A Corporate Private Investigator Can Ease Your Company's Growing Pains

The transition from being a small start-up company to a thriving business can be a traumatic one. Suddenly the operation is not just about friends, partners and family, but involves recruiting professional staff, keeping tabs on increasingly complex deals, or looking after growing inventory. It's hardly surprising then that companies can experience "growing pains" when the founders, whose business experience may be limited, struggle to adjust to the new realities and complexities of their company.

A corporate private investigator can get to the bottom of these issues using basic investigative services such as employee interviews and surveillance services. The information our work uncovers can help your company create new strategies, and get back on top of things, before its too late.

Identify the problems using a corporate private investigator

Often, getting expert outside help from a corporate investigator can highlight potential problems before they have a chance to cause real damage to the company. With growing businesses, these can occur in several areas:

• Employees: Growing companies often recruit in haste and repent at leisure. If there hasn't been a thorough pre-employment screening of key workers, it makes sense to carry out some investigation into the past career and background of employees who have been placed in positions of trust or high responsibility. The results can provide reassurance or invite closer scrutiny. Sometimes, a third-party interview  by a corporate private investigator will reveal that long-term employees have been promoted into position for which they lack the necessary training. Or, we learn that they are unhappy in their current management or advisory position and long to be working in their former spot, but are uncomfortable telling "The Boss." The information we learn can help you to restructure your company in a way that benefits employee morale, and increases day-to-day efficiency.
• Workplace morale: Issues of sexual harassment, verbal bullying, personality clashes or simply poor communication can quickly have a damaging effect on productivity. It is vital to identify these at an early stage in order to take the necessary steps to improve workplace relations. We have seen time and time again where company owners who feel they have a solid, communicative relationship with their employees have been left in the dark about what is happening behind the scenes. In fact, the more employees like you, the less they may want to bring their complaints to you. We can find out the truth and recommend effective strategies for resolving internal conflict, or removing deadbeat employees who contribute to low workplace morale.
• Criminality: Pilfering or substantial theft of inventory, alongside leaking of confidential data or business information and patent infringement, can inflict lethal damage on a business. Even a seemingly minor issue such as time theft can be damaging to a growing company where margins are tight. We have worked on cases where employees were "only selling one case per week," off the back of the truck for profit. However, when we showed them how that one case of product per week adds up over the course of their years in business, they blanch. Getting to the bottom of any type of illegal or unethical behavior is critical when making the move from a small business to a large business, and keeping your business in the profit zone.

Corporate Investigative Services Provide Solutions

A corporate investigator can uncover surprising amounts of information merely through conducting interviews with employees. Confidential interviews can reveal power structures within the workplace, abuses of authority and areas where employees are taking short-cuts. An experienced investigator can recognize the signs of criminal behavior in a workplace and follow the leads that will help to identify the culprits.

Many growing business owners will be surprised by the revelations that can emerge after a corporate investigator conducts these initial interviews. Further actions will depend on the client's wishes, but an investigator can obtain sworn testimonies under penalty of perjury, compile a dossier of documented evidence, and advise business owners on the most effective way of dealing with rogue employees.

Contact a California Corporate Private Investigator

Mike Garroutte, owner of Linked Investigations, has over 30 years experience as a California corporate investigator. A free consultation will outline how an investigation can help a growing business stay a profitable business.