In this episode of PowerTalk Radio Edward King identifies 7 ways to spot a lack of integrity in your employees and coworkers.
What does “integrity” mean to you as a manager, supervisor, or business owner? It is something we all look for in managers, new hires, existing employees, and team members which means:
- Doing the right thing, whether it’s convenient or not.
- Having strong moral principles.
- Honesty.
- Firm adherence to a code.
The unfortunate truth is most people have selfish intentions.
Integrity can be like a diamond in the rough in today’s workforce. By the time you realize an employee or team member lacks integrity, it may be too late to right the ship.
If you need help identifying problematic behavior, here are 7 Ways to Spot a Lack of Integrity in Your Employees.
1. Unreliable = Lack of Integrity
Ask yourself this about the employee or team member in question:
- Do they do what they say they’re going to do?
- Do they do what you ask of them?
If they don’t stick to their commitments, appointments, meetings, follow-ups, and deadlines ––– integrity isn’t there.
Think of someone who can be defined by the statement:
“One who over-promises and under-delivers.”
That alone with help you protect yourself and your business from unreliable employees.
2. What They Say is Not What They Do
This is the “do as I say, not as I do” mentality.
If an employee, leader, or coworker doesn’t lead by example, that’s an immediate red flag. These are also the employees that have high expectations for others but NOT themselves.
3. Employees Don’t Care About White Lies
Keep an eye out for employees that stretch and bend the truth. If they do it consistently, without remorse, and to the detriment of your clients or business, they have a problem ––– and so do you
4. Employees Who Get Defensive
As disappointing as it is to say, it’s rare to find employees that can apologize, take ownership, and implement positive change moving forward.
Team members or employees who constantly defend their bad or questionable decisions, actions, and behavior lack character. Unapologetic behavior can make it easy to spot an employee or team member that lacks integrity.
5. They Don’t Think Their Behavior Hurts Anyone
Some employees totally lack of self-awareness.
They don’t consider how their behavior and actions impact others around them. Keep your eye out for employees that show disregard for their team members, managers, clients, and other constituents.
6. Their Definition of Honesty is Fluid
Suspicious employees are ones that have a loose definition of “truth.” If you find your employees giving:
- Ambiguous answers.
- Indirect responses.
- Non-specific information.
Something’s up. And that something isn’t good. This is a sure sign they are trying to hide something or cover their tracks for something they don’t want you to know.
7. Self vs. Team Mentality
You can tell a lot about a person by their motivations and actions. Employees that lack integrity have selfish motivations, characterized by selfish behavior.
- Self-centered Employee: Makes decisions on how it will make them look.
- Team-centered Employee: Makes decisions on how it will benefit their team.
It’s hard to teach someone to become a team player when they’re only looking out for themselves.
Conclusion
Employees can only hide a lack of integrity for so long before their behavior reveals their true intentions. However, these 7 signs should help you spot them faster.
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