If you spend long enough making your way through the business world, it’s all but inevitable that you’ll cross paths with a corporate investigator—in fact, there’s a good chance that you already have. You might imagine that this individual’s presence always suggests that something negative has occurred. While that certainly can be the case in some scenarios, value lies in knowing that corporate investigators also often serve in a powerfully protective role. So what is a corporate investigator? What exactly do they do, and is their work a resource that your company’s been missing out on?
What’s the Difference Between a Corporate Investigator and a Private Investigator?
Private investigators do crucial work everyday in America, helping individuals, families, and organizations will all manner of truth-seeking endeavors. However, not all PIs are equipped for the corporate setting, and hiring a corporate investigator specifically means drawing upon a very distinct specialist skill set.
This class of well-versed investigator has honed the capacity to navigate corporate environments—uncovering issues such as misconduct, operational flaws, fraudulent activity, data discrepancies, and suspicious behavior from an informed perspective, framed by an in-depth understanding of corporate and labor laws. When we consider that businesses lose $50 billion each year as a result of employee theft—and that’s only one facet of the challenges that a corporate investigator will actively help to mitigate—it’s easy to see why corporate investigation services are in such high demand.
The Spectrum of Work Conducted by a Seasoned Corporate Investigator
Corporate investigations aim to uncover threats both internal and external in nature. In some instances, the corporate investigator may be called upon because a company is in crisis—a white collar crime may have been committed, a non-compete agreement violated, or a spate of malfeasance or thefts may be blighting profitability.
At other times, the role of the corporate investigator could be a question of due diligence. They may provide critical legal support, perform detailed background checks, or be asked to gather corporate intelligence on market competition or ahead of a potential business deal or merger. They might also be asked to make a proactive violence and threat assessment, or perform a corporate culture audit to crystallize steps that the business can take to bolster its efficacy and profitability. To paint a picture of the breadth of the corporate investigator’s role, here are some investigative examples:
- Employee misconduct investigations, including substance abuse
- Harassment and discrimination investigations
- Corporate fraud and white collar crime
- Corporate intelligence gathering and competitor profiling
- Asset searches
- Violence and threat risk assessments
- Corporate culture audits
- Legal support and witness location
- Embezzlement, bribery, and money laundering investigations
- Company, supplier, and recruitment background checks/due diligence
- Employee absenteeism and fraudulent FMLA claims
- Corporate theft
- Contract violations
- Espionage and corruption investigations
- Intellectual property infringements
- Accident and incident investigations
Why Corporate Investigations Should Be Entrusted to an Expert
Whether the issue on the table is signs of cultural erosion such as chronic malfeasance and drifting office supplies or grave concerns over financial or data theft—to name but two of the possibilities—the steps that an organization take next must be precise and effective. Without the help of a corporate investigator able to reveal root causes, complex issues that are poorly addressed may morph into sizable financial losses, damage to public perception, and even rapidly-heating legal hot water.
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Simply put, the role of the corporate investigator is to help businesses traverse threats in a way that minimizes negative impacts and mitigates risks—or illuminates decisive steps to ensure that the course ahead won’t steer anywhere near the cliff-edge in the first place. Fundamentally, hiring a corporate investigator can be seen as a positive strategic move taken in the name of safeguarding a company’s integrity. If you’d like to know more about how a corporate investigator from Lauth Investigations International can support your unique needs and goals, reach out today for a no-obligation consultation.