Honesty is always the best policy

We live in desperate times. Unemployment is rife. It’s tough at the bottom, but it’s even tougher at the top. Pressure can turn carbon into diamonds, but carbon can often just become coal too and pressure can often lead candidates to take short cuts and sometimes be economical with the truth when it comes to applying for jobs.

It’s the single worst thing that can happen. Just as candidates are desperate to get the job at the top, so too are companies just as determined to make sure they appoint the right person. Due diligence is not just a phrase it’s the sworn responsibility of human capital departments and their talent acquisition agencies. Both will subject prospective candidates to deep dives on their backgrounds, including their social media footprint. The referees that candidates provide will be contacted and questioned and any discrepancies in the answers they provide will be highlighted and interrogated.

The system is not foolproof and not all undesirable issues are discovered in time to be ventilated at a hiring panel level. If they aren’t discovered, that’s not a reprieve, it’s a time bomb – for the candidate. If there are things about you that have not been discovered or disclosed, it’s very good practice to lean into your fear and reveal them yourself.

Growing up and living in South Africa is not simple, there are pitfalls aplenty and because of that there are a significant number of candidates for top jobs who might not have unblemished records. Some might have had youthful indiscretions and brushes with the law. Some might have worked at other companies or institutions which have broken the law or operated unethically, leaving the prospective new company uneasy about potentially being tarnished by association if they appoint a candidate who previously worked for one of those companies.

It takes courage to be open, the same kind of bravery and resolution that it takes to be a successful business leader. There is a risk that your openness might cost you a shot at the job, because the panel is simply not prepared to take the risk of exposure, but in that case, it’s important not to be despondent because there will be other jobs in other companies where your candour is appreciated and cherished.

The downside of not declaring, on the other hand, but then being found out afterwards is massive. The reality too in today’s era of ubiquitous smartphones, messaging platforms and social media means that no secret stays that way for long. Once the genie is released from the bottle, the damage control is almost not worth the effort, because it’s often impossible to get the genie back in the bottle because the damage has been done.

So be honest. Not everything might be in the public realm, but disgruntled former colleagues can talk and confidential company memos can be leaked anonymously. When they come out, no one looks at how they appeared only at what they contain and who will be tarnished by association. 

If you have had unfortunate indiscretions with the law that have led to criminal sanctions by the courts, you can apply to have your record expunged under certain circumstances – especially the severity of the crime and the nature of the punishment, as well as the time since the offence was committed. Some crimes though can never be glibly talked away. 

It’s debatable whether you will be given a second chance if you have been convicted and jailed for murder, but there’s definitely no chance if your crime was fraud or theft – and you’re trying to be appointed as the chief financial officer or even CEO. We do make mistakes and we do deserve rehabilitation, but to get that second chance we must disclose this because in the end it is the company’s right to decide how much risk it is comfortable with.

In the wake of state capture and the corporate collusion that underpinned it, South African companies are under increasing scrutiny to act and trade in an ethical, as well as legal, fashion. It is not enough to do right, it is vital to be seen to be doing right, which is why it is so important that if there are issues then the company can pro-actively manage them, rather than being forced into reactive damage control when one of their senior appointees is found to have a history that does not align with the company’s public persona and its public statements.

In both cases, the solution is always honesty. Doing it properly can be a virtue and not a liability, literally running lemons into lemonade – but it must start at the very beginning.