Honesty in the Workplace is Vital

With so much pressure to land a job surrounded by tough competition and to perform well at work, both job seekers and employees are wondering if they should tell a white lie or two to get ahead. Consider a number of reasons why not being honest at work is a bad idea before you decide to fabricate any information.

To Uphold Your Integrity and Peace of Mind

It is crucial to remain honest at work to uphold your personal integrity. Being a trustworthy and ethical employee can help you to retain high morality and good character both on and off the clock. As a professional, it feels good to be honest at work, and you never have to worry about recalling the details of a lie you told. If you are ever found out, your dishonesty can lead you to develop a bad reputation at work, in the industry and even mar your future career opportunities.

To Establish Trust

Developing healthy working relationships is important for workplace harmony. If your coworkers or manager discovers that you are not completely honest at work about even the smallest things, they learn not to trust anything you say. If you choose to tell a lie at work, you can also affect productivity for the entire team. Your manager may be forced to micromanage you and check your work for accuracy, and coworkers may dread working with you on any project.

To Avoid On-The-Clock Incompetence

If you lie about your skills or education to land a job or move up in the ranks, you may find yourself incompetent at the worst time. A little fib about your skills and capabilities is easily revealed when you fail to perform up to standard. In addition, you could place yourself and other people in danger under certain circumstances if you lack full training and knowledge of proper procedures. If your boss discovers that you lack the skills needed to function well in your position, you could get fired as quickly as you got hired.

An Employer Could Find out Later

Being honest at work means that you should never pad your resume in order to get hired or gain a promotion. Current studies suggest that nearly 75 percent of employers will perform some kind of background check on both job candidates and current employees seeking promotions or raises. If you manage to get ahead by lying on your resume or touting credentials that you do not have, there is no guarantee an employer won't check your credentials for validity later on. It may take a few days, weeks, months or even a few years for a company to find out in some cases.You could grow very comfortable and accomplished in your position, and then have it all revoked because you chose to pad your resume or inflate your skill set at work.

Even if an employer or colleagues do not catch you in a lie, you must still avoid exaggerating or twisting the truth at all costs. Choose to be honest at work, and display your true skills, talents and performance level to earn and keep the job you deserve.

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