Press Releases

2005 Feb 28

LIE FOR ME NOT TO ME, SAY UK BOSSES

A new survey has shown that while the vast majority of company directors and senior managers believe it is wrong for their employees to lie to them, almost half are comfortable with those same employees telling untruths on their behalf to their customers. The research also reveals that female bosses appear more comfortable with lies in the workplace than their male counterparts.

Only 7 per cent of British bosses feel that it is acceptable for an employee to tell an occasional lie to them, according to research conducted by The Aziz Corporation, the UK’s leading independent executive communications consultancy. However, 37 per cent of bosses believe it is acceptable for their employees to tell white lies to customers, and 46 per cent think telling untruths is acceptable if this could safeguard the company.

The research also found that slightly more bosses (11 per cent) find poor timekeeping more acceptable than lying, perhaps suggesting that the inveterate liar would be better not to turn up to work at all. By contrast, surfing the internet during office hours, sending personal emails and making personal phone calls are now considered acceptable by 36 per cent, 83 per cent and 85 per cent of bosses respectively.

Professor Khalid Aziz, Chairman of The Aziz Corporation, which conducted the survey as

part of the eighth annual Aziz Management Communications Index, comments:

“The survey shows that many UK bosses believe that it is acceptable for their employees to lie, so long as they aren’t lying to them! These senior business leaders regard occasional lies from employees as more acceptable then poor time keeping and no worse than absenteeism.”