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Who We Serve

Advanced investigative interviewing for HR, employee relations, and high-accountability organizations.

HR professionals, employee relations partners, and compliance officers conduct interviews with the same legal and operational consequences as criminal investigators, often with no formal training in the discipline. ASC closes that gap with evidence-based interviewing methodology built by a 24-year New York State Police investigator, adapted directly for workplace investigations, employment law, and the realities of modern organizational life.

Taught by a Working Practitioner

The same investigative discipline that built defensible criminal cases, brought to the workplace.

This training is taught by Joseph R. Auriemma, Jr., who retired as a Senior Investigator with the New York State Police after 24 years, 17 of them in the Bureau of Criminal Investigations. He is an IADLEST National Certified Instructor, a Certified Forensic Interviewer, and the author of The Affiant's Standard, a 50-state search warrant manual series. The methodology Joe brings to HR is the same methodology that built defensible criminal investigations across a generation of New York State Police casework. Workplace investigators conduct exactly the same kind of high-stakes interviews their criminal counterparts do, and they deserve the same level of training.

Read Joe's Full Biography Our Methodology
The Reality

One flawed interview can cost millions

Internal investigations gone wrong mean lawsuits, wrongful termination claims, regulatory exposure, and irreparable damage to workplace trust. Yet most HR professionals receive little to no formal training in how to conduct a structured, unbiased interview, and they're expected to handle some of the most sensitive and legally consequential conversations in an organization.

ASC applies the same evidence-based methodologies used in law enforcement to workplace investigations, adapted for HR context, employment law, and organizational dynamics.

✗Leading questions and documentation failures that undermine conclusions
✗Credibility assessments based on gut instinct rather than behavioral science
✗Interview techniques that re-traumatize complainants and compromise investigations
✗Investigation reports that don't hold up under legal scrutiny
✗Pre-employment interviews that miss what's actually behind a candidate's answers
24 Yrs
Investigative Experience
6,500+
Professionals Trained Across Sectors
1,500+
Search Warrants Authored
Why This Methodology Belongs in Workplace Investigations

The skills that produce a defensible investigation are the same in any setting.

The skills that produce a defensible investigation are the same whether the setting is a workplace, a campus, or a courthouse. ASC brings the investigative interviewing discipline, the same discipline endorsed by the FBI HIG, the UN Méndez Principles, and the academic literature on rapport-based methods, into the workplace-investigation environment, calibrated for HR context, employment law, and organizational dynamics.

Defensibility Standards Are the Same

A workplace investigation that produces a termination finding must survive EEOC review, arbitration, and potentially civil litigation under Faragher, Ellerth, Vance, and the broader Title VII framework. The standard of evidentiary defensibility is the same standard a criminal investigation must meet to produce a charge that survives suppression and appellate review. The methodology that meets one standard meets the other.

Procedural Equality Protects the Organization

A defensible workplace investigation applies the same disciplined methodology to claimants, witnesses, and respondents alike. Procedural equality is what separates an investigation that produces a defensible finding from one that creates exposure. Investigative interviewing science enforces this equality through structured technique, not goodwill.

Documentation That Holds Up Is the Same Documentation

Contemporaneous notes. Accurate paraphrasing. Recorded inconsistencies. Chronological clarity. The documentation standards that distinguish a defensible criminal investigation from a suppressed one are identical to those that distinguish a defensible workplace investigation from a reversed one. The methodology that produces one produces the other.

The Trauma-Informed Discipline Crosses Over Cleanly

Harassment, hostile work environment, and misconduct investigations in workplaces frequently involve trauma-exposed claimants. The Enhanced Cognitive Interview (Fisher and Geiselman) and trauma-informed protocols developed for victim and witness work apply directly to workplace investigations, producing more accurate accounts without secondary harm to the claimant. The methodology is the same investigative interviewing discipline codified in the UN Méndez Principles and endorsed by the FBI HIG research program.

The Cost of a Bad Investigation Dwarfs the Cost of Training

A single reversed termination, EEOC finding, defamation suit from a separated employee, or arbitration loss can cost an organization seven figures. The cost of training the team that would have prevented it is a rounding error by comparison. Organizations that invest in interview discipline before an investigation goes wrong consistently outperform organizations that pay for it through litigation after the fact.

Organizations taking workplace investigations seriously need methodology calibrated for the most demanding investigative standards. That is what ASC delivers. The question is not whether your team will conduct high-stakes interviews this year. They will. The question is whether they will be trained for what those interviews actually require.

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Built for Every Role

Who This Training Serves

HR Business Partners & Investigators

You're conducting interviews that shape careers, drive terminations, and determine legal outcomes, often with no formal training. ASC gives you the framework to get it right every time.

See Strategic Workplace Interviewing

Employee Relations & Compliance Officers

Sensitive investigations demand neutrality, precision, and documentation that protects everyone involved. Our training gives you the skills to conduct investigations that are thorough, defensible, and fair.

See Strategic Workplace Interviewing

Integrity Hiring for Sensitive Roles

Executive search, leadership vetting, security clearances, and any role where character and credibility matter as much as resume. ASC training gives interviewers the discipline to surface authentic character, detect coached responses, and produce assessments grounded in behavioral observation rather than gut impression.

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General Counsel & Risk Management

When investigations are conducted by trained interviewers, you reduce exposure to Title VII claims, EEOC findings, defamation suits from separated employees, and arbitration losses. ASC training is the procedural discipline that transforms HR investigation from a source of organizational liability into a documented, defensible component of risk management.

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The Impact

What Changes When Your Team Interviews Better

Investigations Hold Up

Properly conducted interviews produce findings that survive internal appeals, employment tribunals, and civil litigation. The difference between a defensible termination and a costly lawsuit often comes down to interview quality.

Integrity Hiring Improves

Behavioral interviewing dramatically improves predictive accuracy for the roles where character matters most. Leadership, executive search, security clearance, sensitive-population work, and any position where a hiring miss has organizational consequences. The same observational discipline that builds credible investigations builds better-targeted hires.

Employees Trust the Process

When people feel genuinely heard during difficult conversations, investigations, PIPs, exit interviews, they cooperate more fully. Rapport-first techniques change the dynamic from adversarial questioning to structured dialogue. Higher cooperation rates produce more complete fact patterns, faster closure on investigations, and lower union-grievance exposure.

Bias Gets Managed

Evidence-based credibility assessment replaces gut instinct with behavioral indicators. The result is a more consistent, more equitable investigative process, and documentation that demonstrates it. Documentation that shows a structured, evidence-based investigative process is among the strongest defenses against discrimination claims at the EEOC and in court.

Sensitive Cases Get Handled Right

Harassment, discrimination, and misconduct investigations require trauma-aware technique. Without it, you risk re-harming complainants, contaminating testimony, and exposing the organization to secondary liability.

The Foundation

Our Proven Methodology

Every course ASC delivers is grounded in two proprietary frameworks, developed in law enforcement, proven in the field, and adapted for the workplace.

Core Philosophy

Teach to Talk®

The same dialogue-driven approach that transforms LE interviews works in every high-stakes workplace conversation. Teach to Talk® replaces scripted questions with purposeful, adaptive dialogue that builds trust and surfaces truth.

Learn About Teach to Talk® →
Operational Framework

Adaptive Strategies Compass™

An eight-strategy decision framework for real-time navigation of difficult conversations. When an employee shuts down, becomes hostile, or changes their account, the Compass tells you exactly how to respond.

Explore the Compass™ →
Private Sector Courses

Available Training Programs

Available as on-site training for your team. All courses include materials, facilitation, and certificates of completion.

HR Flagship · 2 Days

Strategic Workplace Interviewing

Evidence-based interviewing for workplace investigations, HR intake, and employee relations, adapted directly from law enforcement methodology.

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Applied · 1 Day

Beyond Words

Read the person, shape the conversation. DISC behavioral observation calibrated for workplace interviews, where confrontation is not an option and credibility assessment must hold up to scrutiny. The observational discipline behind every credible workplace investigation.

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Specialized · 1–2 Days

Trauma-Informed Interviewing

Conduct sensitive investigations with the awareness and technique that protects both the process and the people in it. Built for harassment, hostile work environment, and discrimination matters. Equally relevant for accommodation investigations involving disclosed mental health conditions, workplace incidents with trauma-exposed witnesses, and any matter where a claimant's experience requires interview discipline that does no further harm.

Learn More
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Free Field Resource

The Workplace Investigation Interview Framework. Free.

A six-phase framework for conducting internal investigations that document defensibly, protect the complainant, and give the respondent due process. Includes question banks for each phase, documentation standards for defensibility, and clear guidance on when to escalate to outside counsel. Print-ready. Excerpted from the Strategic Workplace Interviewing course.

  • 6-phase interview structure
  • Question banks for each phase
  • Documentation standards for defensibility
  • When to escalate to outside counsel

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Founding Client Program

Be among the first HR organizations to bring this methodology in-house. Five founding client spots available.

ASC is bringing 24 years of New York State Police investigative discipline into the workplace-investigation environment. We are looking for forward-thinking HR leaders, employee relations directors, and compliance executives who want to bring this methodology into their organization while it is still being introduced to the private sector. Five founding client spots are available.

Applications close December 31, 2026, and founding engagements begin in Q1 2027. When the five spots are filled, the offer closes sooner. Founding rate remains in effect for subsequent training engagements with those five organizations.

Apply for a Founding Client Spot Schedule a Discovery Call
Recommended Insights

Long-form analysis from the ASC Insights library

Workplace Investigations

Why Most Workplace Investigations Get the Interview Wrong

Why most workplace investigations fail at the interview. Leading questions, contamination, confirmation bias, and EEOC-defensible documentation.

Read →

Browse All Insights →

Ready to protect your organization with better interviews?

On-site training available for teams of any size. Joe responds personally. Let's talk about what your team needs.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions from HR and compliance leaders.

Will this training satisfy SHRM PDC or HRCI recertification requirements?

No. ASC is not a SHRM or HRCI approved provider, and this course does not carry SHRM PDCs or HRCI recertification credit. Every attendee receives a certificate of completion noting the course title, contact hours, and learning objectives; some professionals submit that documentation for self-reported continuing education where their accreditation body allows it. The value here is the substantive interviewing and documentation skill, the customization to your policies and matter mix, and the group economics, not a credential.

Is this training relevant for unionized work environments?

Yes. Investigative interviewing methodology is especially relevant in union environments where Weingarten rights, grievance procedures, and arbitrators add procedural layers to every investigation. The discipline of structured, evidence-based interviewing reduces exposure at arbitration and produces documentation that holds up to union challenge.

How does ASC handle confidentiality in case studies and training materials?

All case material used in ASC training is either fully sanitized, drawn from public-record cases, or used with explicit written permission from the original organization. Founding clients who co-develop case studies retain full approval rights over any material released for marketing purposes.

What is the typical training length and format?

Strategic Workplace Interviewing runs one to two days depending on the depth and audience size. Beyond Words is one day. Trauma-Informed Interviewing is one to two days. All courses are delivered on-site at your organization. Virtual delivery is available for specific modules but the core methodology is taught in person.

Do you offer follow-up coaching for active investigations?

Yes. Post-training consulting is available on a project basis for active investigations, including investigation strategy review, witness preparation, documentation review, and report-quality review. Founding clients receive a block of consulting hours as part of their engagement.

How is this training different from typical HR investigation training?

Most HR investigation training is taught by employment attorneys or HR consultants. ASC training is taught by a 24-year New York State Police investigator whose methodology is grounded in the same evidence-based, rapport-based interviewing science that the FBI HIG, the UN Méndez Principles, and the academic literature (Fisher and Geiselman; Granhag and Hartwig) identify as the discipline that produces accurate, complete, and defensible disclosure. The methodology is explicitly non-accusatorial: it is the alternative to the confrontational interview frameworks that older workplace-investigation training sometimes imports from outdated criminal-procedure models.