You’ve completed your investigation, reflected on it and drawn conclusions in your head. The next step is to work out how to structure your workplace investigation report on paper. Done well, your report will enable informed decision-making that all parties deem transparent and fair. So you need a robust and well-structured document that pulls all the threads together, ready for the next person to review and decide next steps.
Your report must be comprehensive. Present the facts, draw conclusions and potentially make recommendations. You want clear, balanced summaries and comments, to allow fair, impartial decision-making, so it’s essential you focus on:
- The core content for your investigation report,
- Additional headings specific to your workplace investigation,
- What goes into your appendices, and any relevant recommendations.
Making sure you present the core content in your workplace investigation report – a general guide
It’s important to consider the best way to present your investigation. The information must be readable, accessible and clear. You’ll want headings, bullet points, and to avoid big chunks of text, but what headings do you need to include? This guide offers a principal structure which you can then adapt based on your organisation’s specific requirements or legal obligations.
Start with the background to the allegation or issue
Separate cover and contents pages: Use your cover page to list the title of the report, names of the investigators, date of the investigation and any other key information. Then, use a contents page to signpost the reader to the sections they need, quickly and easily.
Introduction: A brief description of the issue or complaint being investigated. You’ll need to outline the individuals involved and any relevant background information, as well as clearly stating the objectives and scope of the investigation.
Investigation methodology: This is about demonstrating due process. It describes your data collection techniques – were statements signed and agreed as accurate? Was the right to be accompanied offered and/or accepted? How and where were meetings held? Were reasonable adjustments needed? What was agreed regarding confidentiality? As well as any limitations or constraints experienced during the investigation.
Timeline: Set out all the key dates to help structure your workplace investigation report. This will include everything from the date the investigation commenced to the date the report was concluded. Don’t forget to include interview dates and details of any key delays and their reasons.
Arrange the findings and conclusions for your investigation report
Findings: Set out the evidence and findings for each topic/theme using clear headings and sub-headings. Use the analysis you’ve already completed to organise your findings based on the issues or allegations investigated. It’s essential you present all views – including conflicting ones – as it helps bring balance to your conclusions.
Mitigation: Lack of objectivity is a key reason workplace investigations go wrong. So be sure to have a section where you can reflect on any mitigation against the allegation. Present the counter-evidence and explain it in your report.
Conclusions: Any conclusions you draw must be based on your findings and analysis. Be sure to explain gaps or uncertainties in your data and avoid the terms ‘upheld’ or ‘not upheld’. Instead, focus on whether there’s sufficient, insufficient or partial evidence to support the allegations or concerns raised. It can also be helpful to have brief summaries or conclusions for each topic/theme within the findings section, and then offer an overall conclusion at the end.
Structure your workplace investigation report to be specific to your issue
While the sections above cover the bare minimum for an investigation report, there are a number of extras which make the difference when it comes to your business making the right decision.
Confidentiality: Maintaining confidentiality is essential in the investigation and for the overall report. Confirm the document should remain confidential and explain any other boundaries which must be respected as part of the decision-making process e.g. why it might be appropriate to protect anonymity of witnesses.
Executive summary: Larger reports and more complex situations can benefit from an overview of the investigation. An executive summary allows readers to quickly grasp the main points, including the purpose, scope, key findings and conclusions of the report.
Working relationships: Some workplace investigations involve complex relationships between individuals which need to be considered. Where this applies, provide additional context. You may need to anonymously share details of relationships, team or individual feedback about management approaches or styles, and information about the working environment and culture.
Other relevant information: Just because something wasn’t mentioned within the initial allegation or issue, doesn’t stop it being relevant. If you need to, include a section to discuss any other important details which will aid decision-making.
Appendices and recommendations in your workplace investigation report
These both form an important part of the investigation report, but don’t over-step the boundary of investigator. The reviewer must be able to make decisions based on their impartial assessment of your report, so treat these sections carefully.
Appendices: Any supporting documents or evidence relevant to the investigation, but which isn’t directly provided in the report, goes into appendices. This can include witness statements, interview transcripts, relevant policies or procedures, and evidence data. Everything should be numbered and referenced so it can be reviewed.
Recommendations: Often, the investigator isn’t there to make explicit recommendations about next steps e. g. proceeding to formal action. However, it may be appropriate to share observations and organisational learning which are specific, actionable, and realistic. These might include policy or procedure improvements, communication methods, or observations of relevant training needed to address an on-going issue.
Making workplace investigations easier for you
Conducting investigations and writing reports is time-consuming, it’s true. Yet the alternative is to risk missing something important that results in an unfair or ill-informed decision and lands you in an Employment Tribunal, so it’s worth taking the effort.
That said, often workplace investigations can be unwanted distractions from your already-busy day, and doing all this properly requires time, energy, and potentially skills, you just don’t have. If that’s the case, get in touch with The HR Detective and manage your time more effectively with a completely independent investigation process.
