A manager once told me that everyone steels, it is just a question of if they are stealing a little or a lot.

The above comment came in a conversation when I was talking to a manager about a specific supervisor and my suspicions of his integrity. Knowing myself and my diligence, I knew it was only a matter of time before I began to dig into the files and look for internal fraud. I had no idea what I was in for.

It turned out, not only did I find that the supervisor was stealing an average of 80k per year, but each person I had suspicions of turned out to be stealing as well. How were they getting away with this for so long?

If you know everyone steals, why are you not trying to stop it and recover your funds?

The supervisor clearly was a large case and this one was not overlooked once identified. But the small ones? Does it make sense to count every penny? Does it pay to employee an anti theft officer over a few hundred dollars a week? Or have you not put in the proper procedures and mechanisms in place to stop these thefts before that happen?

On top of the above, I think the most important question is why are your employees stealing? Are they shady people or are you not paying enough attention to their needs?

I do not have an exact answer for this dilemma outside of increased security. Increased security certainly does the trick, but it inhibits creativity and in a competitive sales environment, this might be more costly in the long run then just letting the few hundred disappear a week.

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Written By: Scott Lichtenstein