I. The Problem
1. Why Do Some Employees Steal From Their Employers?
a. Opportunity
John W. Kennish, CPP - Security Consultant
62 East Pond Meadow Road, Westbrook, Connecticut 06498
Phone: (860) 399-8545
Fax: (860) 399-4150
Kennish.com
E-Mail John Kennish
© 2000 John W. Kennish, CPP
Employee Theft: A Question of Integrity
|
I. The Problem 1. Why Do Some Employees Steal From Their Employers? a. Opportunity |
|
Employee Theft: A Question of Integrity
The process of management is at best, a challenge. While business should be managed with skill and a vision for the future, problems involving people will inevitably arise. One of these can involve the question of employee integrity. Mysterious disappearances, misapplication of funds, embezzlement: the descriptions may be different but stealing from your employer in any form is theft. The topic is a difficult one as it can involve your co-workers and friends. However, so are the consequences as they can be significant and lead to the failure of the victim bank.
1. Why Do Some Employees Steal From Their Employers ?
Any of a variety of circumstances can enter into and impact a person's life to a serious enough of a degree where the person's long standing attitudes and values may be changed, and in turn, their behavior may also change. Some motivational factors can include excessive gambling, high personal debts, financial losses, living far beyond one's means, extramarital involvement and related blackmail, excessive use of alcohol, the use of controlled substances, resentment of management, frustration with the job, down sizing and the threat of job loss, greed, and peer-group pressures.
Opportunity simply means the measure on the part of the person of the ease and certainty with which a crime can be committed: from stop signs, to theft, to murder. With motivation present, in combination with perceived or actual weaknesses in bank operations: if the employee commits the theft, what is their probability for success ? It is important to note that the potential thief will ask themselves this question prior to the act. Unless discovery and punishment are certain, some employees may take the chance. Another variable in this evaluation process is the diminishing role of law enforcement in financial bank crimes investigations. These agencies are finding their resources seriously limited and will only respond to financial loss incidents of a significant nature. The prospective thief knows this. The bank must project a strong posture in this area to prevent losses from occurring in the first place. Once a loss has occurred the problem can become much more complicated.
Employees define what is right and wrong regarding their behavior, and they can rationalize stealing from their employer in their own minds. Thieves normally view themselves as average people in a dishonest world where everyone is just trying to get ahead or to maintain what they have. However, stealing from an employer is no accident. Rather, it occurs only following a careful evaluation process on the part of the employee. This is the key to prevention. As this process takes place prior to the actual incident, what management does or does not do, will effect the employee, their attitude toward the possibility of stealing from the bank, and in fact, whether or not they choose to commit the act.
Where the topic of employee theft is concerned, management's role in defining the norm is especially important. Is senior management assertive in this area, or lax and indecisive ? Management sets the tone and draws the line. The question of integrity starts at the top. If management does not care, there will be more theft. If management does care, there will be fewer instances, and those which do occur will be more effectively resolved.
Thank you for your interest. Please contact
Mr. Kennish, by E-Mail, with your written request
for
the remainder of this educational article.
John W. Kennish, CPP - Security Consultant
62 East Pond Meadow Road, Westbrook, Connecticut 06498
Phone: (860) 399-8545
Fax: (860) 399-4150
Kennish.com
E-Mail John Kennish
© 2000 John W. Kennish, CPP