There are many reasons why employees tell untruths. As a manager, you should not only recognize lies. You also need to decide when to seek direct conversation.
I’ll show you which reasons are most often the cause of lies and what deeper problems lie behind them.
How to deal with dishonesty
These five reasons most often cause employees to be dishonest:
- The employee fears punishment for misconduct.
- The employee is afraid of rejection or ostracism.
- Deadlines or performance goals were not met, now the employee fears consequences.
- A lie is intended to protect other colleagues.
- The supervisor is building up too much pressure.
The most common reasons employees are dishonest with you or others are fear of failure and feared consequences.
This is where you should examine the circumstances before reprimanding the employee. If there are problems with the team, work, or in your team member’s personal life, it is better to have a trusting conversation. If your employee trusts you, he or she can turn to you right away when a situation becomes difficult.
On the other hand, in the case of serious violations and manipulative lies that lead to serious harm, you must intervene immediately and issue a warning.