I’ve always found investigations in the workplace challenging. As a Detective in the New Zealand Police, I had to investigate a number of allegations against people in my own organisation. Allegations of criminal conduct, misconduct and corruption. I’ve had to consider the possibility that my co-workers are threats to the organisation we both work for.
Interviews
It’s the interviews that are especially awkward. Especially the interviews of the respondents. The subjects of the investigation. There’s something fundamentally awkward about interviewing someone who is alleged to have wronged a co-worker or offended against their employer. If you’ve ever been involved in an investigation like this, you’ll know exactly what I mean.
One of the biggest challenges for an investigator is how to put the allegations to the respondent during the interview. Here are three investigation hacks to help you navigate this tricky situation.
1. Only present to the respondent what’s necessary
During the course of your investigation, you’ll gather a lot of information. If your investigative interviewing is of a high standard, most of your information should be relevant to the allegation, accurate and reliable. Other information will be virtually worthless. There will be rumour, speculation, gossip. Here’s the important thing to remember…you only have to present the information that is relevant to the allegation. If it’s not relevant to the allegation you don’t need to present it to the respondent.
If the source of the information is not credible, and you can prove it, don’t waste your time presenting the information to the respondent. Move on.
The key here is to think about the decision-maker. What will they be considering when they make their decision about the action to be taken? If the information will be relevant for the decision-maker, then you need to present it to the respondent. If it’s not going to be relevant when the decision is made after the investigation, then it doesn’t need to be discussed.
2. Be clear when putting allegations to the respondent
Interviewing someone about an allegation can be awkward. Especially if the allegation is of a sexual nature. It can be tempting to try to soften the blow by using euphemisms. It can be tempting to minimise the allegations.
Don’t.
Be direct and clear. If you’re not up front you risk the respondent not actually understanding the nature of the allegation. It’s human nature for us to try to minimise what we’ve done. So any excuse you give the respondent to reduce the gravity of the allegation they will take. While this might feel less awkward at the time, it’s going to cause serious issues further down the track. Just be honest. If you can’t do this, you need to ask someone else to conduct the interview.
3. Remain objective when presenting allegations to the respondent
Workplace investigations can be an emotional process. If you’re the investigator you shouldn’t have any personal attachments to the parties involved. (If you do, you might want to consider engaging an independent investigator). Even so, it can be easy to become angry and upset at what is alleged to have occurred. We like to think we are rational beings. But we’re not really. We’re often driven by emotion. And during an investigative interview this can be dangerous.
When presenting the allegations, keep your emotions in check. Take a breath. Remain calm. You need to be neutral and objective. If you present the allegations in an accusatory manner, this will not be looked upon kindly if the investigation is ever scrutinised.
Planning and preparation
Putting allegations to a respondent during a workplace investigation can be an awkward and challenging process. But with a bit of planning and preparation you can get through it.
What experiences have you had conducting workplace investigations? How did you find the process of putting allegations to the respondent?
