interviews
Advantages of remote interviews
During the busy holiday season, many organisations utilise telephone or video conference interviews to address their investigative caseload. In such cases, you may suddenly be forced to address an integrity issue from afar.
Don’t focus on the obvious “but I can’t see them”. Instead, focus on the below list of many advantages to a remote interview:
- Non-verbal behaviours by the interviewer are not seen by the subject
- Interviewer's physical appearance is not a factor
- Interviewer can easily refer to an outline of questions or a strategic plan of the conversation
- Interviewer has access to verify pieces of evidence, review the case file or pull up additional details without the subject being aware
- Note-taking by the interviewer is not seen by the subject
- Allows for flexibility in selecting the best interviewer for the case, regardless of their location
- Significant savings of time and travel costs that are usually incurred for an in-person interview
- Increase in interviewer productivity as down-time for travel is eliminated
- The reaction time of an interview for a “live” case provides for increased credibility of the investigation
- Supervisors, witnesses or additional interviewers can listen into the conversation for training purposes
- It’s less intimidating to the subject, potentially increasing willingness to co-operate
- The ability for the subject to hang up the phone at any time minimizes the risk of any perception of custody
- The ability to put the subject at ease as it’s, 'just a phone call’ and can be perceived as a much more informal way to address integrity issues
by Chris Norris, CFI
Wicklander-Zulawski Europe
