Research reveals the most stolen office items
What is the one thing that always seems to go missing in your office?
There is no doubt that things can easily go missing in the workplace.
And it is not always with malicious intent.
You might borrow a pen and honestly forget to return it.
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However, there could be employees who have stickier fingers than others.
A study done by researchers at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis showed that theft among restaurant workers is contagious!
Something that is quite common in workplaces is the stealing of food.
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The Drive team even spoke to someone who had done this once:
Another study surveyed 1,000 Brits and found some alarming statistics.
Here is a list of the most commonly stolen items in workplaces:
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Other statistics:
- 10,4% of the people surveyed admitted to stealing something from their workplace.
- 17% admitted to taking food that was not theirs from the communal fridge and 10% have stolen someone's mug.
- 10% have stolen money and 8% have stolen phones or laptops.
- 21% said their reason for stealing was because everyone does it.
- Only 8% have reported someone stealing.
- Men steal more from their workplaces or colleagues.
There is also a possible psychology behind theft at work.
Human behaviour is focused on doing things that feel right in the short term rather than things that feel right in the long term. If you need to eat right now, then available food will feel good to eat, even if it is wrong to take food from someone else. People also tend to do what is easy for them to do in a particular environment. If you leave your new noise-cancelling headphones out on your desk in a cubicle farm, you are making it easy for people to give in to the temptation to acquire a new pair of headphones without paying for them.
There is still no good reason to take someone else's property. Please remember that.
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Main image courtesy of iStock/AndreyPopov