What are the signs that a person is lying?

1. The person rubs their forehead or neck
2. Perspiring, trembling and blushing
3. Delayed nodding to support an answer they’ve given
4. All of the above

If you’ve been in HR for very long, you have probably run across some employee relations or management issues. Inevitably, someone will end up lying to you before too much time has passed. But how do you detect when someone’s not telling the truth? How do you know when to dig deeper on a question that someone’s trying to avoid answering? I recently ran across a free guide from i-Sight (link below), and I thought it was a resource worth sharing.

Let me start by saying I wish we didn’t have to discuss this. People lie in the workplace for a number of reasons, and some of them are completely unnecessary. At first I thought this topic and guide wouldn’t be very useful, and then I realized that as much as I would like to trust some people, many have no compunctions about lying to keep themselves out of trouble or to build up their reputation, even if the resulting mess is worse than the original offense!

I appreciate the fact that the author of the guide mentions the fallibility of lie detecting.

Because it is so difficult to read deception, it is very easy to make mistakes when trying to work out whether or not someone is lying. Although Polygraphs are only accurate in detecting lies 6o-8o% of the time (dependant on the skill of the operator), people are mostly only accurate 5o% of the time. And this statistic applies to many `experts’ including law enforcement officials.

People often mistake physical manifestations of stress as being indicators of lies being told. This sometimes happens to innocent people standing trial in a criminal case for a crime they didn’t commit. The irony is the guilty defendant will have had plenty of time, sometimes years, to rehearse their lie. The innocent person will not have rehearsed because they are telling the truth and are scared because they have a lot to lose.

No single behavior is a reliable indicator of deception. So don’t assume that because the person looks away when you are talking to them, they are lying about something. You need to look for clusters or groupings of deception indicators.

Inside the guide, you’ll find a list of signs that a person is lying to you when asking investigation questions, but it’s important to look at the entire situation and reaction instead of making a snap judgement. You’re not the lie-detecting whiz you might think you are, Dick Tracy.

Check out the free Black Book of Lie Detection PDF guide by i-Sight to learn more about detecting false statements and lies in the workplace.

A while back I received the Creatively Ever After: A Path to Innovation book by Alicia Arnold to review. I had a tough time getting started, and it sat on my shelf for a few weeks at one point. I’m a naturally creative person and a fan of solving problems through a creative process. However, I just couldn’t get into this book. It might be that I don’t have much trouble coming up with ideas, or it could very well be some other reason. I’d love to hear from someone who is a more analytical thinker about what they thought of the book. No offense to Ms. Arnold, but this one didn’t appeal to me.

What’s it about?

The basic premise is that Jack and Jill (from the nursery rhyme) want to change their story. You know…

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water,
Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after.

They meet someone who helps them work through a creative process to develop potential solutions and narrow them down to workable actions. And at the end, well, I’ll let you read it to figure out how it turns out.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a book that focuses on creative problem solving with a heavy dose of “cute,” then this book might be for you. If you’re looking for something that provides more real world issues/solutions and ways to teach your people to be more creative/innovative, then you might want to keep on looking.

Click here for more book reviews.

I work for a government contractor in the defense industry. We have a large number of veterans working for us, so I am always looking for ways to understand them better. Recently I received a review copy of this book, and I was really excited to dig in. As usual, I read with an eye on the corporate culture aspects, and I thought the author, Emily King, did a great job of addressing those. Here are my top 4 “Aha!” moments while reading Field Tested-Recruiting, Managing, and Retaining Veterans.

#1 Put yourself in their shoes

This was the single best explanation for how a veteran must feel when they join the private sector that I’ve ever come across. Basically, the author asks you to imagine that you take a job in a private employer and work there  for twenty years. Then, you retire from that company and go to work for the military. Imagine the chaos and difficulty of trying to navigate the landscape of an entirely different organization and culture. That is how veterans feel when they come to work for us after completing a military career.

#2 Boot camp (you need one)

All military members go through some sort of extensive, uniform training. They learn side-by-side and know that their peers are learning the same skills and abilities. Using a uniform orientation process to introduce culture aspects of the organization is a great way to help new hires feel more comfortable about their role. Click here for more on defining corporate culture for new hires.

#3 The “how” of work matters

The biggest lesson I’ve had to learn as a results-driven person is that, in the civilian world, how you accomplish something is as important as the merit of the accomplishment itself. I went from being an infantry captain in the Marine Corps to being the only male in an all-female HR department… I was bound to make a few mistakes. -Former USMC Officer

I’ve talked before on the “how” of work versus what is being accomplished.

#4 Individualistic vs conformist cultures

The author talks a little about how the military enforces a conformist culture in order to reproduce the same results from its soldiers over and over again. However, in a corporate setting, the opposite is encouraged. Individuals are accepted and encouraged to focus on their strengths, and they also are allowed to use creativity when resolving problems they face. Those are opposite ends of the spectrum, and making the instant switch when someone moves into civilian life is yet another hurdle our veterans face in their day-to-day existence.

If you’re considering recruiting veterans (or you already do), this book is a great resource for those of us with no military experience to draw upon. I already have started thinking in different ways in order to better meet the needs of our employees who are former military service members. Check it out!

Recently I had the opportunity to review the book 101 Strategies for Recruiting Success by Christopher Pritchard for the SHRM Store. As an HR Generalist for a small company, recruiting is one of those activities that I do occasionally but not often enough to really be creative. I learned some great ideas from the book that I’m looking forward to testing out, and I’d like to share seven of them.

1. Develop a process map (pg 26)-Recently we took a few hours to map out our new hire process to help the operations team have input into how they would like to be notified and to make sure we are completing all necessary tasks associated with a new hire. One of our ninja admins developed a high-level flow chart and a set of checklists designed for accounting, HR, security, and administrative tasks. Having this in place ensures that the team is on the same page.
2. Do a customer satisfaction survey (pg 34)-Wouldn’t you like to know if you are doing well or not? I would! The author suggests using a very simple, two question survey sent to hiring managers (or you can be really open and honest and send it to candidates as well!), including the following questions: Are you A) very satisfied, B) somewhat satisfied, or C) dissatisfied with the recruiting process? What would you improve?
3. Provide status updates to candidates, managers, and up the chain (pg 35)-I know that we often hear about candidates needing updates on the status of the process, but it’s even more important to make sure hiring managers know the status of the hiring process, too. I work with remote leaders and try to update them once every day or two on any pertinent updates to their candidates. Keep everyone in the loop that needs to be!
4. Use metrics to gauge performance (pg 38)-We use metrics for other activities, so why not for recruiting? I’m not a fan of the normal “time to fill” metric, because it can be misleading and difficult to calculate if there are a lot of starts and stops in the process due to managerial needs. The book mentioned a “submission to hire” ratio that I did like. Basically you look at how many candidates it takes to get a hire (10 to 1, for instance). Then try to work on narrowing that gap to 5 to 1 to save time and resources.
5. Reach out to alumni (pg 57)-Assuming the people left in good standing, they could be fantastic resources for referrals or other information. We have two people who left but were thrilled with the experience they had with us. They just wanted to do more of what they love, and we couldn’t offer that at this time. Just because they are gone doesn’t mean they won’t help if asked sincerely.
6. Utilize military outplacement programs (pg 67)-We often hear the statistics, but the truth needs to be said. The unemployment rate for veterans is higher than the national average. What are we going to do about it? Well, we’re going to look into programs like Operation Impact and work with organizations (local and national) such as Still Serving Veterans to try and find qualified candidates to fill our positions. If they can lead a group of men and women into battle to protect our freedoms, don’t you think they are worth your time to consider for a position?
7. Pre-close candidates (pg 120)-I’m a big fan of this one. It’s all about preparing candidates by getting them excited about the position, manager, and company. If they are emotionally invested, then there is a good chance they will take the interviews seriously and do their best to get the job. I’d rather have 3 great candidates fighting for a position than 3 so-so candidates who we wouldn’t want to hire anyway.

There was one “bonus” idea that made me stop and think. Utilize internal promotions when possible. I’ve pushed for it in my own organization, but sometimes it slips your mind when a hiring manager reaches out to open a requisition for a new position. In my mind, it’s usually easier to promote from within and recruit for the lower level/less experienced position than it is to find someone from outside who is unfamiliar with the organization yet capable of filling the role.

Again, here’s the link to the book. If you’re one of those generalists who does recruiting on the side, or if you are new to recruiting and looking to fill your toolbox with ideas to try out, I think 101 Strategies for Recruiting Success is a great book for you.

Do you practice any of these at your own company? Which have you had success with?

I have read The Levity Effect: Why It Pays to Lighten Up, and I think it’s a fantastic book for people to read in order to understand the impact that humor and levity can have in the workplace. Scott Christopher, the author of the book and speaker at the session, had so many fantastic quips and quotes that it might as well have been a comedy session with some learning thrown in. It was phenomenal and I can’t say enough how much I enjoyed hearing him speak.

One of our core values is to have a safe and enjoyable workplace. That’s why we have photos of office staff in men’s helicopter flight suits and videos of bagpipers playing in our lobby. We take the enjoyable part very seriously. Well, not so seriously. Anyway, you get the point.

Five quick points:

1. Figure out what’s fun and share that (healing patients vs. serving food, building relationships vs. recruiting candidates, etc.)
2. Herb Kelleher-Southwest Airlines-order of recruiting importance from least to greatest: education, experience, humor
3. “Hard” interview question? What’s the most fun you’ve ever had at work? Ask things to find out what people like? Ask how people would respond to wacky situations that might be common at work.
4. Google’s gives their engineers 20% of their time for fun/non-work related stuff
5. You don’t have to be funny to enjoy humor.

When I received my review copy of Carrots and Sticks Don’t Work: Building a Culture of Employee Engagement with the Principles of RESPECT by Paul Marciano, I wasn’t sure about what to expect. I’ve talked about employee engagement before, and I feel like I know a good bit about the topic.

This book took it to a whole new level.

See, the engagement stuff is usually “fuzzy.” We know it’s a good concept, but we don’t receive a lot of practical advice on how to make it work. This book covers overarching concepts that affect human psychology at work and actionable ideas for employers to use to affect employee engagement on a daily basis. And the interesting part? It’s all based on respect.

If I could boil it down to a sentence, I’d say: It doesn’t take rocket science to help someone love what they do; with a little respect and attention you can have a dramatic effect on levels of employee engagement.

A few quick points

• Giving gifts to employees doesn’t get them engaged. It just creates an entitlement mentality. (pg 30)
• Extrinsic rewards for an activity reduce its intrinsic value. (pg 32)
• Low employee engagement scores are associated with twice as many EEO complaints in one federal study mentioned in the book.

Recently I wrote a post about the cost of disengaged employees as a precursor to this short review. If you haven’t read it, you should. It’s a great preview of what sort of ideas this book can generate for you.

If you’re interested in getting this book, click here to get your own copy.

Today I get to review the book The 1% Solution for Work and Life by Tom Connellan. I have been doing a lot of reading on working smarter, being more productive, and developing solid work habits lately. With all the balls I juggle, it is often more than a little crazy. When my friend Rebecca reached out to me to see if I wanted to review this book, I couldn’t wait. The last book review I did for them was fantastic, and I hoped this one was on the same level. Lucky for me, it certainly was.

I am a fan of business books written with a narrative story embedded. It helps to put yourself into the situations the character is facing. You can sympathize with the troubles and celebrate with the triumphs. So before I was two pages into the book, it already had that going for it.

The plot

The basic storyline is this: Ken’s life is barely hanging on by a thread in some places. He is sick and tired of just struggling to maintain that level of performance, and that prompts him to start a conversation with a friend who is doing quite well. The friend shares with him an interesting phenomenon illustrated by Olympic athletes. Apparently the best athletes in the entire world are approximately 1% better then those who are just really, really good. It’s not a 50% difference or even 10%. And if they can be the that good by being 1% better, why can’t we be 1% better at lots of little things in life?

That conversation spurs Ken to start meeting with each of the “One Percenters” in his friend’s group to gather bits of information and ideas on how to live his life better. He hits the highs and lows (as most of us do when tackling something challenging), but in the end, he sees how each piece comes together and starts applying them to his own life.

My favorite parts

The picture on the left is one of the best pieces of the book, because it actually stops to list the exact ideas and action steps each character is trying to convey. The little conversations that Ken has with the others in the group and the notes he takes are phenomenal. Because the ideas come from a diverse group of people (salesman, entrepreneur, psychologist, physicist, and athlete), there’s a different feel to each instructional session he undergoes. There are a handful of these in the book that I ended up copying word for word into my list of tasks.

The last word

If you want a book to inspire you and give you some ideas on how you can be 1% better at a lot of things, this is definitely something you will want to read. It’s a quick read (and the narrative/story portion helps with that), but you’ll have to go back and reread the notes portions to fully absorb the ideas the book is conveying.

Anyone else ever read it? I’d love to hear ways you work to be 1% better at a lot of things instead of trying to be 100% better at one big thing.