There are few things an association executive dreads more than the prospect of an internal investigation. Accusations of workplace bias, embezzlement, misbehavior—it all spells expense, frustration, reputational harm and disappointment.
So, perhaps it's common sense that a leader's shrewdest move is to get ahead of the problem. Earlier this month, Holly Peterson, counsel at Tenenbaum Law Group, which represents associations, wrote an article offering tips about how associations can handle investigations. In an interview, she notes that associations do best when they create an environment where an investigation doesn't come to pass.
"A lot of times what I see in these matters is that it starts with something relatively minor that percolates over time and becomes something that is no longer minor," she said. "It could sometimes start with an interpersonal conflict between employees that's never addressed. It's not addressed from the managerial or an HR perspective, in that early moment. And then it builds and builds and builds, and all of a sudden something takes place that turns it into a much bigger matter than it ever once was."
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