How to Draft an Inquiry Report to Defend an Employee Caught in Managerial Miscommunication

Inquiry Report Draft Request

I have been asked to write an inquiry report. The matter involves an employee who was on contract and was deputed to another branch by our senior officer. In his contract, it was specified that he would serve only 8 hours and would not be required to undertake tours. However, the manager of the branch where he was posted assigned him to deliver documents to other branches, resulting in him being on tours for 3 days.

Now, the immediate boss who deputed him, upon finding him absent, initiated an inquiry. Upon investigation, it was discovered that he was merely following the orders of his immediate boss, the manager of the branch where he was deputed. This situation clearly highlights a lack of communication and a clash between the managers of the two branches.

Please help me draft a suitable report (at least a paragraph) so that I can advocate for the employee and prevent disciplinary action against him without offending the egos of any of the managers.

Thanks & regards,

Tanya

Dear Tanya, More than sending the inquiry report, there are larger issues that your organization needs to address. However, let me defer it and come to the draft of the inquiry report. It could be as below:

Date: -

To,

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Enquiry Report on Non-availability of Mr ______

1. This report is about the non-availability of Mr ______, who is an outsourced employee. The matter has been thoroughly investigated. These are placed in the subsequent paragraphs.

2. Mr ______ (outsourced employee) has been working in our company since _____ (date). On _____ (date), he was deputed to work at ________ (name of the branch). At the place of deputation, his reporting manager is Mr __________.

3. Mr ______ (Branch Manager) gave an outstation assignment to Mr _____ (name of the employee). To execute this outstation assignment, he could not attend his duties at the place of deputation from _____ (date) to ______ (date).

4. When the outsourced employee was taken on the rolls, there was a condition in the contract that he would not be given any outstation assignment. Somehow this fact was not communicated to Mr _____ (branch manager) while sending him on deputation. Therefore, the non-availability of Mr ______ (outsourced employee) at the workplace was more because of the non-communication.

5. In view of the facts placed above, it emerges that the non-availability of Mr _____ (outsourced employee) is not an absence from the duties per se. He was on duty but at an outstation.

Thanks,

Yours faithfully,

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For the incident that has happened in your company, following are my comments:

a) It appears that the lines of authority are not clearly defined in your company. Once the person is sent on deputation, the reporting authority changes. In that case, why did his old Manager continue to exercise authority?

b) Organizational Communication: Managers in your company need to learn the concept of organizational communication. The trouble with today's training on communication skills is that it is heavily tilted towards personal communication. In the bargain, the concept of organizational communication takes a back seat. Conflict arises because of the choked lines of communication within the departments. This is what happened in your company. When the outsourced employee was sent on deputation, why were his terms of employment not communicated to his new manager?

c) Henry Fayol's 14 Principles of Management: While learning the basics of management science, these principles are taught. The problem in your company has arisen because it appears that the fourth principle of management was transgressed. All the managers, whether they have done an MBA or not, need to learn Henry Fayol's principles. Though the principles were propounded more than a century ago, they have not lost their relevance. Their pre-eminence is intact notwithstanding the management jargon of the 21st century!

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Thank you very much for your help, Mr. Divekar. I really appreciate your assistance and your insight into the concerns within my company. You are correct in stating that with proper communication channels in place, issues like this would not arise. It is unfortunate that due to system loopholes, the most vulnerable individuals are the ones who suffer the most.

A mountain has been made out of a molehill.

An employee was sent to the branch office, but the dispatching manager did not bother to inform that this employee should not go on tours. The receiving manager sends him on a tour, and then the dispatching manager finds out and starts an inquiry. All he could have done was to check with the receiving manager the whereabouts of the employee. Lateral communication would have avoided wastage of administrative time on the inquiry.

My Dinesh has summed up the issues well.