Not Reporting Employee Theft, Management Failure At It’s Worst

In some businesses employee theft has been going on for so long that it has escalated into a serious problem that is not only right under managements nose but actually condoned.

Take a retail store as an example. In the beginning management overlooks employees taking small items such as candy, sodas… It goes on for so long that it not only becomes the norm but also actually happens right in front of management. Those same managers do nothing. So the employees learn that this is acceptable behavior. Even worse the same managers do it to!

A candy bar for $1.50 (remember when they were $0.50?) stolen by an employee is not just a loss of $1.50. If your stores profit margin is 2% then that employee just ate $75.00 (1.50 / .02). You will have to sell $75 to BREAK EVEN. Let’s say that same employee does that four times a week for a year. That’s $15,600.00 that you will have to sell to break even on a thief with a sweet tooth.

If management allow that to go on or condones it then others will do the same. “It’s OK” becomes the standard. Which means that employee theft becomes the norm. I can also tell you for a fact that it will not stop there. Some companies have a policy that if a cashier is only short $5.00 at the end of the day that they do not investigate it. That tells the cashiers that it is OK to steal $4.99 and below. To a cashier that is lunch money, gasoline (OK not very much gasoline, but still!).

The problem is that this can simply creep up on a business. It starts out little and gets bigger. That’s the culture that has been established. Most employee theft starts out small. After that the thief gets bolder and then we wonder why it has happened.

You must establish a zero theft policy. Draw a line in the sand and do not just look the other way. Employee theft will not go away on its own.

For more information: employee theft or call 1.770.426.0547