I’ve been writing about corporate compliance for a long time, and like most executives who use Compliance Week, I’ve become comfortable using the abstract terms we all do when talking about the idea of “compliance.” But two incidents in the news recently remind me that for all our theoretical understanding of how compliance should work, we have to work within the confines of human nature—and ignore them at our peril.
Twice in the last month, workers at retail-oriented companies have foiled thieves trying to steal goods, and been fired for it. First, a teller at a Key Bank branch in Seattle chased a man who tried to rob the bank, and then held him in submission until police arrived. Several weeks later, a shop-lifter at a Best Buy in Broomfield, Colo., ran off with some electronics; two clerks ran after him and tackled him in the parking lot. All three men showed impressive bravery. They also violated company policy about handling thieves, and are now on the unemployment line.
