The Seven Deadly Sins In Managing People
Retailers are increasingly becoming the target of litigious ex-employees’ lawyers and of frivolous avoidable legal actions. To avoid the loss of hard-earned profit dollars or a major part of your business, owners and managers need to be well-schooled in how to recognize the most common legal pitfalls or otherwise known as the Seven Deadly Sins.
Sin #1 -“Dishonesty Terminations”
Often, I hear from clients or seminar audiences that they want to prosecute employee thieves to the letter of the law! Most of the time their words are full of venom for this betrayer of their trust. But the more sinful action is yours if you forget the most important objective of terminating a dishonest employee - get them off your payroll and out of your store to stop the losses!
Every other objective pales in consideration to this one. Whether or not you prosecute depends on many issues (see Very Bad Things, Retail Store April 4-10, 1999). But for your garden variety, drawer shortages, candy eating and free rentals to family and friends perpetrator, it doesn’t make sense to take risks. (See “Employees from Hell”).
Terminate that person for “failure to control company assets” or in other words, for expressed competency issues, not ethical ones. It allows a non-legal potential route to achieve your objective of getting them out the door and doesn’t risk the liability/slander/defamation issues of claiming ethical improprieties.
If your employee thief is willing to sign a confession, then have a third person present as a witness and make that a female if your employee is a female. Keep in mind that what they’ve pilfered may not be recoverable and may not be worth your time or that of others or worse, the loss of defense lawyer’s fees. As far as other employees go, they’ll get the message that management is on the job!