How to deal with a colleague’s lies

No doubt you’ll hear at least one lie over the course of a work day, whether you realise it or not. How can we manage this, and limit the potential consequences?

CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on Management Today

As has been shown by ‘Partygate’ even the Prime Minister, and those with the most power, are prone to being ‘economical with the truth’ – but lying is bad for everyone’s morale and can cause real issues for an organisation. According to a recent study by Lenstore, one-in-10 British people tell upwards of 10 lies every day and, at work, it’s men aged between 35 and 44 who are most prone to bending the truth.

It’s the responsibility of a manager to stop any toxic behaviour – but that’s only possible if you don’t fall foul of it yourself! Employment lawyer Charlie Wood believes that, “management is about setting the right habits in people”. Meanwhile, Hedda Bird, author of The Performance Management Playbook, says, “People evade tricky situations, or cover their tracks, because it’s a learned behaviour that’s been tolerated by managers overlooking it in the past”.

Getting to the root of a lie, and understanding its motivation, is vital, but how does one go about managing it from there on in? Here are five more tips from founder and CEO of CV-Library, Lee Biggins, on managing those you believe to be lying.

1) Tackle the issue head on

Hoping things will improve on their own isn’t the right approach to take when managing difficult staff. If left too long, their behaviour could have a damaging effect on the workplace.

2) Planning

You could choose a training programme to support the employee to learn skills that can fill their knowledge gaps, or offer coaching where you help them learn different behaviours.

3) Keep track of things  

Depending on the circumstances, you may have become aware of your difficult staff member through other employees, or even witnessed the problem first-hand. Rather than letting each incident slip to the back of your mind, you need to document your employee’s progress.

4) Be open

How can staff improve if they don’t know how? Walk the employee through each issue and explain the problem.

5) Consistency

Staff need to know where they stand and what’s expected of them. Also, don’t let some employees behave in ways others can’t; that’s not a good message to send and can cause anger and distrust among your team members.