One of every five employees lie at work
According to a recent CareerBuilder survey entitled, “Honesty in the Workplace,” about one in five workers (19 percent), tell lies in the workplace at least once a week. Fifteen percent of respondents said that they had been caught in a lie at work before.
The result of being caught in a lie at work does have its consequences, as 25 percent of employers surveyed said that they have fired employees for being dishonest and a whopping 85 percent said they would be less likely promote an employee who has lied to them or other members of their company.
You may be asking yourself, “why would anyone lie at the office?” Some of the reasons the survey cited as to why people lie at work were: to cover up a mistake or a missed deadline, to please a customer, to explain tardiness or absence, to protect another employee, and my personal favorite, to get another employee in trouble or to portray themselves better for a supervisor.
Lying at work is nothing new, but it is something you should try to avoid at all costs. Not only does it speak volumes about your personal integrity when you lie, but it also creates a cycle of dependence for the lies you tell. When you lie about a project at work, chances are that shortly down the road, you will be questioned about something else you did during the same period of time and you will have to create a new or dependent lie that works with the older lie. Soon you will find that you have created a web of deceit from which it is very difficult to escape.
If you are dishonest at work, chances are you are not doing your job right or performing to your potential. Continued and constant dishonesty will severely diminish your chances of being promoted, whether you have ever been caught lying or not. Employers admire and promote individuals who get the job done and provide them with results, not those who manufacture excuses.
Lying at work can also lead to other dishonest activities at work, like taking office supplies, embellishing expense reports, misuse of petty cash, or even greater infractions. I’d like to look back at the careers of the indicted executives from Enron, Tyco, and WorldCom. I’ll bet I would find they told quite a few lies before they told the whoppers that eventually sunk all of them.
Honesty at work is not just the best policy; it is the only policy you should adhere to. It is a great way to keep yourself out of trouble and it can only help you in your career. Aside from its tangible, career related rewards, it has a big intrinsic reward as well. Being honest with those you work with and those who supervise you should make you feel great about who you are and what you do.
The result of being caught in a lie at work does have its consequences, as 25 percent of employers surveyed said that they have fired employees for being dishonest and a whopping 85 percent said they would be less likely promote an employee who has lied to them or other members of their company.
You may be asking yourself, “why would anyone lie at the office?” Some of the reasons the survey cited as to why people lie at work were: to cover up a mistake or a missed deadline, to please a customer, to explain tardiness or absence, to protect another employee, and my personal favorite, to get another employee in trouble or to portray themselves better for a supervisor.
Lying at work is nothing new, but it is something you should try to avoid at all costs. Not only does it speak volumes about your personal integrity when you lie, but it also creates a cycle of dependence for the lies you tell. When you lie about a project at work, chances are that shortly down the road, you will be questioned about something else you did during the same period of time and you will have to create a new or dependent lie that works with the older lie. Soon you will find that you have created a web of deceit from which it is very difficult to escape.
If you are dishonest at work, chances are you are not doing your job right or performing to your potential. Continued and constant dishonesty will severely diminish your chances of being promoted, whether you have ever been caught lying or not. Employers admire and promote individuals who get the job done and provide them with results, not those who manufacture excuses.
Lying at work can also lead to other dishonest activities at work, like taking office supplies, embellishing expense reports, misuse of petty cash, or even greater infractions. I’d like to look back at the careers of the indicted executives from Enron, Tyco, and WorldCom. I’ll bet I would find they told quite a few lies before they told the whoppers that eventually sunk all of them.
Honesty at work is not just the best policy; it is the only policy you should adhere to. It is a great way to keep yourself out of trouble and it can only help you in your career. Aside from its tangible, career related rewards, it has a big intrinsic reward as well. Being honest with those you work with and those who supervise you should make you feel great about who you are and what you do.
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