In the interest of due-diligence with an internal investigation, thousands of documents must be reviewed, processed, and itemized. Internal processes must be reviewed and evaluated by an internal investigator. It may be necessary to interview employees regarding their knowledge of the matter—those accounts must be cataloged, transcribed, and placed in context within the investigation. In addition to the tangible resources that are expended during the investigation, there’s hundreds of hours of labor hours that must be invoiced and paid out. The Fulbright Litigation Trends Survey presented data that indicated internal investigation costs were already on the rise back in 2011. Excluding the cost of settlements and judgements, they reported a median spend with American corporations of $1.4 million. Almost a quarter of those businesses reporting spent an excess of $5 million or more regarding internal complaints. For large companies with a wealth of resources, $5 million may seem like a drop in the bucket, but there are many smaller businesses who could easily be bankrupted by such a price tag. Those same companies also do not have the budget to maintain a specialized internal investigations team to address internal complaints when they arise.
There is a wide variety of events that could trigger a corporate investigation. Perhaps an employee files a sexual harassment complaint against another. Perhaps a whistleblower brings attention to a pervasive internal problem. Whatever the cause, it’s up to leadership within the corporation or organization to ensure that the problem is addressed. While some entities have the budget for an internal investigation team, the investigation itself still places a strain on a business and its resources.
Private investigators are the perfect professionals to conduct your corporation’s culture audit for a number of reasons. Just to name a few, private investigators have similar skill sets to investigators who work in risk assessment, can conduct internal investigations without disruption, and can offer you a more customizable program that will fit your business.
Private investigators build successful practices because they have a detailed eye for human behavior. When it comes to private investigation, it’s not always just about what a subject is doing, but also why they’re doing it. Because they have a wealth of experience in rationalizing and predicting human behavior, private investigators might have an edge over traditional corporate culture audits performed by risk assessment investigators. What we know about the cycle of corporate culture indicates that there is a cause/effect relationship between an employee’s level of engagement and how successful the company or organization is in their internal operations. We also know that an organization’s structure can directly affect how engaged employees are. This is why private investigators are so invaluable. They can look at characteristics of the workforce on paper and in real life to assess how employees feed into the current cycle of corporate culture.
Risk assessment firms specialize in internal investigation, but too often, leadership will neglect undergoing an audit because they believe that it will be too much a daily disruption to internal operations. By virtue of their profession, private investigators excel at blending in to their environment, whether it’s in a busy street, or a quiet library. Whatever the nature of their investigation, private investigators know how to conduct their due-diligence without drawing attention to themselves or others. This skillset is especially valuable if leadership wishes to conduct a covert internal investigation. After all, people behave the most naturally when they believe they aren’t being watched. In this way, private investigators can infiltrate businesses and obtain necessary information without piquing the curiosity or suspicion of current employees.
Another hallmark of a private investigation’s profession is their flexibility and autonomy. Sometimes private investigators can very quickly pick up leads that other investigators cannot because they have autonomy other types of investigators do not. This flexibility gives private investigators the ability to customize any corporate culture audit program to fit your business’s needs. Some companies may be small, but do not have the traditional structure of a brick-and-mortar business. Other companies might be large, but have a workforce where millennials dominate the majority. This is where a private investigator’s diverse experience can allow them to identify the problems and prioritize the most prevalent problems to right the ship of corporate culture.
If your business or organization needs a corporate culture audit, call Lauth Investigations International today for a free quote on our corporate culture audit program. We have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, 5-star ratings with Google, and we are staffed by former military and law enforcement personnel. Call 317-951-1100, or find us online at www.lauthinveststg.wpengine.com