Then, where do stand an HR recruiter qualifications?? isn’t he enough trained to be able to detect if someone is not being honest?should we rely on machines for everything??
it’s a pity,,

it is quite interesting to see new innovation of polygraph application in HR profession. however, i think we (HR Professional) should try strike a balance between the right of empolyee and employer. the polygraph test should also be use by the employer for the intending employee to know the true stand (Financial, Vision, Mission and Core Value System) of the company before joining.

Use of a polygraph for potential emlpoyees sets a very negative tone right at the beginning of the employee relationship. Psychometric tests are far better at determining trustworthyness and in determining fit, and a solid reference check will also provide the information you are requesting. Both of which provide more accurate results without teh negative associations of a polygraph.

@Sylvie Those qualifications should be enough in 99% of the cases, but what do you do when you hire people involved in national security activities?
@Segun Good point - I agree!
@Theresa I am a strong believer in psychometrics and i will write a post about this in the near future

What people do not realize is that a poly is nothing more than an elaborate psych testing tool that has been proven to be only 50% accurate at best. Of course law enforcement and several HR professionals state otherwise. In the state of New York, the use of polygraphs has been outlawed for employmetn screening because of their inaccuracies.

Mant times a person is a little nervous when undergoing this regime and a perfectly honest person will fail the test. At the same time, using well documented procedures it is child’s play to beat a poly.

This practice has been in the industry for many years. My first encounter was over 20 years ago; nearly every question was “Have you stolen … from … over … dollars?” Passing the polygraph was a requirement of employment. I was furious for weeks after passing it because I am an honest person, today I will not interview with an organization (outside DOD) that requires one. The test is as good as the interpreter, which is why its accuracy rate is so bad and why the polygraph law was passed.

If the HR folks are willing to take the test on themselves while making commitments on the role and career path (in addition to the test on the candidates), then this can be worth a try. Otherwise it is a win-lose proposition.

@William: Interesting that you mentioned that- i just found an article about this: How to cheat a polygraph test (http://www.wikihow.com/Cheat-a-Polygraph-Test-(Lie-Detector))

@John: It is offending and makes you feel guilty until proven innocent!

@G Sriram: Some kind of Hippocratic Oath for HR people? Not a bad idea!

For the most part, I would be inclined to distrust a company that does this. How would I know that officers and senior managers are held to the same criteria? This is another reason why the shifting of more of the hiring responsibility and decision making from the hiring manager to HR very often results in poor hires.

The polygraph is not allowed in the courtroom because it is notoriously unreliable, even when used by experienced professionals. I doubt most HR departments have skilled professionals on staff. Why limit the question to polygraphs? There are other surreptitious ways to invade potential employees’ privacy - two that have been talked about publicly are reverse speech and micro-tremor analysis.

If my HR manager announced that he/she wanted to introduce polygraph testing for recruitment or for any other people management activity I would immediately fire the HR manager and also quickly make an annoucement that I had done so.

If my HR manager/staff cannot do their jobs without such testing then they are totally incompetent and have an attitude which I would never tolerate.

In fact If my HR manager had this attutude to managing my staff then I would be very angry with myself for ever hiring that HR manager.

Recruitment does need to be more professional in many organizations, using ethical and professional methodologies to find the best match candidates

People are the capability and the power house of every organization, they must be treated as critical to the business, the whole management of the organizations needs to behave and communicate in a way which encouraged the staff to be engaged and to be innovative and creative, at all levels, and management at all levels needs to conti uously show all staff that they are respected as critical to the business and respected as human beings.

Using polygraph instantly makes a divide between the organization management and the staff and would be a ‘killer’ of engagement and creativity.

It would instantly kill trust, kill open dialogue, and would prompt the staff to think in terms of them being accused of lying, etc.

Absolutely no way!