IT Management Slideshow: How to Hire Honest Employees

Lying on a resume. Being deceitful to a boss. Stealing proprietary data/intellectual property. Embezzling company funds. All of these behaviors are, unfortunately, a workplace reality. In fact, many employees have no reservation about stealing electronic assets when they leave a job. Even more scary, data theft now outpaces the stealing of tangible assets in the workplace. Wouldn't it be great if you could prevent such incidents simply by hiring the most honest job candidates you can find? With the right tactics, this is possible, according to Denis Collins, author of Essentials of Business Ethics (Wiley/Available now). In his book, Collins outlines an extensive series of steps that CIOs and other managers can take to spot potential resume fibs and other character weaknesses that raise red flags. Managers need to "redesign the hiring process to help screen for employees who suffer from 'selective integrity,' " Collins says. "After an employer fires someone for theft, the natural question they ask is, 'How'd we even hire that guy?' Well, by changing your hiring practices, you can reduce the number of times you ever have to ask yourself that question again." Collins is a tenured professor of business at Edgewood College in Madison, WI, specializing in business ethics. Here are revealing statistics and advice for CIOs from his book: