Dishonesty In The Workplace

Dishonesty In The Workplace

It's been a hectic week that has kept me from blogging and podcasting. At the beginning of the week I discovered evidence of Associate dishonesty. Without going into all of the details, I was performing some routine checks of the electronic journal for one Associate (no special reason for choosing him, really), and saw some interesting things. Things such as items being added to tickets, then deleted again; items being price adjusted well below the retail price and often below our cost; Associate discounts given to employees who were not even in the building at the time the transaction took place.

I contacted my Loss Prevention Department, sent him the details, and two days later he arrived at the store to conduct his investigation. Now, I spent a very brief period as a District Loss Prevention Supervisor for a major retailer. I worked on two cases before moving on to another company and getting back into Store Management. And I have to say, the investigation can be very exciting at times. And it can be very boring at other times. In this case, it was very boring.

This dishonest Associate either didn't do very much, or covered his tracks very well. We couldn't turn up more than a few petty (but clearly dishonest) acts he committed. I think the total dollar amount we came up with was just over $500, and at least $250 of that might have been legitimate activity and not dishonest at all.

The LP Investigator is interviewing the Associate right now. I'll be called in soon to witness the Associate's statement and make a decision on whether he will remain employed here or not. Of course, unless the LP Investigator really bungles the interview, that decision has already been made.

More to come... .

Joe

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