http://community.csdecisions.net/ Convenience Store Decisions Community Topic: Caught Employee Stealing & Fired Him. How can I prevent this from happeng again en Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:50:50 +0000 http://community.csdecisions.net/topic/14#post-149 Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:29:32 +0000 CathyHopkinson 149@http://community.csdecisions.net/ <p>I have found that when you have someone in your store that is stealing, he or she isn't doing it alone. They are just the one that got caught. Pay attention to the relationships among your staff members. Sometimes you will have to weed out even further, if you know what I mean. </p> http://community.csdecisions.net/topic/14#post-22 Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:17:07 +0000 admin 22@http://community.csdecisions.net/ <p>I have worked in th c-store industry for almost 20 years (15 as a manager), and no matter how carefull you are, how many backround checks you do, which by the way only tell you that the person has not been caught doing anything wrong, you need to set policies in place and follow through, termination is not enough they will just go to the next place and keep doing it, we explain up front during the interview that the cameras are not for decoration and that we do watch the videos and if you still want to take the chance of doing something wrong you will be arrested and charges will be brought against you no matter how small you may think the theft is. </p> http://community.csdecisions.net/topic/14#post-21 Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:17:03 +0000 admin 21@http://community.csdecisions.net/ <p>I recently caught an employee stealing and fired him on the spot. I’m wondering now how most managers handle this situation and what I can do to prevent it from happening again?</p> <p>---</p> <p>It’s a well-known fact that employee theft accounts for most shrink and the most common remedy is termination. Unfortunately, the strategy of firing employees for stealing has turned out to be mostly ineffectual for three reasons: (1) It sends a message to present employees that, if you get caught stealing, the worst that will happen is termination; (2) the terminated employee and your present employees get a little smarter about how best to abuse the system; and (3) the person you fired can just go down the street and get hired at another store.</p> <p>Why does this scenario play out over and over again? Because there is no real consequence for stealing and because subsequent employers either don’t bother to check references or, when they do try to check, find that previous employers feel they are under company policy “gag orders” that prevent them from discussing how former employees performed on the job.</p> <p>An interesting recent development has been the willingness of more and more companies to take a hard line on employee theft by actually prosecuting offenders. As you would expect, those that have employed this measure have since seen a dramatic reduction in shrink.</p> <p>Before matters end up in court, however, your first line of defense should be screening job applicants for honesty (learn how to position applicants to tell you the truth and ask honesty questions in the interview process, test for values and work ethics). Your second line of defense is thorough reference, criminal background and credit checks. Finally, when new employees come on board, have them sign a Reference Release form. This document authorizes your company to share job performance information with future employers. It is a “hold harmless” statement that lets your new employees know that the past can indeed come back to haunt them.</p> <p>You’ll find more information on interviewing for honesty and a sample Reference Release form in my book, "Hire Tough, Manage Easy," which is available at <a href="http://www.melkleiman.com." rel="nofollow">www.melkleiman.com.</a><br /> Mel Kleiman CSP<br /> President of Humetrics<br /> <a href="http://www.melkleiman.com" rel="nofollow">www.melkleiman.com</a><br /> <a href="http://www.humetrics.com" rel="nofollow">www.humetrics.com</a><br /> <a href="mailto:mkleiman@humetrics.com">mkleiman@humetrics.com</a> </p>