Certified to Lead: Why HR Credentials Matter in Investigations & Employee Relations with Guest CEO Laura Middleton
01 September 2025

Certified to Lead: Why HR Credentials Matter in Investigations & Employee Relations with Guest CEO Laura Middleton

The HR Investigations Podcast

About


Guest Laura Middleton, CEO, Human Resources Certification Preparation | HRCP.com


In this episode, podcast host Natalie Ivey discusses Key topics: 



    The role of HR certification in building trust and influence during investigations
    Key differences between SHRM and HRCI credentials
    How certification prepares HR pros for high-stakes conversations with executives
    Real examples where certification helped drive results
    Getting started: Choosing the right certification for your goals
    Special offer for The HR Investigations Podcast listeners: 
    Receive 15% off any certification exam prep materials or products using the code INVESTIGATE. Just go to HRCP.com
    Announcement of Natalie’s upcoming 2-day virtual workshop: 
    How to Conduct Internal Investigations: A Practical Workshop for HR Professionals on September 23-24 from 11:00 am – 5:00 pm.  


REGISTER HERE



    The workshop will provide education on how to navigate tricky employee relations’ issues, how to assess when to open an investigation and when not to, how to prepare for and conduct effective witness interviews, how to gather and preserve evidence, and how to prepare a final investigation report.
    Examine the issue of managers just not documenting employee behavior and performance issues.
    Discuss the danger in firing an employee “At-will” without any sort of documentation and how an EEOC investigator sees it
    Examine why it is critical to have documentation that supports an employee engaged in misconduct that violated organizational policy or that the employee wasn’t meeting performance expectations
    Discuss the issue of managers failing to document employee issues, run to HR announcing they wish to fire an employee and then view HR as “the enemy” when HR pushes back on a termination of employment due to lack of documentation.
    Identify root causes to managers failing to document
    Explain the benefits of phone apps and tech shortcuts to help managers stay organized and minimize the burdensome task of memorializing notes of employee conversations
    Review several key solutions to improving managers’ documentation capabilities

Natalie’s new book now available on Amazon:



Check out Natalie’s new book here


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