Kay Kern is the director of the corporate safety department for a large, multiplant manufacturing company in the Midwest. The company has six major manufacturing plants, and each has its own industrial nurses. Twice a year, Kern has individual formal interviews with the nurses to find out if they have any major concerns or if Kern can help in any way. Since these nurses report to the personnel manager of each plant and not to Kern, this is not a performance review. Kern gets a lot of valuable information from the nurses through the interviews and seems to have developed a positive relationship with them. There is only one nurse, Joe James, who does not really open up to Kern and say much. On several occasions, Kern has tried to get information from James, but generally when Kern asks a question, all she gets is a one-word or superficial response. For instance, several months ago all the plants instituted a new program for monitoring the number and types of visits to the nurses’ offices. Kern asked James if everything was all right with the new program. James merely shrugged and said, “Yes.”  This worries Kern because James is a young nurse with only two years of experience and he probably has questions and could use some help. Kern has even asked some of the other employees in the plant if James was naturally quiet, but everyone said he was rather outgoing and easy to get to know.Kern is getting frustrated, because in her 25 years of experience she has never had this much trouble getting someone to open up.

1. What are some possible incorrect interview strategies that Kay Kern may be using?

2. What would you recommend to Kern?