What is observation-interview?
‘Observation Interview’ refers to the act of observing an employee perform their daily duties in order to understand the subtle nuances related to the position as well as recognize its stress and demands.
There have been several criticisms regarding observation interviews as it seems futile to observe someone perform their daily duties when there is substantial evidence of the fact that observing something changes the phenomenon being observed as well as the ‘Hawthorne Effect’.
However, if the observation is conducted without the knowledge of the individual undertaking their daily tasks, it puts the company in a legal grey area. Hence, companies prefer the hybrid technique of observing the employee without their knowledge for some time and revealing that they are observing and continuing the observation for a predefined time period.