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How strong do employers feel about honesty when hiring employees?
Editorial by Christian Saint Cyr
National Director / Canadian Job Development Network
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New research reveals that being honest in an interview or in your work is absolutely essential. Almost all Canadian hiring managers (99%) say that employees being able to be honest is an important part of being a good manager, with a majority (58%) responding that it is absolutely essential, according to a recent Express Employment Professionals-Harris Poll survey.
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A large majority of Canadian companies (84%) say they have successfully cultivated a safe and trusting environment that encourages honest communication. In addition, three-quarters (76%) say they have the right systems and tools in place to allow for constructive criticism to be received well.
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In fact, an overwhelming 94% feel that employees can speak openly with someone in the company about their concerns or issues, with managers/supervisors (66%) and peers/colleagues (57%) being the most common points of contact.
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However, conversations about employees' personal lives can be more complex.
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While three-quarters of hiring managers (76%) believe employees should feel comfortable discussing personal issues with their manager if it impacts their work, half (50%) find it challenging to help employees navigate these issues (e.g., health, relationships, finances) to improve productivity.
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A large proportion of hiring managers (42%) also report difficulty helping employees set professional boundaries to prevent personal issues from affecting their work. This difficulty may stem from a lack of training, as only one-third of hiring managers (35%) say their company provides resources or training on managing employees' personal issues.
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The Fine Line of Workplace Honesty
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While employers say honesty is a must, it seems there are limits to what is appropriate for employees to be honest about at work. Half of Canadian companies say employees can be “too honest” at work, which includes sharing too much personal information about themselves or a colleague (59%), criticizing colleagues or the company (59%), gossiping (53%), using personal insults when giving feedback (43%) and sharing too many details about their personal issues (e.g., their health, intimate relationships or finances) (38%).
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Examples of overly honest behavior reported by hiring managers include:
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“They started talking about their marriage issues, which was bad since the person’s wife worked at the same company and it was creating issues.” — 29-year-old female hiring decision-maker from a company with 100+ employees
- “They gave me too much information on their sore belly and resulting bathroom issues.” — 55-year-old female hiring decision-maker from a company with 100+ employees
- “Talked badly about the owner’s family.” — 45-year-old male hiring decision-maker from a company with 10-99 employees
- “They mentioned things about their medical condition that weren’t necessary to share with me.” — 35-year-old female hiring decision-maker from a company with 100+ employees
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Too much honesty can have damaging impacts, as nearly two-thirds of companies (62%) feel being “too honest” at work will damage an employee’s professional reputation. A majority of companies also say that employees discussing too many details about their personal lives at work can hinder workplace productivity (59%).
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Balancing Honesty and Professionalism
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Half of job seekers (51%) agree that employees can be “too honest” at work and that this can ruin an employee’s reputation (63%) and negatively impact workplace productivity (56%).
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At the top of job seekers’ list of what employees should avoid at work is sharing personal information about themselves or a colleague (60%), gossiping (51%), sharing details about personal issues (43%) and using personal insults when giving feedback (42%).
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When it comes to personal issues impacting their work, however, less than half of job seekers (40%) say they would be comfortable discussing it with their manager.
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But a majority of job seekers (76%) say they can receive constructive criticism from their management and set professional boundaries so their work is not impacted by their personal issues (73%).
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So, is there a job search or job development lesson to be learned here? Yes, clearly employers value honesty and they want people to keep things professional.
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This research is a clear illustration that criticizing previous employers is a 'no-no'. Job seekers need to be honest while not complicating the matter with personal attacks.
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Essentially, every statement a job seeker makes to an employer should be defensible. Trying to discuss the nuance of a statement such as "I felt like I wanted to pursue new opportunities," is much easier than an outright lie that can easily be disproved.
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For us in job development, it's critical to recognize from this research the value employers place on honesty. When promoting clients or students, we want to place these individuals in the most positive light possible while never directly misleading an employer. As a job developer, in many ways we are just another vendor to employers such as the people who supply their stationary, their cleaning supplies or their photocopier. Our relationship with them is based on trust, just as an employee's is, and when we violate that trust, it's hard, if not impossible, to get it back..
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We’ll be discussing how employers feel about lying at our #MotivatingMondays meeting of the Canadian Job Development Network, Monday Dec. 16th at 8:30am Pacific; 9:30am Mountain; 10:30am Central; 11:30am Eastern; 12:30pm Atlantic and at 1pm in Newfoundland.
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On the morning of Monday December 16th, 'Click this Link' to join the session LIVE.
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