If you have read a women’s magazine, there always seems to be an article about lying in a relationship. “Little white lies” can often seem harmless enough, 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. Candidates are advised to be truthful and honest in their representation of themselves.
What happens when a company is lying to the candidate? According to the Reader’s Digest article “Get Hired, Not Fired: 50 Secrets That Your HR Person Won’t Tell You”, company personnel are lying to candidates too. 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. Run a strategic, well defined interview process. Be upfront and completely committed to a healthy environment for your employees based on truth telling. The rewards will far outweigh any benefit you may have received by lying to your people.