Dishonesty in the Workplace

Dishonesty is a quality which sits at conflicting ends with truth. Many of us probably experienced dishonest behavior from others at some point in our lives, whether its people keeping secrets, lying, keeping up a facade, being hypocritical, trying to cheat us, and so on.

Dishonesty in the workplace takes two main forms – lying and stealing, and both are more common than many of us would like to think.

Everyday examples of lying in the workplace include embellishing the truth on personal resumes and company track records; suggesting to customers that a product is better than it actually is; and promising bonuses to team members which never seem to arrive.

Make it clear that you won’t tolerate theft and that employees will face discipline up to and including termination (if caught). Let them know there are measures in place to detect theft.

But how do you stand tall and ask your team members to do the same when all around you, people seem to be lying, cheating, stealing, and doing anything else they think will put them ahead of the competition?

Embellishing your resume or company track record might not seem like such a big deal - until you realize how many people who rose to the top by this method also came crashing down when their lies were detected or it was discovered they couldn’t actually do what they said they could. 

Always remember, theft of cash, equipment, or company software is a serious crime and should be reported to the police, who will also advise on theft prevention strategies.