When HR does an investigation, it generally doesn’t matter what truth the investigation uncovers; it is the employee’s perception of truth that matters the most. Perception is the truth colored by the individual’s preconceived beliefs, which may be grounded in reality or may not. When organizations hold employee meetings and set about explaining current conditions, some employees will believe otherwise, regardless of the factual truth.

Especially in today’s world, with social media clogging the bandwidth with truths, half-truths, and lies, why do people believe what they want to believe when factual truth is not apparent or proven? A team of researchers from Italy and the United States conducted a study specifically on why dissemination of false information on Facebook is taken as real and truthful.  The study found that people’s tendency is to seek out information that confirms their beliefs, and to ignore contrary information.  This condition is called confirmation bias.

The study examined the behavior of a large population of Facebook users from 2010 to 2014. It covered all Facebook posts during the five-year period and reviewed whether Facebook users tended to seek out “relative” truth or whether they clustered around postings that were partially or completely false but fit within their value system and beliefs. Not surprisingly, the researchers found that Facebook users tended to cluster in communities of like-minded people. This allows conspiracy theories, even if they are baseless, to spread quickly in the online community.

The study then found that “users mostly tend to select and share content according to a specific narrative and to ignore the rest.” On Facebook, the result is the formation of a lot of “homogeneous, polarized clusters.”  To understand what this means in the general population, given the raucousness of the presidential primary process, candidates say what their supporters want to hear, not caring whether it is true or not. By vocalizing the lie, the candidate validates it; that validation confirms the supporter’s beliefs. 

So how does this impact HR?  If employees believe that senior management is out for themselves and will use any means necessary to promote their interests over the interests of the employees, the employees will cling to that belief regardless of the truth. Therefore, the belief could make employee/management relations more contentious, leading to higher turnover and lower productivity, with the potential of unionization if the firm is not already unionized.

More often than not, the aggressive actions of today’s federal agencies not only do not dissuade employees from their beliefs but in fact add fire to them. For example, the EEOC’s actions encourage the belief that all employers—not just some—discriminate. The truth is that filed charges with the EEOC are 10,000 fewer today than they were when President Obama was first elected. The growing number of class actions, whether or not they succeed in the courts, fuel the belief that wage theft is rampant and that pay inequality is the normal state of business in the United States. By the same token, recent NLRB rulings encourage the belief that all—not just some—employers exploit their workers unfairly for management gain.

The study concluded that there is a “proliferation of biased narratives fomented by unsubstantiated rumors, mistrust, and paranoia.”  In other words, the more often these unsubstantiated sentiments are expressed within a group, the more often the individual who is hesitant, but tempted, to believe them will fully embrace them because everyone else does.  After all, the group cannot be wrong.

Where does this leave HR?  In today’s world internal employee communication takes a greater role in the effective management of employees. Everyone involved in internal communications needs to understand employees’ preconceived beliefs and how language can be used to combat rumor, innuendo and falsehood. It is a common soft skill but many in management lack it. HR needs to make itself the gatekeeper of internal communications to ensure that they are consistent in messaging and presentation

in order to effectively manage the beliefs and expectations of employees.

Source:  Bloomberg 1/8/16; “The spreading of misinformation online,” by Michela Del Vicarioa et. al., PNAS, January 19, 2016

ASE can help.  We have multiple classes on communication skills from presenting to listening that can be brought in-house.  Contact Ed Holinski at eholinski@aseonline.org for more information.