Adrian Gostick

I’ve been fascinated by something lately: How can you spot a phony business person?

Chances are you know someone who’s phony, someone you just don’t trust, and yet other people seem to think the person is just dandy. “Isn’t he nice,” they’ll say, and you think, “That guy, you’ve got to be kidding, he’s so plastic he was probably made by Rubbermaid. Why can’t they see it?”

I knew someone like this, a guy who would smile and say nice things to your face, but then talk badly about you to others in the organization. A growing number of people saw through the nice act and steered clear of the guy, some admitting that they even went the other way in the hallway if they saw him coming; but some pretty smart people thought he was nice as could be. Why didn’t they see it?

Actually, according to research, some of us are better at spotting phonies than others.

Psychologists say those who have been burned are more likely to spot people with fake emotions. According to researchers from Miami University, those who have recently experienced rejection and who feel socially isolated are much more likely to spot “fake” facial expressions than people who feel socially accepted.

Here’s another thought from ethicist Joe Badarraco of Harvard Business School: His work reasons that early man had a much better sense of identifying phonies than modern man, since his life depended on knowing who was out to get him. Today, many people living comfortable lives have lost that ability (which is probably good). Missing a phony here and there might cost us a bit of money or embarrassment now and then, but it’s usually not life threatening, so why be wary all the time?

So what does this say about those of us who are good at picking out phonies? Pretty much that we are social misfits who are in touch with our early man. Great.

For the rest of you, here are a few tips:

But first, a bit of warning: Realize that it usually takes time to find out if a person is not who they claim to be. So-called “clues,” such as a person who avoids eye-contact for instance, are extremely unreliable. Certain cultures and personality types avoid eye-contact, shift their gaze, pause in conversation, fidget, and do many of the other so-called “tells” of the dishonest, yet they may still be very trustworthy people. In contrast, some liars get very good at holding eye contact, speaking confidently, and so on.

So forget the quick clues. Instead think about a few of these tips to help you tell is someone is phony:

1. They seem to enjoy it when others fail
2. You have heard them talk badly about others and wonder what they say about you behind your back
3. You wouldn’t call on this person in an emergency
4. Others are also suspicious of this person’s motives
5. They don’t do what they say they will do
6. They smile, but the look in their eyes doesn’t match
7. They worry about themselves in just about every decision
8. When you think about it, you just think the person isn’t nice

Photo Credit: Johnny Blue

Great companies invest in people says our friend Dave Ulrich and his wife Wendy in their new book The Why of Work. The Ulrich’s point to some startling statistics on employee engagement:

• ‘Best companies to work for’ with a higher percentage of engaged employees saw a 6.8 percent annual stock appreciation versus 1 percent for the average firm in the 10-year period from 1998 to 2008.
• Only 13 percent of disengaged employees would recommend their company’s products versus 78 percent of engaged employees.
• Disengaged employees are 10 times more likely to leave within a year.

In this excellent book, the authors show that when we find meaning in our work, we find meaning in our life. “Employees who find meaning are more satisfied, engaged and productive,” they say.

So how do we help our employees find this meaning? According to the Ulrich’s, here are just three (of seven) things great organizations do to help employees find meaning at work:

• Build on individual’s strengths and capabilities that strengthen others
• Have purposes that sustain social and fiscal responsibility and align individual motivation
• Take work relationships beyond high-performing to high-relating

We’ll have more to say on that last point—creating team esprit de corps—in our new book, The Orange Revolution, due out this September.

If you’re looking for a levity-filled, laugh-a-minute place to work, chances are excellent that one of the Big Four accounting firms would not be high on your list of prospects. Historically, accounting firms have pretty much defined the antithesis of fun.

But what if, suddenly, an accounting giant chose to apply what we call the "Levity Effect” and inject regular fun initiatives into its work routine?

That’s exactly what happened at KPMG, the Big Four accounting firm that has made a concerted effort over the last several years to turn itself into an Employer of Choice by increasing its focus on people-centric programs and initiatives. The effort has made the firm’s aspirations a reality, evidenced by the fact that employee survey ratings on the statement, “This is a great place to work,” increased 23 points since the introduction of their EOC program.

To back up, while reviewing employee survey results, leaders at KPMG were surprised to discover that two of the top five predictors of positive employee responses to the critical “great place to work” question were, “We are a close-knit team or family,” and “I have fun at work.”

As number crunchers, KPMG’s leaders decided they couldn’t argue with the data. So the firm introduced a new “Esprit de Corps” initiative as part of its ongoing Employer of Choice efforts. The program’s main objectives are to thank employees for their hard work and commitment, celebrate successes, and bring some fun and camaraderie into the workplace. The first initiative was a Movie Madness Challenge, which encouraged employees to go to the company’s intranet to pick Oscar winners. Those who tallied the most correct choices were entered into a drawing for prizes that included plasma TVs, portable DVD players, iPods and free movie tickets. The results were convincing, even for the critics.

“When we introduced the movie challenge, some leaders asked, ‘Who is going to do this? Our people are too busy.’” admitted Bruce Pfau, KPMG’s Vice Chair of Human Resources. “More than 10,000 of our 22,000 employees logged in to participate during a very busy season when it’s difficult just to get the attention of our people. It said to me, ‘Our accountants and auditors are hungry for some fun.’ ”

Encouraged by the results, leadership has continued to sponsor fun initiatives (outlined in detail in our book The Levity Effect).

Scores on the most recent employee survey have continued to climb, and the positive momentum has helped earn KPMG a spot on FORTUNE’s 100 Best Places to Work, as well as in the Top Ten of Working Mother’s Best Companies list and on BusinessWeek’s 50 Best Places to Launch a Career. Like KPMG, companies that create the Levity Effect at work experience higher productivity, engagement and retention.

Most companies profess to be trustworthy, but many are off track. Ask yourself these questions about your organization:

1. Is there an unreasonably high focus on the company stock price, as opposed to creating long-term value for shareholders?
2. Is company communication frequent, open and honest? Or are things communicated strictly on a “need-to-know” basis?
3. Is it OK to admit you’ve made a mistake? Can you recall a company leader publicly admitting an error?
4. Have you ever been asked to violate your personal ethical standards in the name of the company (i.e., erasing emails, misrepresenting company services or profits, lying to an outside party, etc.)?
5. Does your company wink at rule-breakers who are successful?
6. Does your organization pay its bills on time and in full?
7. Do you trust management?

Hopefully, your evaluation will reveal an organization that is trustworthy. But you might find yourself in an organization with a “do whatever it takes, push the envelope, look the other way, we’ve got to make our numbers” philosophy. If that’s the case, you can either get along, try to change the way things are done, or part company.

I was on Ron Tunick’s radio program when he asked his audience: would you rather work for a great boss and get paid minimum wage, or for a miserable, controlling boss who paid you $100 an hour? To my shock, about half the callers wanted the great boss and much less money. Several mentioned, “It’s not worth my health to work for a terrible manager.”

This result is obviously unscientific, but there have been recent studies about workers and bad bosses that make the case more convincingly. British scientist George Fieldman conducted research on the role played by employee’s perceptions of their bosses and whether interaction styles caused physical health problems.

Depending on whether they liked or disliked their bosses, the participants’ diastolic and systolic blood pressure varied in significant degrees. Fieldman concluded that working for a boss they thought unfair could increase the risk of coronary heart disease by one-sixth and the risk of stroke by one-third.

Disrespect damages a team, and also your health.

Take just a minute to rate your boss. Out of a possible four, how many stars would you award him or her? Are there any suggestions you can give your boss (in private) that might help?