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The workplace is most often or not an amalgam of varying personalities and talents.  It could be difficult, especially in these competitive times, to get an accurate assessment of an employee’s abilities and competence in just a couple of interview sessions.

Often times prospective employees exaggerate accomplishments and/or experience.  It is very important that the company leader (the one who decides who to hire) make well thought out predictions on how a person will perform based on the limited amount of time they have interacted with them.  Hiring managers must make sure candidates can measure up to the requirements of the job description.

Is it the skeptical manager, who is more often than not suspicious about others, or the trusting manager, who assumes that people for the most part are honest, that is better at evaluating truthfulness?

 The Washington Post reported on a study performed by Psychologists Nancy Carter and Mark Weber.

They presented business professionals with a scenario about an organization struggling with dishonesty in its hiring interviews. They had the chance to choose one of two highly competent senior managers to be the company’s job interviewer. The major difference between the two managers wasn’t experience or skill, it was a matter of personality: one manager was skeptical and suspicious, whereas the other manager had a habit of trusting others.

Eighty-five percent chose the skeptical manager to make the hiring decisions, expecting the trusting manager to be naïve and easily duped.

As we know through research Evaluating Truthfulness is a difficult task to master.  Experienced experts continue to brush up on their skills to stay fresh and on top of their game.  Past research has shown that the average person is no better than chance at detecting deception.

So, who is the better lie detector during interviews?

Contrary to popular belief, it is the skeptics that are duped more often than not.   The more trusting evaluators better identified the liars among the group than the skeptics did, and were also less likely to hire those liars.

Why would this be? According to Carter and Weber, it is that lie-detection skills cause people to become more trusting. If you’re good at spotting lies, you need to worry less about being deceived by others, because you can often catch them in the act.  Another possibility is that by trusting others, we sharpen our skills in reading people.

Want to brush up on your Deception Detection Skills?
Join our Evaluating Truthfulness LIVE Webinar, April 27 2013 11-1 pm PST. 

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The workplace can be very hectic and stressful.  Do you think it would benefit you to know when a co-worker or your boss was lying to you?

Below are a few tips from Chron.com of what to look for if you want to know if your boss is really considering you for that promotion.

There are various clues to note when evaluating truthfulness and research has identified some reliable deception detection clues such as facial expressions, body language and word use.  However, there is no one tell-tale sign that someone is being deceptive.

1. Normal Behavior

First, find the baseline (the way they normally talk, gesture and use body language) of the individual in question and then pay attention to any departures from that individual’s baseline.

2. Verbal Vs. Nonverbal

Watch for verbal  and nonverbal cues.  A shake of the head no when saying yes, is what we call a Hot-Spot and lets the skilled observer know that there is more to the story than is being told.  The smallest shifts in the facial expressions can give away our lies.  For instance, the muscle movements around the eyes can distinguish between and honest (Duchenne) an dishonest smile.

Microexpressions are involuntary facial expressions of emotion that flash on and off the face quickly less than 1/2 second.  They occur when people are consciously or unconsciously trying to conceal or repress what they are feeling.

Most people report that they don’t see microexpressions; however, research has shown that people can be taught to spot these with the proper training such as Humintell’s micro and subtle facial expression online training tools.

3.  Body language

Hunched shoulders can be a sign of distress or discomfort and someone who avoids using any hand gestures (if that is different then their baseline behavior) could be trying to deceive you.

 4.  Practice Practice, Practice

Past research has revealed that most of us think we are really good at spotting lies but in reality we are no better than chance (50%).  However, the more training you have the better your percentage is at determining if someone is telling the truth.

 If you want to brush up on your skills revisit your training  OR 
Purchase a more advanced training /supplement such as our Evaluating Truthfulness Webinar (NEW ONE, APRIL 27)