Questions To Ask An Employee Regarding Theft

LPT Security Consulting is a Houston-based, full service, security consulting firm.  The founder and President, J. Patrick Murphy, has over 35 years experience in the areas of law enforcement, security management, loss prevention and consulting.  Mr. Murphy has extensive training and experience in the investigation of employee theft.

One of the most frequent topics I discuss is in the area of what questions to ask an employee who is accused of theft?  It's simply not that easy and it's not like anything you see on TV or in the movies.  No bright lights.  No sweatin' them out. No good cop bad cop....well...sort of.  Employee theft interview is more about technique than questions although the questions asked and their timing are crucial.

Here are some tips as you prepare to conduct an employee theft interview and some questions to ask during:

1. Absolutely know your facts.  The less need to review notes the more confident the interviewer.  It also send the message you know what you are talking about.

2. Review the person's personnel file.  Look for common ground:  schools, neighborhoods, references, hobbies.  Know how long they have worked there and what they do.

3. Decide about using a witness.  Witnesses are good to have but they are not to be a part of the interview process. Men interviewing females should always have a female witness.  If at all possible, do not use the employee's supervisor.

4. Tell them why they are there to be interviewed.  If a specific incident occurred then tell them it relates to that.  If it is more general, then it could be about process improvement, inventory, policy and prodecure etc.

5. Start the interview by talking about general topics about the company or about them.  It's only an icebreaker to allow the interviewer to settle down and to begin the process.

6. Talk openly about theft, personal use of company property or whatever the area is and how the company wants to understand how these things happen.  Note:  it is vital that the interviewee understands that you care about them as a person and that people make inappropriate choices.  The issue is WHY.

7. The WHY:  wages, bad boss, too many hours, working conditions, passed over for promotion, food to feed their family, gambling, drugs, etc.  Question to ask:  Bob, if someone stole xyx from your department why do you FEEL (not think) they would do that?  Their answer may be a reflection of their own motivations.  "I don't know" is the usual answer.

8. Use their answer and expand on it.  "Yeah, I ....did that once.....had that happen to me....a former boss was just like that......"   The purpose is to justify for them that things happen and it's "OK" but you learn, and move on.  The "learn and move on" is subject to your definition.

9. Note taking can be distracting to the interviewee. 

10. The magic hour.  There is no standard but if you have been interviewing someone for an hour with no admissions, you are not likely to get any.  That is why it is so important to have the investigations plan set so that a decision has been made ahead of time to handle this case.  There is a difference when the employee begins to discuss their misdeeds.  That length of time is dictated by how much they have to say.  You can always stop and begin again the next day.  Get a written statement about what was covered up to that point however.

This is not a comprehensive discussion of interview and interrgation techniques.  I highly recommend undertaking the seminars offered by Wicklander-Zulawski (www.w-z.com) to learn interview techniques that work with any kind of investigation.  For more a detailed discussion of interviewing for employee theft click here.

LPT Security Consulting offers investigations training.  Click here for more information.

Employee Theft Awareness	10 areas for review to prevent employee theft and issues regarding policy and procedures.
Employee Theft Investigation Guide	A general overview of the path of an internal investigation
Employee Theft Interviews/Questions	Interview strategy and questions to ask.  There is no magic set of questions.
Prosecuting Employee Theft	If you are considering prosecution this article discusses how to prosecute and information about restitution methods.
Embezzlement	Embezzlement sounds more sophisticated but it really is not.  More than likely it results from a lack of control and proper checks and balances.
Using Financial Data to Detect Theft	Utilizing your P&L to detect theft.

If you'd like to know more about LPT Security Consulting click here or call us at 713-899-2402.  Our email is pat.murphy@lptoday.com.

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