disciplinaries, grievances, dignity at work and whistle-blowing
We help you get to the root cause of conflict and identify solutions.
A pre-requisite to resolving any workplace dispute is a clear understanding of its cause, which in many cases will require a legally compliant investigation. We cover areas as diverse as disciplinaries, grievances, bullying and harassment, whistle-blowing, employee fraud and breakdowns in trust and confidence.
Our large team of highly accomplished investigators are all either legally trained or people management experts. The reports we produce are extremely thorough and provide a clear path towards resolution. We have experience across a range of sectors – from financial institutions to the NHS – and specialise in complex, sensitive, large scale investigations, often involving very senior people.
We are members of the ABI (Association of British Investigators) and are accredited to the British Standard BS:102000 for investigation providers.
David Major heads up our Investigations work, supported by Zoe Wood. Please contact David in the first instance for a confidential discussion.
Frequently Asked Questions
A workplace investigation is a thorough fact-finding procedure that collects all the information on a situation or incident in the workplace. The resulting evidence-based findings and report allows an employer to make an informed and fair decision on the matter.
At ibex gale we deal with a diverse range of workplace investigations including disciplinaries, grievances, bullying and harassment, whistle-blowing.
The primary role of an investigator is to fact-find. The investigator must approach their work in a fair and objective manner with a view to establishing the essential facts relating to the allegation or complaint and reach findings of fact, on the balance of probabilities, in relation to what did or did not happen.
To achieve this, an investigator should look for evidence that supports the allegation/complaint and evidence that contradicts it.
Independence and objectivity must be maintained at every stage of an investigation, including report writing, and a rigorous decision-making methodology must be applied to findings and conclusions reached.
All workplace investigations that ibex gale conduct follow a rigorous process.
This is in order to collate all the available facts about the situation in detail, and to be able to analyse them in a fair and accurate way. Investigations often require interviews with people involved in the situation, and a review of information and documents relating to the situation.
Once the investigation has been concluded, we review the findings in an objective and impartial way, and write our findings and, where appropriate, recommendations for resolution in a report.
At ibex gale, we broadly find that timescales for investigations fall into three categories – basic, average and complex cases.
Basic cases – defined as 1 to 4 interviewees and a very limited number of straightforward issues. An example might include an allegation of bullying raised by an employee against another relating to a specific meeting, with no other witnesses. Approximate timescales for basic cases including submission of the investigation report are 1 to 2 weeks from start to completion.
Average cases – defined as 5 to 9 interviewees and a reasonable number of straightforward issues or very limited number of more complex issues. An example might include allegations of discrimination and/or regulatory breaches. Approximate timescales for average cases including submission of the investigation report are 2 to 4 weeks from start to completion.
Complex cases – defined as 10 or more interviewees and a large number of issues or a reasonable number of complex issues or concerns. An example might involve allegations of bullying and harassment, discrimination and regulatory breaches against two individuals involving 8 other potential witnesses and documentary evidence running into 100s of pages. Approximate timescales for complex case including submission of the investigation report are 4 to 6 weeks from start to completion (although timescales would be dependent on the total number of interviewees and other factors).
At ibex gale, we ensure impartiality and objectivity is maintained by:
Carrying out checks to rule out conflicts of interest prior to taking on new projects and being transparent with our clients about any potential conflicts that are identified;
Requiring that all work that we undertake is supervised by a senior member of the team and all reports and written outcomes that we produce are peer reviewed by a Director or Associate Director before release to ensure that findings, conclusions and outcomes are reasonable, robust and untainted by bias;
Being transparent with individuals about our data protection obligations, how their information will be recorded and used and their rights in relation to their personal data;
Undertaking regular training in relation to the work that we undertake to maintain levels of competence and limit the potential impact of adverse factors, such as unconscious bias; and complying with ethical standards specified by the Association of British Investigators.
At ibex gale, we monitor the quality of our workplace investigations with:
A supervision system, whereby a supervisor is assigned to all projects to support the team member(s) carrying out the work and monitor quality of service and delivery against timescales; and
A peer review process whereby all investigation and outcome reports are reviewed by the nominated supervisor prior to release to the client to ensure that they meet our rigorous quality standards.
We also obtain feedback from our clients on the quality of work that we have produced and their experience of working with us and use that feedback proactively to both benchmark the quality of the work that we produce and develop and enhance our service offering.
Please visit our Contact Us page, complete the Contact form with your question, and a member of our team will be in touch.