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Confront, report or ignore
You witness someone at your workplace stealing money from the company you both work for. What do you do? Confront them, report them to the boss or remain silent? Explain your choice and the ramifications that could come from it. Write 300+ words using images you photographed personally where possible.
As we all know, some of the components that are crucial traits in a workplace are honesty and integrity, well you can actually classify that as my own opinion. But if I am to be truthful here, it can be difficult for me to choose the right course of action whichight be reporting theft when I see someone taking money from the company we both work for.
Look, I clearly know that confronting someone or reporting them to management is a customary thing to do, but my past experiences have made me wonder sometimes if these actions are always the right course of action to take.
Here's why?
As a young teenager that was just throup with highschool and I was waiting to be admitted into college, I had this small job I was doing for pay. In this job I had a manager who didn't care about the welfare of his staff. He owes us salaries and when he did decide he was going to pay, it was never done on the right or scheduled day. Owing of salaries was a frequent thing.
Not just that, we were overworked and frequently had to put in unpaid overtime. So if I am to go by this understanding I'll say, I now have a better understanding of the struggle most people go through to survive in such tough situations because it was not a nice experience for me.
So presently, if I catch my colleague for theft, I won't report that coworker. That is if I catch them red handed taking money from the business. Instead, I would try to make an effort to comprehend their situation and, if I could, give assistance. Or if there's a reason for that. Generally well call it greed but most times life troubles can also warrant such.
Now you all know that a person who is confronted or reported for such a thing could suffer serious consequences, such as losing their job or being charged with a crime. That's okay, that's like paying for their wrong actions. But he who is with sin should cast the first stone.
Like I mentioned earlier, stealing from the business is unquestionably immoral and wrong, it is not always clear-cut. But there are sometimes hidden motives behind people's use of such tactics. For instance, just like my experience above where you're not being paid your salaries while you have problems to solve. Also they might be going through financial difficulty, having a hard time making ends meet, or even dealing with personal problems that have turned them in the wrong direction. Therefore, I believe it is crucial to demonstrate empathy and understanding at first other than passing judgment right away.
So in my own opinion, despite how serious a workplace theft can be, I just feel that it is not always wise or advisable to notify management immediately without confronting the culprit. Instead, we should try to make an effort to comprehend their predicament and reason with them first, then provide assistance if we can.
Remember that sometimes these actions can have a lifelong negative impact in a person's life. So I bey trying to help the person other than going straight to report the person would go a long way.
I believe that a positive and encouraging work environment can be created just by showing empathy and understanding to one another.