According to a recent study by the Institute of Leadership and Management unethical behaviour is commonplace in our workforces with managers witnessing employees lying to cover their mistakes, cutting corners and badmouthing their colleagues behind their backs.

According to the study, the top ten bad behaviours witnessed in the workplace were:

1. Cutting corners – 72%
2. Lying to hide your mistakes – 72%
3. Badmouthing colleagues – 68%
4. Passing the buck (when you don’t get your work done) – 67%
5. Slacking off when no one’s watching – 64%
6. Lying to hide other people’s mistakes – 63%
7. Taking credit for other people’s work – 57%
8. Taking a sickie – 56%
9. Lying about skills and experience – 54%
10. Taking low value items from work – 52%

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Whilst managers might be okay with employees occasionally using the office printer for personal reasons, they might not be so comfortable with employees telling lies, or taking credit for other peoples work.  If employees are not disciplined for these misdeamours resentment builds up within the team and there is a breakdown in trust and standards. So it is important to deal with individuals demonstrating bad behaviour.

However, it is also crucial to try and understand the root cause. If people are covering-up their mistakes, is this a sign of a blame culture that leaves people afraid to be honest? If people are routinely phoning in sick, is there a workload or stress issue? In many cases these behaviours are part of wider issues which once uncovered can be addressed to improve morale and company performance.

So what should you be doing? Here are some practical steps that Companies can take to build and rebuild trust:-

• ask yourself, honestly, whether your company values and leadership style are truly aligned?
• do your managers have good leadership skills?
• are your leaders visible and do they really  listen to and act upon employee views?
• do your managers lead based on trust not micro-management or enforcement?
• does your company have traits and behaviours that will develop a culture of trust and do your managers demonstrate these?
• do your employees have a variety of ways to express their views i.e. working groups, project teams or team meetings?
• Can you trust your employees to contribute ideas, be innovative and to solve problems?