Employee Theft Analogy the Reasons

Employee Theft Analogy

The reasons for employee theft are not unlike the reasons that children fail to help with chores around a household. A child does not feel a personal and financial investment in the process of keeping a house running, because he or she does not make a financial contribution to the household. Usually his or her decisions are not consulted in the process of managing the house, and thus the child takes no pleasure in making the house look beautiful. If the child 'experiments' by finger-painting on the wall, the child's hard work in painting and paying for the wall is not ruined -- rather it is the adult's time and money that suffers.

Similarly, an employee who steals from his or her company often does not feel as if his or her opinion is worthy of consideration in running the business. He or she is treated as a drone, and so the employee regards the business as faceless and uncaring. If he or she does anything 'extra' to help the enterprise run more smoothly, the employee's paycheck still states the same amount, much like a child who is particularly conscientious often will not receive a greater allowance than his or her sibling, because of the parent's desire to seem fair and impartial. However, this merely encourages the child to be lackadaisical about working hard, and to be less rather than more responsible.

An employee whose opinion is not consulted regarding business decisions, who receives no salaries or bonuses, and simply receives the minimum wage for work in a retail enterprise is more likely to steal as 'compensation' for being underappreciated than an employee whose opinions are listened to, who is treated with respect, and who receives additional responsibilities, promotions, and bonuses for work above and beyond what is expected. In the past, employees have often been watched in a paternalistic manner through the use of surveillance techniques such as drug tests and time clocks. Technological means are used to 'keep watch' on employees, and to keep them in line. Instead, trust and value must be placed in each employee's effort -- just as a child who paints and decorates his or her room, according to his or her specifications is more likely to keep it clean and not destroy it, an employee treated as a mind rather than simply a pair of hands will not vent his or her frustrations against he company through pilferage.

Teenage pregnancy analogy

The causes of teenage pregnancy are much like the reasons that teenagers drive recklessly -- teenagers have trouble seeing beyond the needs of the moment, and their immediate satisfaction. Teens feel as if they are adults, because of the tremendous hormonal and emotional shift that occurs with adolescence. They are angry when adult rules and laws attempt to hem them in. They chafe at even the most reasonable safety requirements, in an attempt to show their independence. But the more they attempt to act like an adult, either by breaking speeding laws, or having sexual relations before they are mature enough to take appropriate precautions, the more they show their essential immaturity.

Additionally, teens who are depressed, in search of an identity, or who are self-destructive as a way of coping with life's challenges may use either parenthood or the persona of a daredevil as a way of having an immediate sense of 'self.' Suddenly, they are 'the cool kid' -- or a mother, which seems to give them a reason for being in the world. But rather than catapulting them into their future, it instead limits their life choices, or ends their life entirely.