A step towards Theft and Pilferage Mitigation

It can be a wrong assumption that stealing at work never happens and that only really bad employees steal. But, the truth quite few of the employees have stolen from his or her organization. This is becoming an increasingly significant problem that organizations are facing. Employees’ ethical decisions are being challenged with the economic crisis happening making them more desperate to do anything.

What is the reason for people to steal at work?

In most instances, embezzling at work starts with a small number but increases over a period of time. Taking just a pen from the office for personal use may be reckoned as borrowing but it is one form of stealing. If a employee gets away with taking a single pen, then it would encourage them to commit the same mistake over and over again. It can be a huge loss to the company if the employees decides to thieve in large numbers unless nabbed and until the company realizes of the missing products or equipments.

Many employees engage in theft as a form of counterproductive work behaviors. Counterproductive work behaviors have several underlying causes such as low satisfaction, a lack of organizational commitment, conflicts with supervisors or often tied to an employee’s salary. Research has indicated that some employees who feel he or she is not being compensated accurately for their job feel they must make up for the difference. In stealing from the organization, some employees feel they are getting what they deserve. When the organization discovers the theft and that coworkers did not speak up, it reflects poorly on employees’ loyalty to the organization. The main reason behind these kind of larceny is misplaced trust by the organization over its employees.

More than two-thirds of people have stolen stationery from work with nearly one in twenty confessing to taking valuable items such as mobile phones or computer hardware.

If an employee steals from the employer, the starting point is quite simple, which often, amount to gross misconduct. It makes the situation evident that the employee will be terminated immediately and without notice.

The organizations, most of the time, hire employees through references. The employees hired through references are more highly trusted because of the person who had referred from the company. The person who commits pilferage is not only the new candidate but as well as the person who referred and at the same time it doesn’t mean that all the employees are trying to commit crime. There are employees who can be very loyal to the organization as well. It’s in the hands of the HR personnel whose essential function is to check the background of the new employees. If this background check is not done effectively, it will give space for theft or pilferage to take place inside the organization. In this kind of scenario, both the person who referred and the new candidate may be hand & glove. The crime they commit may be petty but the heap of trust is broken and this is against the organization. Pilferage is often committed by persons who are not financially stable and who are always in need of money and there will not be a quick solution to change this kind of mindset. And it makes obvious sense to commit crime but through another person so that his tracks are covered. This is where the person is referred from outside and background is not checked. It does not end in sharing the loot but they may also sell this or any data to other rival companies for a higher price which can be a form of treachery. This kind of theft can also amount to loss for the company if the stolen item or equipment or data are of high value.

The forms in which pilferage can take place are

• Stealing small quantities of goods but the number increases in the course of time

• Tampering with company database

• Changing their bank account details in place of the suppliers bank account details

Their acts are impulsive in an organization and the best to tool to eradicate such pilferage is a well-thought background screening. A legal check which includes both police verification and a third party vendor background check can be carried out with the employees consent. This background check is, for both new and existing employees as well, to eliminated undesirable employees. Fourth Force is the best verification company in this field which is backed by a team of detectives and investigators. The verifications are done in an ethical and analytic process which results in solid reports on the particular employees background. Fourth Force continually strives to bring out the culprits without any delay or affecting the organizations name. And they can be approached at any point of time and the expected results will be delivered promptly.