101: Confronting a thief
You do your best to hire employees who are trustworthy, respectful and ethical. You check references, do credit checks and review their job history. But even the most seemingly conscientious team member can present an unpleasant surprise: signs they are stealing from the company. Depending on many factors, this can lead to probation, termination, and/or police involvement – it can also be a legal minefield.
Gather detailed evidence. Employee theft isn't always as simple as taking money from a cash drawer. “Padding an expense account is stealing. Sleeping while on the clock is stealing,” writes Neil Ducoff at business education website Strategies.com. Data theft, which greatly jeopardizes your company, is stealing. Make sure you have witnesses, videotape or other means to back up the kind of theft you allege.
Don't go it alone. Involve a third party before you confront the employee or tell anyone else, but after you have gathered evidence such as documenting each incidence of theft you witnessed, analyzing documents or reviewing security videotape, writes Shelley Frost at SmallBusinessChron.com. “Hire a third party that specializes in detecting employee theft to confirm your suspicions” before moving ahead, she writes, so you're on solid legal ground.
In the employee interview, be empathetic. Patrick Murphy of Texas-based LP Security Consulting recommends first speaking to the employee – with a witness present – in general terms about company losses. Build rapport, he writes in a company website article, instead of diving in with allegations. “Empathy, regardless of how disingenuous, needs to be displayed by the interviewer … Confessions are the result of the person feeling understood and that what they did was wrong but they had justification (in their own mind),” he writes.
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