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Thread: When staff lie for no reason.

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    When staff lie for no reason.

    If there is one thing that makes me really mad then it is when people lie for no reason. I set up a job today and it was all good. My worker had to perform an operation on the job and when I walked up he pointed out that a part was broken - I found this odd because I set the job up and there was no reason for him to notice a tiny fracture let alone point it out to me. I asked him if he broke it and of course he knew nothing. The part wasn't particularly important so I left it at that. I then went to go and fetch the result from the job 2 hours later and I noticed that the whole thing was skew. On further inspection I found that the job was out by the thickness of the broken part. Interesting - given that I had set the job up using a spirit level 2 hours before. The only way that the job could have gone out by that thickness is if the worker broke the part and tried to cover his tracks. If he told me what really happened I could have re-leveled the job and no harm would have been done other than the one broken part - now I have a broken part and a large trashed job. This is why I hate having staff - there was no need for him to lie to me - the lie compounded the problem. I am so sick and tired of this sort of nonsense - Why does one have to be a babysitter all day long - then I may as well just do everything myself.

    I expect a lot of flak from certain quarters for the fact that the guy lied to me - (supposedly all employees are just misunderstood) - aye well, knock yourself out - the fact remains that he had no reason to lie - he did it because lying seems to be an instinctive impulse for some people (in my view)

    My question is this: Why do some people lie instinctively for no reason?

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    Platinum Member Derlyn's Avatar
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    Hello Brother

    My 2 cents worth.

    There IS a reason.

    They lie because they are afraid of the consequences of them making a mistake.
    Fortunately I only have Xolani.
    Early on in our relationship, I made it known to him that we are all human and can make mistakes. I also made it known to him that should he make a mistake, report it to me immediately and there will be NO negative consequences unless the same mistake is repeated over and over.

    I remember the day we had that conversation and could see the relief he displayed, realising that mistakes are normal. It's what happens afterwards that's important.

    Xolani has been with me for 6 years, making mistakes along the way, so have I, but always informing me immediately. I have kept my word and there have been no negative consequences. We sort it out quickly. He has very seldom repeated the same mistake. When he has, we have joked about it and moved on.

    Fear of what might happen to them is what drives most people to lie in order to cover themselves.

    Like I said, my 2 cents worth.

    Peace out ... Derek

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    The guy has been working for me for many years. We've both made many many mistakes and I've told him a thousand times to tell me when he makes mistakes because we can fix them. I pay him well, I paid him all the while he was at home with covid - I really do a lot for for him and help him out a lot. He has these lapses where he messes the most basic things up and then lies about it. The lies make it worse because that is what makes me angry - don't lie to me!

    The bottom line is that I cannot trust the guy because if he makes a mistake he doesn't speak up. I am not a social worker or a babysitter. All that I can go is give him menial work that doesn't matter if it gets messed up. (The actual task was menial - he adjusted something that he had no reason to and broke it in the process)

    It seems that the only way to operate is to be like McDonalds where everything is documented to such a degree that any fool can do it. Of course the problem in that is that the documentation process just takes so long. The difficulty with double checking everything that he does is that he messes things up that are not directly related to his task. I would never have thought to check the thing that he messed up.

    I suppose one has to be a social worker and babysitter.....its just soooooooo tiring...

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    Diamond Member Justloadit's Avatar
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    Agreed, i am also tired of having to overthink everything that gets delegated.
    Yes I do make mistakes, and usually happens because of the amount of responsibility at the time is overloading due to having to overthink all my instructions, and the daily tasks of running a high tech business.
    And the day, and only time I do not check because I was overly busy, is the day that the mess up comes up and bites, and in some occasions, lingers on for weeks after the mess.

    I am just glad that I have reached a milestone, and am slowly pulling out. Tired of the responsibility that is bestowed upon me by having staff.

    What I have found is that I must rephrase the question in order that the staff member has to think of the answer, or has to show me how he done the task.
    I have found this way does reduce the amount of lying that takes place.
    Avoid the question which only requires a Yes/No. They will always answer 'Yes'.
    Victor - Knowledge is a blessing or a curse, your current circumstances make you decide!
    Solar pumping, Solar Geyser & Solar Security lighting solutions - www.microsolve.co.za

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    Besides the lying the biggest problem is the "momentary lapses of reason" The guy has been putting 600 grams of part A and 600 grams of part B into the container on the scale for years....then one day the mold doesn't set...I look at the containers and its clear that he put part A in twice. How the hell do you make such a mistake....I don't get it. I simply can't trust him to do anything important because he might just have one of those lapses.

    I tell him that he should never plug the vacuum cleaner into the same line as the laser (which is clearly marked) ...every 3 months or so he does just that and trips the laser.

    Yes of course one can create safeguards against repeat of the same errors but these are just examples of the things that he does out of the blue.

    Now the thing is that we all make mistakes but how do you make the same mistake over and over out of the blue for no apparent reason. How do you stop a child from sticking its finger in a plug over and over again - you can't hide all the plugs and you can't keep an eye on the child all day long. There is a lot to be said for common-sense and one would expect that a person would develop a degree of common-sense for their own workplace if they have been working there for 5 years doing more or less the same thing day in and day out.

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    Diamond Member Justloadit's Avatar
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    Problem number 1.
    I have found that staff come to work, because they have to, not because they want to, or else they starve.
    When they arrive the attitude is already wrong - they will do as little as possible to earn their wages.

    Now is this my problem, or theirs.
    In their mind I am 'privileged' to have the position that I have.
    Never mind the difficulties, and hours of dedication and sleepless nights, and the number of times I have gone with out income to ensure I pay my staff and suppliers.

    Now one can understand the mistakes that occur, there just is no interest in understanding what they are doing.

    Well lets just take an instance, that they would be interested in what they are doing, and in turn become better at it.
    And if they did, they would become a more invaluable employee, and in turn would get paid more, and have more job security, as an employer, I would value the lightning of responsibility on my part.

    Unfortunately this is very rare.

    I usually tell my employees that the responsibility of their positions as employees is theirs, not mine.
    It goes way over their heads.
    I don't need the company to live, I can do very well on my own, but they cannot survive on their own if there is no company.
    But they still don't see this, and have decided that they are making me rich by working for me.
    This could not be further from the truth.

    Yes I am making some money, that is the reason we are in business, however the situation is arriving where the return is outstripping the stress very fast.
    When one makes a lot of money, you buy the stress away with paying other people to do the work, but this is not the case any more. The profits are down, and the amount of stress is up.
    At some point it has to tip over, and I can see the tipping point looming quite quickly.
    Victor - Knowledge is a blessing or a curse, your current circumstances make you decide!
    Solar pumping, Solar Geyser & Solar Security lighting solutions - www.microsolve.co.za

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    Moderator IanF's Avatar
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    My Situation has also changed. When covid came we had lost our biggest customer on the Litho printing side a few months before. So on reflection we closed the Print Shop sold the the press and scrapped the ancillary equipment. We now work from the garage and the small lounge at home with digital printing and laser stuff, and outsource the remaining litho we are profitable with no stress of staff.
    The staff are not missed.
    Only stress when you can change the outcome!

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    Diamond Member Blurock's Avatar
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    WE have a major social problem in South Africa. The mindset is totally wrong. If there is no buy-in from the employee, at whatever level, you will never be able to trust that person. Most are there just from 8 - 5 and would not even bend down to pick up a piece of paper. Don't we see that in our supermarkets and in our government departments?

    In the old days being a nurse or a teacher was a calling, in spite of the relatively low salary. Now you see sloppy dressed people acting as teachers. Children were encouraged to learn so that they can get decent jobs. They were also encouraged to never stop learning so that they could improve their position. Not any more.
    Sales people were told that the customer is king, but today they are doing you a favour to just look in your direction.

    We also have people like the one in the red cap who are sweeping people up to destroy everything in their hunger for power. The unemployed masses are not well informed and are being fed racial junk and are told that the entrepreneur and the "boss" is their enemy. They do not realise how much the business owner has to risk to start a business.
    Excellence is not a skill; its an attitude...

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    It’s really uncomfortable when people lie for no reason or due to the fear of getting caught. And they eventually build more lies around it, to hide one single lie. Better to be open and agree with the consequences than to hide it. Such lies in work environments affect the whole production like @adrianh has mentioned.

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