How to Stop Stealing By Employees

Pre-employment tests plus two additional techniques can help your company reduce stealing by your employees. Wall Street Journal and Fox News both reported (a) an increase in employees stealing plus (b) its associated financial drain on companies.

by Michael Mercer, Ph.D.

Wall Street Journal and Fox News both reported (a) an increase in employees stealing plus (b) its associated financial drain on companies.

How financially horrible is stealing by employees? (A) The value of stolen items rose one-third in just two years, according to PriceWaterhouseCoopers's survey of 5,400 companies. (B) 20% of employers consider employee theft a moderate to very big problem, found an Institute for Corporate Productivity survey.

And what is the terrible impact of stealing on other employees? First, your honest employees feel dismayed when co-workers steal. It indicates you hired lousy humans. Second, employees know anything reducing profits impacts job security. If a company loses too much to theft, eventually some employees may get "de-employed" to decrease losses.

Fortunately, managers in companies have an arsenal of weapons to combat employee stealing.

Ist Weapon: Pre-employment tests to help hire non-thieves

Pre-employment tests that predict or forecast dependability can help you hire Non-Thieves. After all, the fastest, easiest and cheapest way to avoid stealing by employees is obvious: Avoid hiring job applicants who will steal.

For example, in my pre-employment test research to create the Theft/Stealing prediction on the "Dependability Forecaster(tm) Test," I used a two-step method to find out which test questions predict if someone really may steal.

First, two groups of people answered my extensive list of research questions: (1) One group was Thieves - composed of hundreds of prisoners locked-up in jails for stealing crimes. (2) The second group was hundreds of Non-Thieves.

Then, I did statistics to find out which specific questions the Thieves answered significantly differently than the Non-Thieves. Those questions became the pre-employment test's section that helps predict if a job applicant may steal.

When applicants take the pre-employment test, companies immediately see if a job applicant scored like the Thieves or the Non-Thieves. Of course, managers prefer hiring applicants who get the test scores of the Non-Thieves.

2nd Weapon: Background checks

In addition to pre-employment tests that help predict Theft/Stealing, a company also might conduct a criminal background check to see if the applicant was convicted of stealing crimes.

Problem: Unfortunately, a background check only will tell you if the applicant was convicted in the locale where you do the check, for example, your county. Warning: If an applicant was convicted in another locale, then you will not find out.

Solution: Administer a pre-employment test that helps predict Theft/Stealing - before you spend your time and budget on background checks. If test scores show an applicant scored like Thieves, then you probably will decide not to waste anything doing a criminal background check.

3rd Weapon: Act like James Bond

After you use pre-employment tests to hire the best, you still need to watch your employees to make sure they do not steal. It may not sound nice, but you need to "spy" on employees. You can install video cameras, tracking devices and other spying instruments that are allowed.

For example, an executive at one company called me for help to stop employee theft that was harming the company's finances.

First, I helped the executive start using a pre-employment test that predicts Theft/Stealing - so the company could avoid hiring Thieves. Second, I recommended the company "spy" on current employees by installing location-tracking devices on its delivery trucks.

Results: In hiring, the pre-employment test helped the company hire Non-Thieves. Among employees, the company discovered delivery drivers were (a) driving away from their most direct routes and then (b) selling company goods during their off-route driving. The company's stealing by employees came to a screeching halt. And new employees were Non-Thieves.

Suggestion: Make 100% certain employees realize you watch them. Some may complain about "Big Brother" for awhile, but they will know your rules. Your rules include no stealing will be tolerated. Plus, employees realize you use multiple tools to catch employees who steal. Also, point out that stealing by employees creates less job security for every employee. That will make them thank you for installing spying devices.

Bottom line: Pre-employment tests, criminal checks and spying help you stop employee stealing.

Employee stealing drains a company's financial resources. It also creates a less-than-stellar work environment for every employee. Research and news reports indicate employee stealing is a big and growing problem. So, managers need to take three steps to stop theft by employees.

First, give pre-employment tests to applicants to help you screen-out and avoid hiring possible Thieves. Second, conduct criminal background checks on job applicants who did well on the pre-employment test. Third, install monitoring devices to catch employees who try to walk out the door with your company's possessions.

© Copyright 2008 Michael Mercer, Ph.D www.MercerSystems.com

Michael Mercer, Ph.D. - America's Hire the Best Expert(tm) - is an industrial psychologist, book author and founder of Mercer Systems Inc. The three pre-employment tests he created - the "Forecaster(tm) Tests" - are used by companies to help them hire the best. Dr. Mercer wrote five books -- including Hire the Best - and Avoid the Rest(tm. He delivers speeches and training seminars at companies and conferences. You can get a no-cost subscription to Dr. Mercer's Management Newsletter plus 3 special reports on hiring and leadership at www.MercerSystems.com or phone = 847-382-0690.

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