We have all heard of the nightmares caused by employee theft – embezzlement, theft of stock and intellectual property. But, what about the less obvious and harder to track examples such as “sweet hearting”- giving discounts to friends, taking ‘off the record’ commissions from suppliers, using business facilities for personal gain, or extravagant travel expenses?
Criminologists and psychiatrists have investigated thousands of cases to establish who steals and in most situations the clichés don’t ring true. Yes, there are incidents of people with gambling and drug addictions that get caught; however, often the person stealing is a trusted member of the team who is in supervisory position The explanation for why the theft occurred? The standard answer is “the temptation was too high – it was just too easy, there were no systems in place”, or “they owed me because…”
If you talk to a business owner who has survived an employee theft incident, the standard response is “it was one of the worst thing that has happened during my working life.” Emotions run high, hindsight runs in 3D and the team culture was destroyed. Next months’ newsletter will talk about some strategies for dealing with employee theft. For more information read the Certified Fraud Examiners 2012 Report to the Nation on Occupational Fraud and Abuse or www.acfe.com.
If you, or someone you know is facing an employee theft incident, contact Sarah at Employ Me Now! email sarah@employmenow.co.nz for some HR coaching on how you can deal the issue.