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Employee Theft: Sometimes It’s Your Most Trusted Workers

We saw this article in the Los Angeles Times and thought if ever there was a universal pain point, this is sure it.

Few Workers Admit to Office Supply Theft

Only 1 in 5 U.S. workers admits to stealing items, but a survey’s authors say the true rate is higher.

By Molly Selvin
Times Staff Writer

June 22, 2006

If you’re like most workers, you’ve probably taken pens, file folders, paper or other company supplies for your personal use.

But chances are, you don’t think that amounts to theft. You’re not alone.

A survey released Wednesday showed that 1 in 5 U.S. workers admitted to stealing company office supplies in the last year. But even the survey’s authors acknowledged that the true rate of pilfering was much higher.

Some employees, workplace experts say, won’t cop to stealing because they don’t think what they are doing is theft. Others simply think that theft is justified, and they see their bosses doing it all the time.

A worker who grabs a ream of paper to print an office report on his home computer doesn’t think he is stealing, said Brent Short, managing director of Spherion Corp., a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based staffing firm that commissioned the survey of 1,600 employees nationwide. Eighteen percent admitted to stealing.

An employee who takes a can of coffee from the office kitchen might justify it on productivity grounds.

“He figures, ‘I don’t have time to pick up coffee but I won’t be any good tomorrow at work if I don’t have it,’ ” Short said.

Some employees consider office supplies a fringe benefit of the job, said John Case, a Del Mar, Calif., security consultant.

Other workers are following their bosses’ lead, said Karla Kretzschmer, a Michigan-based human resources consultant.

“When leaders use company cars for personal errands or get the office tech staff to set up their home computer, it’s no longer as black-and-white,” she said.

The problem is more pervasive among workers between the ages of 18 and 29, according to the survey. Nearly a quarter of those younger employees admitted raiding the supply cabinet, compared with 13% of workers 50 and over.

Mark Mehler, co-founder of CareerXroads, a New Jersey-based consulting firm, believes that younger workers are just more willing to admit to pilfering.

But Paul Harrington, who teaches economics at Northeastern University, contends that “kids working at low wages don’t have much at stake if they get caught stealing. They’ll just move to another job.”

What do employees take?

“Anything that’s not bolted down,” said Short, who has observed seasonal patterns to office theft. “Around the holidays every tape dispenser in the office disappears because people are wrapping presents.”

And in a couple of months, pens and pencils will fly off the shelves as parents restock their children’s school backpacks.

A friend our ours who has been a key executive in the apparel industry for more than a couple of decades told us that a signicant percentage of your work force is stealing on a regular basis. There is also a percentage when made aware of the unchecked pilgerage will start to resent the employer for not taking appropriate actions. be aware of the stealing but would not steal themselves. This percentage, when aware of unchecked pilgerage will start to resent the employers for not taking action. Others, who normally wouldn’t steal may even begin to follow suit. In all, pilferage can affect the morale and self-esteem of your honest workers.
The thing is if were only the pencils and tape they were stealing, you may be well ahead of the game. Sure, these items are costly, but more than a few computers have been smuggled out the door, over the years. If your business is one of tangible goods, like the fashion industry, most certainly your inventory is vulnerable to theft. You may not know it, but you could have a partner or two who sells your goods at the local Swamp Meet, or off a truck.
Not only are hard goods being stolen, but so is all sorts of proprietary information, from your customers lists to the specs on the new whatever is you have spent years and millions in research and development. Let’s face it, there are more than a few unscrupulous companies out in this world who realize that stealing developing technology and proprietary informaiton is a lot cheaper than develping it yourself. For these unscrupulous companies, They realize it is a lot easier to steal your new technology or proprietary information that it is to conduct their own research and development. Research and development can cost millions and take years to complete. Stealing is fast and highly cost effective. it’s just a matter of getting in touch with the wrong guy in right place.
The article attests that maybe one in five adults admit to stealing office supplies. This is just pens and scotch tape we are talking about. You can only imagine the secrecy involved in moving expensive electronics or large quantities of inventory out your back door. Sometimes it is an individual, and sometimes it is an entire ring of thieves. More often that you would imagine, the ring is organized by one of your more trusted employees.
All theft is bad. Theft of electronics and inventory is worse. Someone stealing your intellectual property or propretary informaiton can prove disasterous. Not only does such theft threaten to deep six your entire business Employee theft is statistically the major cause of businesses going under.
With theft you can lose thousands of dollars in supplies. But you can also lose inventory, proprietary and intellectual property and see your insurance premiums increase to very unconfortable levels. And then, if you are lucky enough to catch the thieves, you may have to fire, rehire, retrain until you are burdened with a never ending cycle.
Considering the potential losses, it is small wonder we urge people to conduct background checks on everyone in their workforce. You not only avoid costly theft, but the liabilities concerning work place violence and sexual harrassment, substance abuse, can prove almost insurmountable. Your HR people can conduct a fairly thorough employee screening for anywhere from $30 to $100. That’s pretty cheap price for the advantage of knowing what you are brining into your work force. It just makes sense.
Go to our website and check out some of the statistics we have posted for you. Think about what you would be gaining by conducting a background check. Think about what you have been missing, like inventory and office supplies, if you don’t.
And then Check Them Out Before You Hire.

By Gordon Basichis

Gordon Basichis is the Co-Founder of Corra Group, specializing in pre-employment background checks and corporate research. He has been a marketing and media executive and has worked in the entertainment industry, the financial, health care and technology sectors. He is the author of the best selling Beautiful Bad Girl, The Vicki Morgan Story, a non-fiction novel that helped define exotic sexuality in the late twentieth century. He is the author of the Constant Travellers and has recently completed a new book, The Guys Who Spied for China, dealing with Chinese Espionage in the United States. He has been a journalist for several newspapers and is a screenwriter and producer.