The Most Overlooked Controls in Investigation Programs

Every effective improvement program is built on controls. They guide behavior, create consistency, and make performance predictable. Policies, training, tools, and metrics are all treated as formal controls. Leadership involvement, however, is usually described as “support,” which leaves it informal, undefined, and largely unmanaged. In reality, leadership behavior functions as one of the most powerful controls in the entire system.

We often focus our design effort on the visible mechanics of investigation and audit programs:

• Using a structured system
• Engaging built-in human performance expertise
• Using an easy-to-use system
• Understanding human error
• Removing blame from both the evidence collection and corrective action phases of your investigations

There are several aspects of leadership support that we should discuss.

Program Development

Your management systems should discuss what your program will look like. You should have a policy that discusses:

• When investigations should be performed
• Who performs them
• What resources are needed and available
• Timelines
• Training requirements
• Maintenance of proficiency
• Expectations
• etc.

Program Implementation

These items need to be specified in an easy-to-understand document that spells out how your program will be run. It shouldn’t be complicated. You shouldn’t need calculus to figure out when you need to perform an investigation, or how many observations you need to do each month. Overly complicated policies are policies that are not followed. And it should indicate how the management team will be involved in tracking the status of the program.

Program Execution

Management needs to be involved in the actual execution of the investigation and audit programs. They should be getting status reports, asking good questions, and approving the proposed corrective actions. This is probably where most leadership teams concentrate their efforts (or at least think they do), so there may not be much to change here.

Program Maintenance

This is probably where I often see the most problems with senior management involvement in the programs. Maintenance of the program involves monitoring and being involved in periodic reviews of the status of the program. For example, I set up a short call with TapRooT® users at companies I work with, usually every 6 months or so. I have great conversations with the program owners, talking about software updates, how TapRooT® is being used, what other departments would benefit, proactive use of the system, any problems or roadblocks I can help with, etc. However, I don’t always have senior leadership at these meetings. Imagine the benefit of having the VP’s of Safety, Quality, and Reliability on those calls with the program owners. We can identify any issues with the investigation programs during these calls, and then IMMEDIATELY put corrective measures in place. It’s a great opportunity to efficiently update and upgrade the program. I always encourage senior management attendance on those calls.

Additionally, the annual program review should be more than just, “Did we meet our KPIs this year?” It should look at the effectiveness of the investigations, what types of investigations were performed, who performed the investigations, how many investigations were performed by each investigator, whether there were any repeat incidents, any holes in staffing due to retirements or job changes, etc. We can then make changes to our policies, train additional investigators, look at proactive investigation opportunities, and address any other issues that need to be addressed. Management can put these changes in place and track the status of these changes. Senior management involvement is crucial for this to work properly.

Final Thoughts

Your leadership team should be doing just that – leading the charge on your improvement programs. Having their buy-in and engagement throughout the process will help you as the program owner to get the resources and pull you need to ensure you have a vibrant, effective program. Don’t miss the opportunity to have them enhance your use of your improvement program tools.

Leadership involvement shapes whether investigation programs grow stronger over time or slowly erode. An executive briefing is one step in helping your organization make that layer visible, measurable, and manageable. To request an executive briefing, you can contact me directly at ken@taproot.com.