3 Challenges Of Using Translators During Internal Investigations

Internal investigations can be challenging for many people and asking someone to be interviewed in any language that is not their preferred language can make the situation even more stressful for the individual and increase the risk of a misunderstanding. Ideally, the interviewer will be able to interview the interviewee in the interviewee’s preferred language, but sometimes you might need to bring in a translator to help with the communication. While translators can be very useful and support conversations that might not otherwise be able to take place, you also need to think about some of the potential risks and downsides involved in using a translator during an interview:

1. “Basically, what they said was…”: I recall a conversation from my travels many years ago where someone spoke to my translator in an animated matter for several minutes. After watching and listening to (but not understanding) the conversation, the translator turned to me and said “basically, what they said was…” and provided a 20 second summary of the last few minutes of dialogue. If someone speaks for several minutes yet the translator only conveys to you a summary of what was said, you are likely missing important information, including how they person communicated what they said. Interviews are a mix of facts, emotions and perceptions and brief translated summaries can mean a lot of that information is lost.

2. It can make an already uncomfortable conversation even more uncomfortable: Sometimes (and understandably) interviews can be emotionally difficult and uncomfortable for the interviewee, and the investigators should do what they reasonably can to minimize the level of discomfort. If someone is being asked to recount a painful or awkward situation, it can become even more uncomfortable if there are too many people involved in the conversation, the conversation takes twice as long because of the translation, and then they also might not understand what the translator is telling you and if the translator truly heard and reflected what they said accurately. You need to carefully think about what the impact of a translator will be on the conversation and the people involved in the conversation – the presence of the translator should be to support communication and not cause a level of discomfort that will impact or limit the conversation.

3. Building rapport: Most investigators will try to build some rapport with the person they are interviewing, as doing so can build trust and support open dialogue. Building rapport can be more challenging in situations when you have a translator involved, as it causes a delay in the communication and you also cannot benefit from the non-verbal communications that often accompany the verbal communication. This is why it matters to not simply have any translator involved, but someone who will be able and effective to help build communication and dialogue between the interviewers and the interviewee.

There are many incredibly talented and experienced translators out there who can help address these risks – strategically engaging those people in the right situations is what will lead to effective communications across languages during investigations.