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The Helm Report: Tools, Tips, &
Techniques for avoiding hiring mistakes and developing
people
Published on the second Thursday of each
month
Barbara Otto, Editor (mail to mailto:botto@helmtest.com
Visit us online at http://www.helmtest.com/
Word count for this issue – 1002
Approximate time to read =
9 minutes
This
Month: HOW TO SPOT A THIEF BEFORE YOU HIRE
HIM
This month’s topic was inspired by an email I received
last week:
“Kurt,
You’re
not going to believe this, because I can’t believe it! Yesterday I caught
(name), my chief financial officer, red-handed, stealing from
the company. He
is (was) one of my best people and, I thought, a good
friend. He’s
married to a wonderful woman, has two great kids and is active
and well known in the community. When I confronted him,
he could give no good reason for what he did. So, I have two
questions. First,
did I miss something when I hired him? If so, what was
it? And, second,
how do I keep this from happening ever again?
Fred (not his real name)”
Well, as the
man said, I have some good news and some bad news.
First, The Bad
News
There is no
100% accurate way to predict whether someone will steal before
you hire him or her. Law enforcement
experts and research in this area tell us that the tendency to
commit the criminal act of stealing depends on two
things:
motivation to steal, and a tempting opportunity. Let’s look at what
each of these entail.
Necessary Condition
#1: Motivation To
Steal
An employee’s
motivation to steal from his or her employer requires that the
person feels a need to steal and that he or she finds a
justification for that need. The justification for
stealing is important because, without it, the need to steal
may not be acted on. For example, $80,000
in credit card debt and a record of late payments on the
account could create a strong need to reduce the debt. However, justification
is required in order to move the person from simply worrying
about the debt to doing something illegal to reduce it.
How can you get
inside an applicant’s head to learn about his or her
motivation?
Unless you happen to be telepathic, you can’t. What you can do,
however, is check the Work Attitude Questionnaire Report for
the presence of any one of these six common justifications for
stealing:
The
Unexceptional Justification. This is also known as
the “everyone else does it” justification. The person reasons,
“If everyone else does it, then it is all right for me to do
it, too.”
The
Retribution Justification. If the person feels
that he or she was treated badly by the company, then this
perceived mistreatment may justify stealing, in the
individual’s mind, to atone for it.
The
Evil Organization Justification. If the person feels
the company is engaged in illegal or immoral practices, then
stealing can be seen as a way of punishing the company.
The
Compensatory Justification. If the person feels
that the stolen items will be covered by the company’s
insurance, then stealing “hurts no one” and may be seen as
acceptable.
The
Magnitude Justification. If the items or money
are of small enough value, in the thief’s view, then he or she
may feel that taking them is not actually stealing.
The
“Good Reason” Justification. If the person has some
other “really good reason” for doing so, he or she may feel
justified in taking the money or goods, possibly even with the
intention of repaying (someday.)
It is a red
flag if you see a question(s) reported on the Work Attitude
Questionnaire Report that suggests the presence of any of the
above justifications.
Necessary Condition #2:
A Tempting Opportunity
The second
condition that sets the stage for employee theft is the
presence of a tempting opportunity – that is, access to money
or goods of some value. How tempting such an
opportunity is depends on the possibility of getting caught,
and the severity of punishment if caught. If a person feels a
strong financial need and he has access to company money or
goods, with circumstances such that the person feels he can
get away with stealing and that, even if he is caught, the
consequences/punishment will be mild, then the odds go up that
he will steal.
Now, The Good
News!
The best
defenses against employee theft start with awareness on
your part, and always include vigilance. Begin by being aware
at all times of the two conditions that set up the possibility
of employee theft (motivation and opportunity), and then
design policies and procedures that you follow consistently to
subvert one or both of those conditions. Let’s look at some
specific recommendations:
In the Pre-Employment Process:
1. Do a background
check.
Red flags
in the background check include significant debt and/or a
criminal record.
2. Do a drug
test.
Positive
results indicating drug use may indicate the need to steal to
maintain a drug habit.
3. Review the Work
Attitude Questionnaire Report.
Moderate
or High Risk results in either the Employee Theft category or
the Drug Use category could be red flags that suggest a
tendency on the individual’s part to find justifications for
stealing.
Corporate Policy:
1. Do everything in your
power to make it difficult for employees to steal. Keep tempting
opportunities to a minimum by doing regular inventories,
limiting the amount of petty cash on hand, and maintaining
good internal bookkeeping and auditing practices.
2. Make sure controls are
in place to insure that if anyone tries to steal, he or she
will be caught.
Address the issue of employee theft in the Employee Handbook,
and define as fully and completely as you can what behavior
qualifies as employee theft, and what the consequences, both
corporate and legal, will be.
3. Make the consequences
of employee theft commensurate with the crime. A slap on the wrist
and a warning that next time the punishment will be more
severe may be sufficient for minor infractions. Anything beyond minor
infractions may warrant more severe consequences, depending on
the size of the theft.
Taking
these steps still doesn’t guarantee that you will never
experience a loss, but doing due diligence with applicants,
clarifying the issue of employee theft, and reducing
temptation will help keep your honest people
honest.
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