By the end of the week, you will be better positioned to:

• Plan the investigation using a step-by-step guide
• Conduct effective interviews in both unionized and non-unionized environments
• Handle difficult witnesses
• Gather and assess evidence
• Write an investigation report
• Pre-screen complaints and select the correct process

a) Selecting the Right Path

Which fact-finding process is best? Your session leaders will discuss the differences between a formal investigation and an informal workplace assessment.

• A formal investigation is held to comply with the employer's responsibilities under human rights or other legislation.
• A workplace assessment is a non-blaming process that offers generic results and recommendations that may be shared with staff.

You'll be guided through the four stages of the fact-finding process. Learn how to pre- screen complaints and ensure you select the correct process and terms of reference for the issue. Review the legal framework and key procedural aspects and principles.

Ultimately, the investigation process you'll follow will depend on several factors:

• What are the dynamics of conflict, in terms of interests and relationships?
• What are the applicable policies?
• What is the desired outcome: Deterrence or confidentiality? Compliance with statutory obligations? Workplace restoration?

b) Preparing the Plan

An investigation encompasses four stages: pre-investigation screening, planning the investigation, interviewing, and preparing the interview report.

Learn the key elements to preparing a plan:

• Listing and numbering the important questions to be answered
• Identifying the right people to be interviewed
• Identifying the records to be examined and the person from whom they should be obtained

You'll be guided through this process to learn how to identify witnesses and relevant documentation, and how to craft essential questions.

c) The Art and Science of Interviewing

What are the key issues that need to be considered when staging an interview? Using a case study based on an actual situation as well as tips on empathetic listening, you will apply your learning and use your skills to interview witnesses and handle difficult behaviours, and be coached along the way. You'll also take away a list of sample questions to get you started.

Learn how to:

• Prepare for the interview, including how to build the conditions for the best outcomes and how to ensure fairness
• Open the interview and set the context
• Craft the right questions, based on the five W's: who, what, where, when, why
• Deal with reluctant, uncooperative, or emotional witnesses
• See through smokescreens and issues unrelated to the complaint at hand
• Conclude the interview on the right note

d) Gathering and Documenting Evidence

Drawing on templates and structured formats, you will practice compiling evidence to support your investigative findings. Experienced leaders will walk you through evidentiary do's and don'ts.

You will also learn how to identify useful evidence based on its relevance, credibility, and admissibility in court.

e) Reporting Your Findings

What are the essential components of an investigative report? How do you assess and compile evidence? Work with your learning team to create a written summary of your findings and analysis, including the terms of reference, process followed, summary of evidence, findings in dispute and not in dispute, and analysis.

This exercise will conclude with a comparison of your group work with a sample fact- finding report specific to the workshop case study.

f) Navigating Through the Common Pitfalls

Session leaders will help you recognize the most common barriers to an effective fact- finding exercise.

The possible pitfalls are many, including:

• Institutional delay
• Difficult witnesses
• Involvement of lawyers
• Lack of direct access to witnesses
• Investigator bias

By the end of this module, you will have several organizational strategies that can be deployed to ensure consistent results.

g) Post-Investigation Considerations

Learn how to follow through after an investigation, from notifying parties to addressing on-going workplace issues.

Interactive learning

Your learning team will conduct a full fact-finding investigation from preparation through to interviews, examination of evidence, and the writing of an investigation report. Throughout the program you will receive coaching from experienced workplace investigators.

Takeaways

• Fact-finding workbook
• Interview templates
• Sample fact-finding report

Organizational benefits

• Significant savings in third-party fact-finding costs
• Faster and more streamlined preparation for investigations
• More reliable investigation results
• Greater internal capacity for gathering evidence
• Investigative Reports that comply with statutory obligations

This program is designed for managers in unionized and non-unionized environments who are involved in statutory and non-statutory harassment fact-finding as well as other types of workplace investigations.

Anne Grant

Anne Grant has practised as a full time mediator and conflict resolution professional since 1994. She is president of her own firm, AEG Dispute Resolutions Services Inc., and also practises under the name Mediated Solutions. Anne's dispute resolution practice includes extensive mediation of labour and civil disputes. She specializes in the assessment and restoration of poisoned work environments as well as conducting a range of workplace investigations.

In the area of labour relations, Anne has facilitated the development of collective bargaining mandates, assisted workplace parties to implement comprehensive bumping processes, facilitated union management forums for the Workers Safety and Insurance Board and has facilitated interprovincial trade agreements to address the labour mobility of various professional groups.

Anne is qualified in nursing, law, mediation and labour relations. She holds the national designation of Chartered Mediator and obtained her Masters-in-Law in ADR from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1997. In 2007, she was awarded the Ontario Bar Association's annual Award of Excellence in ADR. more...

Roger Alton

Roger Alton, C.H.R.P., C. Med. is an accomplished conflict resolution consultant who exhibits his strong client focus and solid business acumen. He has demonstrated his exceptional ability to connect with people, quickly earning their trust and respect.

He has a great deal of employee relations and conflict resolution experience gained over 24 years in various human resources assignments, including director human resources, with one of Canada's leading retailers, Sears Canada Inc. He has been a conflict resolution consultant since 2000.

Roger received an Advanced Alternative Dispute Resolution Certificate from the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, Conrad Grebel College - University of Waterloo. He was granted his Certified Human Resources Professional designation (1997) by the Human Resources Professionals Association of Ontario and his Chartered Mediator designation (2003) by the Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute of Canada. more...

Lynn Bevan

Lynn Bevan is a lawyer who is based in Toronto, Canada. She mediates and investigates harassment, other employment disputes and whistleblower complaints in domestic and international workplaces. She holds the accreditations of Chartered Mediator (C.Med.) from the ADR Institute of Canada and Certified Mediator (Cert. Med.) from the International Mediation Institute. She has served on the governing bodies of ADRIC's and the Canadian Bar Association's Ontario branches.

As a member of the faculty of the National Judicial Institute, she worked with superior and appellate court judges on settlement conference and pre-trial skills and was appointed to all mediator rosters for the program mandated by the Ontario Superior Court. She was named a founding arbitrator for Magna International's external Employee Relations Advisory Board and worked as an Independent Third party Neutral for the Canada Customs and Revenue and the Canadian Food Inspection Agencies. She is the founder and was the first president of ADR Web Inc., a company that provides searchable databases of mediators and arbitrators throughout North America. more...

Ken Kaiser

Ken Kaiser manages a labour relations consulting practice providing expertise to employers in collective bargaining, workplace adjudication, training and strategies aimed at improving union-management dynamics.

Ken is a former faculty member in the School of Business at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, where he taught in the areas of Labour Relations, Organizational Behaviour, and HRM. Ken has recently published an article which examines attraction-retention strategies in unionized organizations, and is presently conducting research aimed at identifying whether Gen Y workplace values change as they meet less favourable economic circumstances. more...

Toronto: The Old Mill Inn (Nov 06-09, 2012)

Queen's University IRC is proud to present this program at The Old Mill Inn, located at 21 Old Mill Road, Toronto. Please contact the Inn directly for rate information and to book your accommodation. Phone 1-866-653-6455 or visit the Inn's web site at http://oldmilltoronto.com/index.php

Banff: The Banff Centre (Nov 27-30, 2012)

Queen's University IRC is pleased to present this program at The Banff Centre. The facility is located at 107 Tunnel Mountain Drive in Banff, Alberta. For your comfort and convenience, book your accommodations at The Banff Centre by calling (toll-free in Canada and the U.S.) 1-800-884-7574. For more information, go to: http://www.banffcentre.ca/