from each other and do not discuss their evidence with one another - best practice is to never mention that there are multiple complainants if not already known as this will protect the integrity of your investigation and ensure confidentiality. Be mindful that some complainants may be reluctant to speak up for various reasons, such as fear of retaliation and or retribution. A sexual misconduct investigation may be capable of triggering similar traumatic experiences in the past. Believe them, but it would be helpful to corroborate their accounts; this will ultimately protect the complainant and the investigation - do not make any promises!
4. Subjects: be open-minded and do not judge, no matter what they have been alleged to have done as they may well be innocent. Treat them with respect and dignity and you will be more likely to obtain a comprehensive account of events from them. Remember that we cannot force people to tell the truth but a more comprehensive account may provide you with lines of enquiry to pursue. Consult with the Legal and Risk Management teams to review and manage any risk around the subject. Consider safeguarding measures that can be put in place to protect the subject and others. They may be struggling to come to terms with their behaviour and how other colleagues or people may perceive them.
5. Conducting Subject Interviews: remember that an interview is a conversation management process, and the purpose is to obtain a comprehensive account of events. It is always helpful to apply the PEACE model or the wicklander zulawski interviewing techniques to provide structure to your interview and ask as many open questions as possible to encourage a free flow of information without interruption. You may also need to apply the cognitive interview technique to help with memory recall in instances where alcohol or the historic nature of the events may have impacted on their memory. Finally, use the 'TED' questioning style to ask the subject to 'Tell', 'Explain' and 'Describe' the events to get a better understanding of what happened. These techniques can also be applied to your interviews with complainants and witnesses.
6. Case Management: for this section, see my tips below.

• The number one guiding principle is to think about how your case could play out at the tribunal.
• Keep an open mind and conduct a comprehensive investigation to avoid claims of unfair or constructive dismissal etc. Remember that the burden of proof in civil disputes is on the balance of probability.
• Apply the 'ABC' approach - accept nothing, believe nothing and check everything. This will protect the integrity of your investigation.
• Record every action/decision and rationale - it is equally important to document why you have not taken certain actions/decisions that may have been obvious.
• Be sure to adhere to data privacy laws such as DPA, GDPR, etc. for obvious risk management reasons.
• Consider what could be the possible loopholes/defences in your case that could be exploited by the tribunal.
• Remember to retain all materials you have collated during the investigation in accordance with data retention policy of your firm and place them into two main categories; relevant/irrelevant or used/unused. You will need the relevant materials for your investigation, but you may also need to provide all the materials to police for any future criminal investigation instigated by the complainant in the future against the subject, especially, in serious sexual misconduct cases. 

I hope you find this article useful as you conduct your investigations. Please feel free to reach out via direct message or comment if you have any question or suggestions.