Conduct training, issue new policies, reaffirm old policies or monitor either the situation or the parties, as necessary. Procedures are put into place to protect the complainant from retaliation. We keep the kind of documentation that answers every question, and we create documents contemporaneous with the actions they describe. Copies of the personnel file of every individual involved are placed therein. A thorough interview with the complaining party is placed within the file and a worksheet is developed from that interview following up on each of the witnesses or issues presented therein.
Any inconsistency is explained in a memo to the file contemporaneously dictated.
Take notes as close to verbatim as possible from every witness. For matters that are not clear, it is indicated that they are not clear and that a decision has to be made on less than perfect facts. The basis for such a recommendation is explained in detail. The file and the recommendation from the investigating officer are passed on to the decision maker. The decision, when reached, is reduced to writing along with any predominate reasons for that decision, when possible.