Insights

Benard + Associates is very pleased to welcome our new Office Administrator and Executive Assistant, Andrea Lackie. Andrea brings with her over ten years of experience as an Executive Assistant supporting Vice Presidents and senior level management for such organizations as Sun Life Financial and Blackberry. Andrea is already helping to make our operation more efficient and we are very lucky to have her join the team.    

Dean will be delivering a half day workshop at the Infonex 18th Annual Professional Regulation & Discipline Conference in Toronto on April 17, 2014. The title of the workshop is "Ensuring Your Investigation Does Not Go off the Rails: Mitigate Risk through Proper Planning and Investigation Management". Long title but interesting topic! 

On October 4, 2013 Dean teamed up with Bonni Ellis and Marco Mendicino of Ellis Smith Mendicino LLP to deliver a talk to regulators across North America and the United Kingdom at the annual education conference for the Council on Licensure Enforcement and Regulation. The topic was delivering "Top Tier" investigations. It was a great audience and we had a good time delivering the session. http://www.clearhq.org/resources/AEC_2013_Full_Brochure.pdf

Due to our continued growth, we have brought another investigator onto our team at Benard + Associates. Brenda Robbins joined us on July 2, 2013. Brenda is a Licensed Private Investigator and comes to us with a wealth of experience and knowledge that will no doubt benefit our clients and add to the continued success of our team. For more information about Brenda click here.

Sarah Marceau, our Director of Operations, will be speaking in Ottawa at the Infonex Conference on September 24 and 25, 2013. Sarah will be covering the following information:Best Practices for InterviewingDetermine the objectives of your interviewDevelop a framework for planning, preparing and conducting the interviewHow to frame questionsOvercome objections and denialsAnalyze common interviewing mistakes, and learn how to avoid themUsing Evidence More Effectively

Recently Dean was interviewed by HR Reporter on tips and methods for conducting investigative interviews. Check out the video. http://youtu.be/IKCa5SyWT74

Investigation interviewing is easily the most important aspect of investigations yet it is not the easiest aspect of investigations. If you want to be a great investigator, you must become a great interviewer. We are currently offering a full day workshop on investigation interviewing with demonstrations, exercises and coaching in all aspects of conducting an effective investigation interview. Come spend a day with us at the Sheraton Centre Toronto and let us help you hone your interviewing skills and take it to the next level.

When accusations start flying around the workplace, it’s important to take them seriously and address the problem efficiently, which often requires talking to all the parties. However, in cases of conflict either party could be motivated to twist the truth, or to try to whitewash their own involvement. How can HR gather the information they need?

Tonight we are going to the 12th Annual Tema Conter Tribute Gala. We are excited to be supporting this worthy cause and tonight we will be sponsoring a "Heroes Tribute Table" for ten deserving people to enjoy an evening that supports them and their families. Below is an excerpt from the Tema Conter Memorial Trust website that speaks to the purpose of this worthy cause.