Is honesty good for your career? The best strategy to get ahead at work
30 Sep 2008
Some recent surveys from international human resources consultancy Cubiks have revealed the minefields faced by potential candidates, career-minded workers and companies when it comes to good, old-fashioned honesty.
Not only has Cubiks revealed that a small proportion of jobseekers actually do lie to try to get the job they want, but on getting the job they enter a culture of pseudo-honesty that is, quite frankly, not good for business or career development.
The "Getting into the minds of candidates" survey polled 500 undergraduates and postgraduates in the UK. While the number who admitted to cheating or being dishonest during the job application process was low, it did reveal a number of candidates for whom honesty was not considered the best policy.
Some 15 per cent of respondents suggested they would stretch the truth on their CV and 13 per cent would do this on an application form. Unsupervised ability tests would be the target of an unscrupulous 11 per cent.
However, these figures are massively outweighed by the numbers of employers who fear their candidates are lying about the skills and experience: 86 per cent of employers suspect that the CVs and application forms they receive are not telling a completely true tale.
Cubiks principal consultant Louisa Tate said: "This demonstrates why it is so important for employers to use a combination of different security measures to beat the cheats.
"Clearly there are candidates who have no issue with being economical with the truth and employers have to be able to outsmart such people."
The survey also revealed that 79 per cent of candidates considered themselves too honest to cheat. It must be every company's hope that those they accept into their employ will be among this number.
However, a further survey published more recently revealed that companies are letting employees down by not fostering an open and honest environment.
More than half (53 per cent) of employees who responded to the poll thought criticising their manager could be detrimental to their career prospects while a similar number said it was hard to give face-to-face feedback to colleagues.
Less than a fifth (18 per cent) said the feedback they gave managers was acted upon.
Chief executive Barry Spence said companies seemed to want to create an honest environment and it was surprising this was not the perception of employees. Improved performance was a necessary part of career development and staff should feel able to provide constructive criticism without censure, he suggested.
"At the same time, employees who are being given feedback should see the comments as helpful development tips and not get defensive or uncomfortable," he said. "Individuals with a high degree of self-awareness usually make rapid career progress if they commit to tackling their development needs."
He recommended the use of 360-degree feedback tools, which allow employees to receive feedback from a selection of their peers, managers and customers.
A main benefit of this broad-ranging appraisal mechanism is there is less chance of comments being taken personally and it can encourage a company-wide culture of support and community.
"Organisations can use these tools and quickly overcome issues of openness and honesty," Mr Spence concluded.