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In episode 150 of “The JoyPowered® Workspace Podcast,” JoDee and Susan JoDee and Susan discuss some questions listeners have asked us about internal investigations.

We’ve gotten a lot of feedback from listeners asking us to go into more depth on the topic of investigations. To start this episode, JoDee and Susan answer some questions listeners have sent in. They discuss what to do when an investigation ends up being “he said, she said” and you don’t know who’s telling the truth, what to do when you repeatedly get complaints about an employee even though they seem contrite each time, and how to investigate at a remote site when employees won’t respond via phone or email.

Next, JoDee and Susan talk through some common investigation pitfalls. Alarm bells go off when leadership is locked into a decision before you even do your investigation. Sloppy documentation can open your organization up to risk or make it difficult for a future investigator to understand. Make sure you take the time to prepare well for interviews. If your HR team isn’t viewed as objective, whether it’s true or not, bring in somebody else to do it. Stay vigilant in perpetuity to ensure that no retaliation occurs to the person who brought forth the complaint, and check back in with the complainant down the road to make sure all is well.

In this episode’s listener mail, a listener asks about how to handle someone on probation who’s a good worker but has a problem with authority. In the news, employers are planning 4.1% increases for 2023, the highest since 2008.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Purple Ink
• Powered by Purple Ink
• Susan Tinder White Consulting
• Episode 68, ”SHRM Credit: Workplace Investigations”
• Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity by Kim Scott
• ”Employers plan 4.1% pay raises for 2023 – the largest since the Great Recession”

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