But what happens when a witness is unable to remember important details or a specific and perhaps vital sequence of events? This can be a common problem for not only for HR practitioners but also for managers charged with internal investigations as interviews may take place some weeks or even months after a critical or trigger event occurred.
Traditional advice relating to the use of open ended questions will prove unhelpful in such situations as the witness may wish to assist but is in effect blocked. It was for this reason the technique of cognitive interviewing was developed with the objective of providing a set of techniques and tools for interviewers with the aim of assisting them in improving witness recall.
The process of cognitive interviewing has been thoroughly researched and subjected to rigorous academic study and is used widely by the police, and also by fraud investigators within both the public and private sectors. The technique is ethical and flexible and there is no reason why it cannot be used by the HR profession within the context of internal disciplinary and grievance investigations where information is needed from a witness or witnesses about an event.
There are five main benefits of cognitive witness interviewing for the HR practitioner during the investigative process, these being:
It enables investigators to retrieve more accurate information from witnesses even when an event occurred some time ago.
It helps investigators to 'get it right first time', thus reducing the need for costly re-interviewing.
It has been shown to enhance the process of memory retrieval
It has been found to illicit memories without generating inaccurate accounts of information.
It adopts a less adversarial style and is therefore better for employment relations within the HR context.
Cognitive interviewing will probably only be appropriate in the more serious allegations of misconduct e.g. theft, fraud, serious misuse of the IT system or drug dealing on the premises or the more serious grievances such as bullying, harassment and discrimination. Cognitive interviewing is appropriate to use in detail rich cases where witnesses may need some help to remember.
But how does it work? A cognitive interview comprises a series of nine stages, which are detailed below.
Phase 1 - The interviewer greets and personalises the interview while seeking to establish rapport with the interviewee.
Phase 2 - The aims of the interview are outlined and the interviewer explains to the interviewee what is to be expected from them. Specific instructions are then given to the interviewee in relation to the interview factors as well as the importance of focused retrieval and concentration. There is also a key instruction to report everything and not to filter information or assume the interviewer has prior knowledge of the event. Above all the control of the interview is transferred to the interviewee during the second phase.
Phase 3 - A free report is initiated. The interviewee is encouraged to recount what happened with minimum interruption.
Phase 4 Questioning. The interviewer can now begin to question based upon the information which has been provided during the third phase.
Phase 5 - Varied and extensive retrieval. The interviewer uses specific techniques which have been shown to enhance witness recall. Such techniques include: recounting the events in a different temporal order (e.g. from the last thing which they recall to the first thing remembered), trying to view the events from another person's perspective who might have been involved in the incident, the use of memory jogs such as asking the witness to try to remember what they could hear or smell and the use of specific techniques to enhance recall of names and other crucial facts such as times or dates. This is the most challenging phase and, as it is somewhat counter intuitive, interviewers will often require some training in such techniques if they are to be successful.
Phase 6 - Investigatively important questions This is the point in the interview where it may be necessary to introduce information that has not already been mentioned by the interviewee, but which is important for the investigation i.e. specific questions which the interviewer may wish to put to the witness.
Phase 7 - Summary. This enables the interviewer's to check their own recall for accuracy and it
also functions as a further retrieval phase for the interviewee. The interviewee should be instructed that it is fine to add 'new' information at this point in the interview, otherwise they are unlikely to stop an interviewer when summarising.
Phase 8 - Closure. The interviewer closes the interview and seeks to prolong its functional life by providing contact details to the witness so further information can be provided as it comes to mind.
Phase 9 - Evaluation phase. The interviewer uses reflective practice to evaluate their performance in the spirit of continuous improvement.
This structure is often a long way from the typical question and answer method but has been shown to lead to better quality evidence which will enable HR practitioners to make more informed decisions about whether or not to proceed to a hearing.
Richard Payne is director of BSPS training consultancy
