His professionalism and dedication made supervision unnecessary. John insisted on handling any problems or discrepancies personally, and made it clear that the buck stopped with him. In fact, many bucks did stop with him, followed him home and neatly deposited themselves into his bank account. As often happens, JohnOs illicit activities were only revealed by accident. If janitorial workers had not discovered a suspicious amount of discarded receipts, the theft would have continued undetected.
Specialists say the cost of employee theft and embezzlement adds up to billions of dollars annually.
For most companies, employee theft is a much more serious concern than burglars or shoplifters. With dramatic figures like these, taking steps to eliminate theft and graft within a firm are sure to yield returns. Should you consider your business immune to employee theft, think again. Security experts estimate that as many as 30 percent of all employees do steal, and that another 60 percent will steal if given sufficient motive and opportunity. The current economic hard times only add to the temptation of personnel to take what does not belong to them.