Hand on heart, have there been times when an interviewee’s CV doesn’t quite ring true? Or when that explanation for lateness sounds a bit fanciful?
When Kerrie Devine, an HR manager in Devon was found guilty of lying about her qualifications to Devon Primary Care Trust (PCT) during her reapplication for a post following a restruture, Exeter Crown Court gave he a six-month suspended prison sentence and ordered her to pay £9,600 in compensation. [1]
The temptation to lie to improve one's chances of a successful job interview, to cover up mistakes, or to mask some deep-seated personal problem is something most employers end up encountering in some form or other. Devine's fib was hardly an isolated incident.
Research by the online recruitment site, CareerBuilder found that that 19% of workers admitted that they lied at work at least once a week. Fifteen percent also admitted that they'd been caught in a lie in the past. Of those that admitted lying, 23% said that it was done to appease a customer, 13% lied to cover up a past mistake or a missed deadline, and 8% lied to explain being absent or late.
The website 'Anonymous employees' observes: "recent surveys have shown that approximately 15% of employees in today's businesses have been caught lying while at work. Strangely enough, this isn't always done with malicious intentions. In fact, it is common for lying to occur in order to keep the peace, and enable employees the opportunity to make up for some shortcoming or error that has occurred. This does not at all justify the dishonest actions of these employees, but to understanding why lying exists in the workplace is the first step to properly managing it." [2]
The psychology of faking it.
Management guru Adrian Furnham – who is professor of psychology at University College London - has some useful insights into what he terms 'interview porkies' on his website. He observes that there are three key factors relating to job interview faking.[3] These are:
- Capacity to fake. The individual needs to be skillful to fake convincingly and needs to be articulate, socially perceptive and persuasive. – "and bright enough to know what the correct type of answer actually is."
- Willingness to fake. He has this down to Machievellanism – the rejoicing in the manipulation of others, the need acceptance and approval that pushes the truth to the back-burner, and the ability to adjust and monitor one's behaviour when needed.
- Integrity. Or lack of it. Those labelled as "honest, reliable and trustworthy are (almost by definition) less likely to indulge in the dishonesty of faking at interview.
How to tackle fibbing
The golden rule with this one is take your time gathering the evidence before taking any hasty action which could result in claims of discrimination and harassment. As the website Office Arrow observes " if you've personally observed something, it's still your word against theirs, but in some situations that's all you'll have to go on. Give the employee a chance to come clean, but after that it's up to you."[4]
It goes on to point out that you can't get away with doing nothing as that sends the message that dishonest behaviour is tolerated, and it is important to take the action appropriate to the type of incident you are facing.
"Some actions-such as stealing from the company-may necessitate an immediate dismissal. Others, such as giving a phony excuse in order to leave early on a Friday afternoon, may not require such drastic actions, and can be remedied with a much less severe punishment."
A question of engagement
As Ivan Robertson and Cary Cooper point out in their recent book Well-being – productivity and happiness at work, "people with higher levels of psychological well-being work better, live longer and have happier lives. Engagement and well-being can sustain each other and lead to a health and more productive organisation,a win-win for employees and employer."[5]
One could add that organisations with high levels of employee engagement are likely to give employees fewer reasons to be economic with the truth and that psychologically astute interviewers can spot a porkie pie a mile off.
[1] www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/2990.aspx
[2] www.anonymousemployee.com/csssite/sidelinks/lying.php
[3] Contributor to The People Bulletin, see www.apbusinesscontacts.com/the_people_bulletin-pb_9/cycles.aspx with his own website at www.adrianfurnham.com
[4] www.officearrow.com/job-satisfaction/dealing-lying-workplace-oaiur-9556/view.html
[5] www.amazon.co.uk/Well-being-Productivity-Happiness-at-Work/dp/product-description/0230249957