Do You Have A George Santos Problem?

We are all too aware of the curios case of Rep. George Santos. He lied about so many things that one has lost count but is nevertheless he is now serving as a US congressman in Washington D.C. The question is do you have people in your organization who have slipped through the cracks in the?systems like George and are now working in your company and if so, how can you prevent this type of situation from arising and what can you do about once it happens?

It is relatively easy to fabricate a new persona out of whole cloth, a fake work experience and an illusory history if one is a mind to and get through interviews by convincing others of their bogus background, as long as no one spends the time to validate things. George may well be one of these sociopaths who lies their way through life and are able to convince others (and maybe even themselves) that they can achieve whatever position they are seeking. George has been masterful in doing this with his constituents, his party leaders and most of the news media who were either duped or too lazy to check on the supposed facts. And now that he has been elected, he cannot easily be removed as his vote is critical to the party leader and he will likely remain in power. And amazingly now that he is championing the AR-15 issue, he has moved from a true embarrassment to a valuable asset. So, how exactly does one weed out the George Santos of the world and rid themselves of them?

??First of all, don’t believe everything you are told by a candidate in politics or business. The old saying of trust but verify applies. I recall a client who interviewed a candidate for a key position who won over everyone on the management team. Each person thought that he was the greatest thing since sliced bread. He said all the things they wanted to hear, he was perfection in all the many interviews and conversation he had, with a great smile, a winning personality with a long list of accomplishments that no one bothered verify. So out of an abundance of caution, I insisted that they give him a personality profile I had used many times before with rather accurate predictive results before they hired him. I spoke with the person who gave him the test and he told me that he never has anyone tested so deceitfully as he did. Nevertheless, the CEO insisted that he was the real thing, and the test must be wrong, but they at least agreed to watch him closely to see if what he promised came to fruition. After two months, they saw the light and terminated him. But being forewarned, they were able to cut their losses, knowing full well that they had been deceived.

??Secondly, are you unconsciously providing the answer to the question to the candidate that you want to hear back from them??An inexperienced interviewer will tell the applicant everything they want to hear back, and that person dutifully just repeats back the answers back. This was an easy mission accomplished. A proctor on an exam never reveals to the answers to the test to the person taking the exam but judges the responses on their own merits.

??Thirdly, In today’s litigious environment it is difficult to get someone say anything negative about a former employee,?but it is not what is said, but what is not said. They often just provide the dates of employment and nothing more. I recall checking on an applicant for a?job who could only provide the names of people who could not be traced. I?eventually found a person that the applicant reported to and given a terse reply “I refuse to provide a reference”. That was all I needed to hear.

??Then, hire slowly an terminate quickly when you have the facts you need to make an informed decision. Not owning up to ones mistakes is unfortunately typical. If you gave thumbs up to your boss on a new hire, you may have to eat a bit of crow for that mistake, but that is nothing like having to justify a cover up. If you made an error in judgement cut your losses as soon as possible. ?It not the blunder that can hurt you, it’s ?always the cover up that can get one fired. Unfortunately, many people don’t seem to learn this lesson. ?

??Finally, if you have unfortunately hired a George Santos, getting rid of them can be excruciating difficult in may states.?So, start with getting both your attorney and HR department involved in this situation. Get their advice as to document everything you need to, such as provide written warning as to deficiencies, providing a reasonable time to rectify them, documenting false statements as to experience and credentials, etc. Then figure out your cost to terminate (particularly with protected classes of employees) and decide on the best course of action. But the longer you wait the greater the damages will be in terms of dollars and team morale, particularly if that person has ingratiated themselves within the company. Sometimes it might be worth your while to get them to quit, or take a buyout, as opposed to being fired. Having once been face to face on a proposed deal with the number two con man on the FBI's most wanted list, was a lesson I will not soon forget.