From the Preface
My
first book
“Something for Nothing:
Shoplifting Addiction and Recovery”
(Infinity Publishing, 2004)
took seven years--on and off--to
write and publish. As with shoplifting,
this book is about a similar
epidemic--employee theft: both
are far more than just moral,
financial, or legal issues.
Both books are intended as personal
and professional offerings.
As a therapist, attorney and
consultant--and as one who intermittently
shoplifted and stole from work
from 1982-1990--I hope I have
something unique and valuable
to add to a new conversation
on employee theft.
In
September 2004, I appeared on
The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss
my book and the topic of shoplifting
addiction. Since then, my private
counseling practice specializing
in treating theft addictions
and disorders has blossomed.
Currently, I am awaiting an
interview with ABC News’s
20/20 on the topic of shoplifting
addiction, to be aired later
this summer. And, finally, I
am co-organizing and co-presenting
at The First International Conference
on Theft Addictions and Disorders
in Detroit in the early fall.
I knew my second
book would be on employee theft.
I figured: one controversial
topic at a time.
My
first book emphasized shoplifting
for several other reasons. First,
roughly 75% of my own theft
behavior took that form, compared
to about 25% employee theft.
Second, I’d met more people--personally
and professionally--with shoplifting
problems. Third, there was more
interest: I’d had many
more interviews in print, on
radio and on TV about shoplifting
than on employee theft. Finally,
I didn’t view employee
theft as seriously. My consequences
from shoplifting--two arrests,
nearly having my law license
withheld, among others--seemed
more severe than losing a few
jobs due to employee theft.
Indeed, in re-reading my own
story, I was shocked to realize
during my entire course of therapy
and conversations with family
and friends, I completely neglected
to share about my employee theft
behaviors. As I did more research,
I found the statistics on employee
theft staggering. I now see
it very seriously.
I’ve
also had more time to look back
on my work as an addictions
therapist at a non-profit clinic
from 1997-2004—with a
stint as its Director from 1998-2000.
I had the opportunity to live
in the workplace culture over
time. From time to time, I experienced
a resurfacing of temptations
to steal from work and engaged
in a few of the “lesser
forms” of workplace theft.
Like many, I felt “they
owe me.”
As Director,
I got to see my staff and the
management from a middle-ground
view. I got a closer glimpse
of the politics of the workplace
and how the bottom line is affected
on every front. The pressures
for everyone—including
me—were enormous. By the
time I resigned as Director
in 2000, I realized I’d
have to be self-employed one
day—not only to reduce
my temptation to steal again
but to chart a path toward my
higher potential—financially
and emotionally.
I will not
be re-telling my life story
here. If you are interested,
you can read that in my first
book. But a lot has happened
in the two years since. Increasingly,
I’ve worked with more
people seeking help for chronic
employee theft behaviors. As
shoplifting recently has gained
some relative acceptance as
a potentially addictive and
treatable behavior, people who
steal from work have begun to
seek help, too.
As in my own
case, many people I’ve
worked with have both shoplifted
and committed employee theft—concurrently
or at different stages. I’d
estimate 50% of my clients have
engaged in both forms of theft—to
varying degrees; roughly 25%
only shoplifted; roughly 15%
only stole from work; and about
10% have done either credit
card fraud or stolen from family,
friends, or other individuals.
Interestingly,
my clients often see either
shoplifting as worse than employee
theft or vice-versa. They’ve
said: “I stole from a
store—I had no business
doing that. I could have gotten
arrested and sent to jail. Everybody
steals a little from work--you
couldn’t possibly fire
everyone. Even the bosses do
it.” But I’ve also
heard: “I feel so much
lower than people who shoplift.
They don’t know the people
they steal from. I know my boss,
I know my co-workers. I have
to walk into work each day feeling
like I’m living a lie.”
Does the kind
of theft make a difference?
What’s worse: $5,000 worth
of CD’s shoplifted from
stores or $5,000 worth of stamps
and office supplies from work?
Is stealing money worse than
stealing items? It’s all
problematic for everyone! I
hope to drive this point home.
Over the last
two years I’ve also explored
work as an independent loss
prevention and corporate consultant.
I thought if Frank Abagnale
of “Catch Me If You Can”
can turn his life around from
a master fraud to a master consultant,
so can I. In my research and
in my discussions with those
in various relevant fields,
I’ve found most people
don’t care why people
steal from work. They view any
attempt to understand or explain
theft as excuses. I have known
countless people who didn't
fully recognize they had a problem
as well as those who knew they
did and wanted to stop but didn't
know how or where to go for
help. I have a shared interest
in seeing a reduction in theft;
however, I have some different
ideas about how to get there.
Employee theft
is a hot potato right now. If
the actress Winona Ryder dominated
the headlines in 2002 during
her shoplifting trial, we’ve
had more than a decade of headlines
on white collar crime and employee
theft--from Enron to Martha
Stewart. Most people are sick
of excuses.
But it’s
not just the big stories that
ought to concern us. Everyday,
employee theft takes a bite
out of us all.
Consider statistics
from the American Society of
Employers:
- Businesses lose 20% of every
dollar to employee theft.
- 20% of employees are aware
of fraud at their companies
(including theft of office
items, false claims of hours
worked, and inflated expense
accounts).
- The average time it takes
for an employer to catch a
fraud scheme is 18 months.
- 55% of perpetrators are
managers.
- 44% of workers say their
companies could do more to
reduce fraud.
- The U.S. Retail Industry
loses $53.6 Billion a year
due to employee theft.
- 60% of companies have staff
trained to deal with fraud
and ethics issues (up from
30% in 2000).
The U.S. Chamber
of Commerce estimates that 75%
of all employees steal at least
once, and that half of these
steal again and again. The Chamber
also reports that one of every
three business failures are
the direct result of employee
theft.
In employee
surveys conducted by academics,
43% of workers admitted stealing
from their companies.
The FBI reports
that employee theft is the fastest
growing crime in the United
States.
We need not
worry solely about an enemy
abroad taking a toll on our
economy. We have met the enemy:
it is us! It’s either
the worst time or the best time
to start talking about this
topic in a new way. I’m
hoping it’s the right
time.
Terry Shulman,
Southfield, Michigan July 2005 |
