Even if the vast majority of your staff are honest and hardworking, one bad apple can be toxic to your school's environment. In particular, staff who do not tell the truth or who regularly ‘bend’ the truth can cause you to lose trust in them to do their job or to be loyal to you and the school.

In an earlier School Governance article, we discussed the reasons for and the steps that could be followed regarding a performance management process for a poorly performing employee. We also noted that the Fair Work Ombudsman makes a critical point in that not all underperforming staff issues are best addressed by “performance management” processes. Some matters could be more effectively addressed through more low-key alternatives such as closer supervision, feed-back and monitoring in order to get the employee back on track.

“Effective management of staff involves establishing a shared understanding of what is to be achieved at the school level. It is about aligning the employees’ skills, competencies and development plans with the school’s objectives and cultural norms and the delivery of clearly enunciated and understood results.”

In addition, there should be codes of conduct in place to ensure that the vision and the mission are enacted by all staff. The staff should understand and accept the codes regarding their behaviour. In addition to policies and basic supervision, a regular performance review and feedback process is a key step in embedding and checking how well this alignment is understood and how effectively it is occurring. It is generally the responsibility of the Board or the Principal to ensure that codes of conduct are developed and implemented. It is also recommended that the Principal’s personal expectations for staff are revisited regularly at staff meetings.

So, if you have a situation where you develop a belief that an employee is lying to you, but this is not necessarily a performance management issue, do you first stop and ask yourself; ‘Why is the employee not telling me the truth?' ‘Is it a personal issue that the employee does not wish to raise at work?’ Are you approachable and does the employee feel comfortable (or safe) enough to tell the truth about issues that may be associated with his or her work performance?

It can be argued that it is critical that you ensure that your perception of the employee’s response to your question isn't the problem. It is also critical that you understand the ‘type of lie’ and perhaps the intention of the lie. Your awareness of circumstances and employee situations can help you make informed decisions about employees who persistently do not tell the truth or ‘bend the truth’.

According to Forbes Magazine in an article by Carol Kinsey Goman, Goman identified what she considers are the 10 most common work-place lies. They include:

• Social lies are the lubricant of workplace relationships. We couldn’t survive in business - or in society - without them. With social or “white” lies, there is an implicit deal struck between the liar and the lie-ee: “You won’t tell me the unvarnished truth and I won’t scrutinize everything you say;”
• Lies of exaggeration are the embellishments used when people try to appear more capable than they really are. “My husband’s an actor. If they need men on horseback for a scene, he’ll swear he’s an expert rider. He’s not!”
• Lies of omission are meant to mislead by leaving out a critical piece of information and letting the recipient draw the wrong conclusions. (School students often do this when questioned during disciplinary interviews or questioned regarding the behaviour of other students.);
• Protective lies are often seen as an altruistic alternative to hurting someone’s feelings. “I complimented her on the presentation because I didn’t want her to get discouraged;”
• Defensive lies are an attempt to protect oneself or to avoid punishment. “It’s not my fault. No one told me that I was in charge of sending the agenda;”
• Blatant falsehoods are readily exposed by other sources or eventual outcomes. Because of that, the liar is viewed as unaware and out of touch. “Recently a senior leader was fired and it was announced as a ‘retirement.’ That was a blatant and stupid lie, as we heard the truth from the person who was let go;”
• Destructive lies poison workplace relationships by destroying trust. “We were told it was a matter of cutting costs, and that if we just gave up a little – the company would get back on track. So we did. Only to find out that the top executives had given themselves salary increases and bonuses;”
• Malicious gossip is meant to undermine, harm, or destroy another person’s career. “When my colleague didn’t get the assignment, he spread the rumour that I was chosen because I took credit for other people’s ideas;”
• Small lies are readily forgiven or overlooked. “My manager gave out an earlier due date (for the completion of a project) than was necessary. She knew some people would procrastinate and she wanted to make sure the work was done on schedule;"  and
• Big lies are almost never forgotten nor forgiven. “My boss assured me that my position was secure – then he accidentally copied me on an email about interviewing my replacement.”

According to another Forbes article - ‘Why Employees Lie: Men of a Certain Age, Situational Deceit and Pygmalion’, employees generally tell lies for a number of specific reasons. These include:

1. ‘I’ll be penalised if I tell the truth’. (By far the largest reason why people lie at work.)
2. ‘I need to look out for myself’.
3. ‘Nobody around here really wants to hear the unvarnished truth’.
4. ‘Deception is how business gets done here’. (This is a serious cultural issue!)

If we refer to our many School Governance articles and whitepapers regarding schools and culture and cultural change, we can extrapolate that if school leaders want to encourage a culture of employee honesty, they should reward their staff for being truthful. Thanking staff for acts of integrity (sometimes publicly) and ensuring that they feel valued, will further the support a culture that your school is invested in its staff and its staff in each other.

”If you want to change this cultural dynamic, create structured opportunities for employees to surface issues whether it's in strategy meetings, product testing or even employee surveys. Make a positive example out of whistle blowers. And most importantly, show how you are taking action from that truth, not just paying lip service to it.”

According to Hedges, this is akin to the ‘Pygmalion’ effect. Your staff will rise or fall to your expectations. If you want more trust, extend it freely. If you want honesty, then you must expect it. Basically, it is your choice if you accept lying at work.  Good leaders will always model the behaviour that they want to see in others. If you discover that an employee has told a serious lie or is regularly lying to supervisors or other staff, then it is very important to deal with the matter sooner rather than later. Allowing the behaviour to continue unabated, is almost akin to condoning the behaviour. In a famous quote by David Hurley “the standard you walk past is the standard you accept”. In addition, the behaviour may escalate and create a situation that very quickly blows out of proportion or results in a drawn out formal performance management process.

Spotting a lie is not always an easy task. Perceptive leaders often begin with observing an employee’s behaviour under stress-free conditions. For example, asking a series of mundane or day to day questions while observing how the employee reacts when there is no apparent reason to lie. Then, at a later stage, when posed with specific work related queries, watching for ‘out of character’ behaviour may indicate a lie. That is when valid evidence would need to be gathered and recorded.

There is no value in challenging an employee about their integrity unless you have hard evidence to support your assertion that they have lied. It also goes without saying that doing this in public, unlike rewarding acts of integrity, could lead to a confrontation that would escalate tensions and draw in other employees. Failure to have the evidence, or raising your concerns in an inappropriate venue or at an inappropriate time will not support your case and may also result in industrial action.

There are a plethora of articles available online that schools may wish to refer to regarding how to identify, how to respond to and how to reduce the propensity for employee lies. However, the most effective and long lasting method to ensure that employees do not lie, is to have a positive culture that promotes honesty, values integrity and defines accountability.

According to Dr Alec O’Connell (Headmaster, Scotch College WA) in his recent School Governance article; “Culture is the habit of being pleased with the best and knowing why. It is a way of saying ‘this is how things are done around here‘. Focusing on your culture provides purpose, provides accountability for exceeding performance and models the organisation’s core values.”