What do you do if you, as the interviewer or the investigator, are too embarrassed to talk about the topic to be investigated?
Simply stated, you need to get off the investigation. There’s really no way around it because if you can’t engage with the subject matter comfortably and robustly, you are not going to do anyone any service. You’re going to get yourself drawn into a lawsuit. You’re not going to serve your client well, and lots of bad things will happen.
I unabashedly say, “If you’re not a tough cookie, and you can’t talk about hard things, you have no business being a workplace investigator.” Lots of great people are embarrassed to talk about things, but not lots of great investigators. This isn’t a matter of your own ethics or morals because you aren’t doing the questionable behaviors. This is about you being able to discuss issues and the perspective that good people do bad things sometimes without becoming a bad person.
