Getting Through – Employee Theft

One of the more complicated employee theft incidents I investigated was tricky because I could find no clear-cut explanation that made sense to the associate in order to explain the fact that they were indeed stealing.

Ordinarily when I conduct the interview for employee theft, the employee being questioned is aware of their wrongdoing. They may attempt to justify, or deny, or blame someone else, but in their conscience, the employee knows what they are doing is wrong.

This particular store had a cosmetics department with testers for eye shadow, lipsticks, and of course, perfume at the different manufacturer’s counters. It wasn’t uncommon to see an employee occasionally walk by and give a little spritz as they walked to their selling department.

Sometimes an employee would try a new shade of lipstick on a break. The employees were respectful for the most part and often purchased the items they tested. We stayed out of the way because this was no different from how we would treat a customer doing the same thing.

An employee came fuming to me one day because another employee made a habit of applying their full makeup every day from the testers. This employee would then take the lipsticks and eyeliners with them.

It was a hard sell when I talked to this employee because the makeup had no actual retail value. I explained moderation, I explained respect for other associates, and I explained employee theft and company property. Nothing resonated with this employee.

While this employee is no longer employed with the store, I think she still wants to believe that it is OK to take something that doesn’t belong to her, as long as it doesn’t have a price tag.

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