By Goretti Kimani
The word universe has different interpretations and meanings depending on the environment and circumstances.
Some define it as the totality of everything that exists or is known to exist while others define it as everything within our connected space. It is believed that the universe is governed by common laws.
Many employees deal with their bosses as if the bosses live in a different universe. They plan, craft and execute deceit as if everyone else around them is dumb stupid.
They forget that we all live in a universe governed by the same laws and subject to the same conditions. This aspect can be noticed right from the job search stage to performance and growth stages.
SOCIAL WOES
The most common form of deceit is the presentation of forged certificates.
These individuals believe they can never be caught. Unfortunately their days are numbered and things usually backfire badly when they are eventually apprehended. It is also common to find individuals lying about names of companies they have worked for before, salary, position and responsibilities, length of service and the like.
They do not think that the recruitment panel has a way of finding out the truth. According to them their previous employers are locked in their cocoon somewhere and no-one else except themselves can contact them about issues regarding their conduct.
And others hide behind the all too common tale of traffic jams as the reason for their lateness at work. They forget that it is their duty to make arrangements to arrive on time and without excuses irrespective of where they live. In any case don’t the bosses use the same roads? Yet others will present endless stories of insecurity and other social woes as the reason they must leave early from work. Whose choice is where you live? Don’t you think it is selfish to make others pay for your own life choices?
POOR PERFORMANCE
Other employees will come up with all manner of stories just to get some time off from work. It is not uncommon for some employees to get caught trying to get time off for a funeral for the same relative several times, how awful! Other common forms of deceit presented as excuses for poor performance include poor network connection, illness, accidents and so on.
I recently encountered a funny situation where a newly employed field employee blatantly lied about their physical location. Unknown to them the company-provided handsets are equipped with a GPS tracker that tells the boss exactly where you are, huh?
The writer is a human resources specialist with Peoplelink Consultants Ltd.
Email: goretti@peoplelink.co.ke
