Labor/Employment
Jun. 29, 2026
The hidden value of 'small talk'
Workplace investigators who skip rapport-building in favor of blunt fact-finding may be undermining their own interviews. Building trust first often yields more candid conversations and better information.
Workplace investigations into allegations of employee misconduct are a standard part of the business landscape. Unfortunately, too many investigators begin fact-gathering interviews in precisely the wrong way.
These interviews ask confrontational, close-ended questions that evoke yes-or-no answers and put the interviewee on the defensive from the get-go. This counter-productive approach occurs whether the interviewee is a witness (someone who heard or s...
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