If the angry customers are not happy with the explanation, please make something up to appease them, okay.

Sheila was attending her orientation training for her first job as a Customer Service Executive. As she heard this coming out from the lips of her manager, she wondered whether or not she has just made the mistake of joining this company.

What Sheila didn’t know was lying is probably one contradictions in working life that on one hand, you have employers preaching against it but at the same time finding yourself facing the same culprits committing the very acts they condemned.

If Mr Kamal called me again, tell him I’m not in the office.

And so when Mr Kamal called, the obedient Secretary, Kim muttered a white lie. Do you think Kim felt guilty that she lied? Well, perhaps for the first time but if she continued to do that day in and day out, the wrong seems to be the most natural thing to do.

When we talked to Mr Lim afterwards, don’t reveal that we had also approached their rival for information. If ever he asked, just act surprised that he even asked that.

The Procurement Manager, Rashid quietly warned his executive, Ahmad right before the appointment.

If you worked long enough, these scenarios are common places. They almost formed the landscape of the working world, not until a conscientious worker especially one that is just out from college questioning the ethics of such actions. So, what shall employers respond to that? Well, young chap…this is the real world.

Short of saying, “welcome to the world of lies and deceit”. No, it’s not a big deal if you don’t think it is and I doubt many readers would even find it an issue. But it troubled me when corporate leaders and managers talked about integrity and honesty but in actual sense, the words are nothing less than sugar-coating the speech but never reaches anywhere.

Two years ago, I blogged about the common areas that jobseekers’ lie and the reasons you shouldn’t lie. And I wonder why we are bothered when that’s exactly the thing we get them to do when they are recruited.