Dishonesty in the workplace can create serious problems among employees, supervisors, and customers — and even jeopardize foundational business mechanics.
One of the areas where dishonesty may have the most destructive results is communication between employees and their managers. Leading reasons why your employees might not be honest with you include a perceived need to protect themselves, unchecked ambition, and dissatisfaction with their job.
Here are some practical ways to identify when your employees aren’t being straightforward and how to encourage more honest communication.
Employees Lie to Protect Themselves
As an employer, being able to trust your employees is paramount to running a profitable company. With the rise in technology, it’s increasingly important to fortify relationships with your team members. Unfortunately, sometimes employees don’t seem to be able to keep themselves from bending the truth or, even worse, outright lying to their supervisors.
Fear has always been a great self-motivator for dishonesty, and this is certainly evident in the workplace. An employee who is afraid of possible repercussions to their livelihood, like lost wages or decreased opportunities for advancement, has a great deal to lose.
In some cases, an employee may have been given a job that they are unqualified for. Or perhaps the expectations on the time needed for an assignment are unreasonable. The employee may fear negative repercussions from upper management due to their inability to perform to expected standards.
Lying or telling half-truths may be a way to cover up a failure in their performance or their inability to understand the task that was given to them. This dishonesty might temporarily cover up the problem or postpone consequences, but while the problem remains hidden the damage it is causing to workflows and productivity may grow unchecked.
Showing your employees they can speak truthfully when they don’t understand or fall behind on a project will encourage them to come to you when issues arise — rather than letting the problem be discovered after avoidable damage has been done.
You can do this by making guidelines and expectations clear and fair, and by responding constructively to bad news. If a project is behind schedule or if productivity is down, seek to resolve the issue in a proactive way rather than looking for someone to take the blame.
By assuring your employees that you are always available to answer questions and offer support, you can eliminate much of your employees’ incentive to lie or hide the truth from you.
Ambition Can Be a Big Motivator for Dishonesty
Employees’ desire to inflate their reputation or move up the ladder can lead them to doctor sales numbers to hide shortcomings in their sales skills, exaggerate customer order amounts, and even undercut fellow employees.
One of your toughest managerial tasks can be facing deceptions of these kinds. When you have an employee willing to lie or damage the reputations of their co-workers to get ahead, you must gain control of the situation as quickly as possible.
Sit the employee down and present them with any proof you have gathered of their falsehoods. Give them a chance to explain themselves. If their deception is revealed, it’s up to you to decide how to move forward.
If you want to give them another chance, reiterate the boundaries of what is acceptable behavior and what the consequences are if they continue with their lies. Document all relevant conversations so they can be on record if the need to remove the employee arises.
Dissatisfaction and Boredom Can Lead to Problem Behavior
In any area of life, boredom easily becomes mischief. When employees become dissatisfied with their job or if morale takes a downturn, job performance often suffers. And sometimes their actions (or lack of action) negatively affect the performance of others.
Especially with the explosion of work from home and hybrid teams, it can be particularly challenging to keep employees engaged and honest about their work. Virtual team building exercises can promote a sense of togetherness and boost morale even if employees are thousands of miles apart.
Emotional states can have a big impact on employee honesty. According to Harvard Business Review, a 50% probability that employees who feel ungrateful will behave honestly, while there is a 95% probability that employees who feel quite grateful will behave honestly.
However, some individuals naturally gravitate toward disruptive behavior, and the problem can be much deeper than dissatisfaction with their job. Hiding the truth from you can be like a game to these employees, and sometimes they lie to cover up the effects of their misbehavior.
This type of dishonesty can be difficult to resolve, but prevention can be the best cure. Carefully screen potential employees. Ask questions during the interview process that might give you insight into their potential for disruptive behavior. Ask them why they left their previous job and follow up with their references.
If a candidate with these tendencies does make it through the interview process and becomes a member of your team, identifying these traits quickly and taking action can mitigate potential damage.
When unacceptable behavior starts to occur, let them know it is unacceptable and if it continues they will be removed from their position.
Wrapping Up
You can’t completely eliminate dishonesty in your workforce, but you can drastically reduce your employees’ motivations to lie. Make sure you have a thorough interview process, maintain a work culture that promotes open communication, and set clear, reasonable expectations. By taking these steps, you can promote open, honest communication with your employees.
Anna Boyette
