The annual Investigations & Audits Conference was a milestone for The TCM Group, with nearly 300 people signing up to listen to our speakers. Clearly, they had something worth listening to. Led by Gary Rogers, Head of Investigations & Audits at TCM, he was accompanied by Patricia Grealish, Chief People Officer at NHS Blood and Transplant; Dominic Human, Head of HR and Resolution Consultant; Davinder Sandhu, Head of Learning & Development at UNISON; and Neil Fletcher, Resolution Consultant and Investigations Specialist at TCM.

A Gathering of the Experts

The conference provided guidance from global experts, with a breadth of industry experience, on how to avoid two key failures of organisations: condemnation without investigation and investigation as a destructive process. Too often, salacious press headlines uncover the consequences of failing to conduct a fair, thorough, and objective investigation. In the last four weeks, from the time this conference was held, these headlines broke national news:

Receptionist with ‘phobia of people’ wins £56k compensation for unfair dismissal – Personnel Today

Uber settled unfair dismissal case for $400,000, union claims – Daily Mail

Woman sacked for getting pregnant is awarded £300,000 in compensation – Metro

Our listeners crowded around their laptop screens in anticipation to hear how they could avoid such public and financial scandal. They were lucky enough to hear from our 4 wonderful guest speakers, covering a variety of topics, centred around the lifecycle of an investigation, from start-to-finish.

Patricia Grealish, Chief People Officer at NHS Blood and Transplant, focused on the importance of building relationships, and effective communication within an organisation. She highlighted the vital role that managers and investigators play in shaping an organisation, before urging businesses to ask 3 key questions to ensure their investigations are fair, thorough and objective…

Dominic Human, one of our very own investigators, discussed the cognitive interviewing technique, one of the very latest principles of forensic psychology, which can be applied to the way in which workplace investigations are carried out.

Davinder Sandhu, Head of Learning and Development at Unison, discussed the role that trade unions can play, throughout the investigations process. She also shared some pointers and practical tips to help keep participants calm throughout the process.

Neil Fletcher, another of our investigation experts spoke on the need for adequate training to build the necessary competencies to conduct investigations. He mapped out the skillsets that he feels should be an essential requirement for those carrying out the process.

The takeaway

In essence, investigations involve real people, situations, and emotions. They can have lasting impacts on all parties and organisations involved, both financially and reputationally. Above all else, this conference served as a call to action to the principles that TCM holds dear: fairness, accountability, and resolution.

“Condemnation before investigation is the highest form of ignorance.”-Albert Einstein

If you missed out on the conference and would like to catch up… good news! You can view the full session recording below (or here):

Robyn Marsh: Senior Communications Executive at The TCM Group