Have you encountered Robin Hood? If you have not, then be prepared, for he is coming. Now, I am not talking about Errol Flynn, Kevin Costner, Cary Elwes or even Taron Egerton. I am talking about your interviewees. Those select number of individuals who steal, not for profit, but to help others. They steal from the rich to give to the poor and it is a cultural phenomenon that has recently been on the rise.
One of my first encounters with Robin Hood was one of my very first interviews. I was interviewing an associate at a big box retailer who would fail to ring merchandise through the register. What made this investigation different was there did not appear to be any consistency in who she gave away merchandise to. At the time, I was trained that there is usually a single thread tying the recipients together whether they are friends, family or whatever. In this case, there was none. Which is why I was selected to do the interview. Having no formal interview training at the time and being the most junior store detective, my manager thought that if (when) I failed, he could throw me under the bus and walk away blaming everything on me.
The time came for the interview and the associate arrived at the security office with her manager. It was typical to interview an associate with their manager present at that time. As we did not have any video evidence recorded (the system used VHS tapes and were so worn they were useless), I recall starting the interview with asking her if she knew why she was brought to the security office. To my surprise, and elation, she immediately confessed to giving away merchandise. I cannot say that is the only time I have used that technique even to this day it sometimes comes in handy, but on that day, it gave me what I needed to get the conversation started.
After a few minutes of developing the admission, I asked the question that we always ask, “why?” I just asked it out of curiosity. What she said made her the first Robin Hood I encountered. She said she felt bad for them. She went on to explain that when customers would come in her department to shop, she would talk to them about the clothes they were looking to purchase. Occasionally, the customer would have an event they needed to attend but could not afford the entire outfit. It was those customers she would help by failing to ring some of the merchandise up for. She said it made her feel good to know she was helping people. She did not think that a big company would miss a few pieces of merchandise.
I had to explain to her, and her manager who at this point started defending the associate’s choices, that it was stealing and how it affects the company. She wrote a letter explaining her actions and I called for my boss to come to the office. When he arrived, I told him that “Robin Hood” had been stealing from the rich to give to the poor and that her manager did not want us to prosecute. I showed him her handwritten letter and she verbally recalled her actions for him to hear.
Since that time, I have interviewed Robin Hoods all over the country. It is their rationalization. Recently, since the Covid-19 crisis started, more and more Robin Hoods have popped up. They succumb to the stories of the customers and feel they are morally obligated to help them. Some of the associates have suffered personal losses themselves and can relate to a customer having a hardship. Others do it just to spite the company (aka: “the rich”). But whatever their reason, however they rationalize it, it is still stealing and needs to be dealt with according to your company’s policy.
Remember, it is our job to discover the truth and, sometimes it means that the person sitting across from you, or on the other end of the telephone, may have started with good intentions. Often, this type of person may be a little tougher to discern a reaction from as they may not view it as stealing rather as helping, charity work even. Let us not buy in to their narrative but remain the true professionals that each one of us are. In other words, do not become the Sheriff of Nottingham to their Robin Hood. $
