Employee Theft, Part I–Tip of the Week

Stop thief!  A cry on the subway?  A call for help on a crowded sidewalk?  A homeowner’s shout to neighbors?  Or a frustrating demand from human resources?

Employee theft is nothing new.  It’s just bigger than ever.  I’ve seen estimates that employers in the U.S. lose anywhere from $4 billion to $40 billion per year to employee theft.  Unless your pockets are terribly deep, either number is staggering.

What’s even more interesting–unbelievable to some–is that management is an unintentional co-conspirator when it comes to employee theft.

Before we get to management’s culpability, let’s make sure we’re on the same page about the kinds of things we’re talking about.  You can unfortunately let your imagination run wild, but we’re usually talking about things like forging receipts, hiding receipts, pocketing loose change, pilfering merchandise, setting up a fictitious payroll, overbilling expenses, committing purchasing fraud, stealing office supplies, stealing time, and making off with confidential information.

And now to management’s complicity.  Perhaps it’s more palatable to say that there are “management misconceptions” about employee theft.  It’s usually difficult for a manager to believe that an employee he/she hires, trusts, and woks beside is capable of stealing or being dishonest.  Consequently, management embraces misconceptions about this problem, such as the following:

–Most theft is caused by nonemployees.

–Well-paid and/or senior employees are trustworthy and won’t steal.

–Honest employees can be counted on to report employee theft.

–Employee theft is conspicuous and can be detected in its early stages.

Wrong!  Next, in Part II, I’ll consider how to prevent–or at least control–employee theft. 

1. 

   John Phillips says:

   May 28, 2008 at 10:19 am

   Thanks for the mention, Chris. Thievery isn’t the oldest profession I guess, but it’s close.