by Samson
If you want career success, make honesty a priority. Make honesty a way of life.
The truth is . . . organizations value honest employees. And they go to great lengths to retain honest people in the organization.
What is the big deal about honesty?
Well, honest employees make the right decisions. And they admit their error when they make the wrong decisions.
Honest employees . . .
1. Tell the truth
2. don’t steal from their employers
3. Make the correct tax returns
4. don’t lie to stay off work
5. don’t inflate material prices so they can get a share of the loot from suppliers
6. engage the right contractors or suppliers because they won’t accept a bribe to engage an incompetent supplier or contractor
7. Help their organizations make more money because they don’t engage in sharp practices that subsequently hurt the organization
No wonder organizations love honest people!
A word of caution.
Your boss may be dishonest. That doesn’t mean the organization is dishonest. And even if your boss and your organization are dishonest, that doesn’t mean you should be.
Every man and woman, will answer for his sins. Each person will be judged by his own deeds not the deeds of other people.
So, if you want to have a successful career and, more importantly, to have peace of mind, thread the path of honesty. It will save you a lot of trouble.
Let me share with you a live example . . . a true life story.
A colleague of mine was the engineering training manager in the beverage company where I worked.
During one of the company’s recruitment exercise, the operations director who is boss to his boss, told him he had a candidate among the folks who applied for the open position. And then the director gave this colleague the name of his candidate.
The company was recruiting technicians to fill job vacancies in the engineering section of the company.
The pre-employment test came and all short listed candidates sat for the pre-employment test. After the scripts were graded and the scores came in, this colleague discovered that the director’s candidate failed the pre-employment test.
Unfortunately, his subordinate who marked the scripts had passed them to the HR manager overseeing the recruitment.
Determined to help the director’s candidate scale the test, he withdrew the scripts from HR and upgraded the scores of the director’s candidate to move him from the ‘fail category’ to the ‘pass category’.
The HR manager discovered the alterations in this particular candidate’s script and therefore started an investigation to understand why.
The engineering training manager could not provide concrete proof why the change in scores was necessary. So, he was dismissed for dishonesty.
The last time I saw him, he was looking older than his age.
This is a terrible way to lose a job!
My advice?
Be honest. Be trustworthy.
Do this for yourself. You will be forever proud.