Relationships Based on Lying

If you have read a women's magazine, you know there always seems to be an article about lying in a relationship. "Little white lies" can often seem harmless enough. It's easy to think it is not hurting anybody and no one will ever know, but isn't this really a measurement for integrity and personal responsibility? I've often heard from my employers that they are appalled when a candidate exaggerates on their resume. Right off the bat candidates are setting a premise of dishonesty- why would someone want to hire a person like this? Candidates are advised to be truthful and honest in their representation of themselves.

This strong belief that candidates should be 100% truthful on their resumes and applications is a well-founded concept. But what happens when a company is lying to the candidate? This is the other side to the coin that people rarely ever consider. We get so caught up in thinking it is the candidates being less than honest, we never stop to consider the possibility of it going both ways. According to the Reader's Digest article "Get Hired, Not Fired: 50 Secrets That Your HR Person Won't Tell You", company personnel have been known to lie to candidates as well. For example, here are two excerpts from the Reader's Digest article:

"Background checks are expensive. Sometimes we bluff, get you the fill out the form and don't run it," states Cynthia Shapiro, former human resource executive and author.

"Sometimes, we'll tell you we ended up hiring someone internally- even if we didn't- just to get you off our backs." HR rep at a Fortune 500 Financial services Firm

At the end of the day, if lying is a standard practice in your company, you will not be able to hire good people and expect them to stay. You are creating a culture within your company, and if it is one that includes not always telling the whole truth, the expectation that you could then hire honorable, truthful others goes out the window. Instead, run a strategic, authentic, well defined interview process. Be upfront and completely committed to a healthy environment for your employees- an environment that is based on truth telling. Creating this culture of truth and mutual respect will help support the company in being one of value. The rewards will far outweigh any benefit you may have received by lying to your people.