Understanding the Why behind the What

by Joe Troy, Jr.
Market Asset Protection Manager
Wal-Mart

When I accepted my position at Wal-Mart almost 5 years ago as an Asset Protection Associate I never knew that my moral compass and ethical code instilled in me by my parents would be tested. After working in retail for close to 10 years now I was always familiar with Loss Prevention or Asset Protection but did not know the extent to which they had an impact on the lives of people decisions they made had on individuals. True, individuals that find themselves sitting across my desk have stolen, broken policy, the law and have displayed actions that are detrimental to running a profitable business that can continue to provide customers with the prices they come to expect at a retailer that prides itself on "saving people money so they can live better." What they do not prepare you for is the why behind the what.

I have the opportunity to talk to associates in an interview format that allows the associate to explain the why behind the what. I already know the when, the how, the what, and the value of what I have on video. When I sit down with someone it is important for me to understand the why for a couple reasons:

1. It will determine what the next step will be.
2. If someone made a "mistake"
3. Do we have a training breakdown?
4. Control breakdowns that could have minimized the opportunity for an associate to make the wrong decision.
5. The associates decision-making process - this to me is the most important as it allows us to put corrective actions in place to be able to help people make better decisions.

From time to time I sit down with individuals that made the wrong choice based on a lack of understanding of benefits that are available to all associates. It is important to remember and easy to forget that just because someone makes a bad decision it does not make him or her a bad person. Sometimes we are conditioned to thinking that people do not deserve a chance to explain. I do not agree with that. Therein lies an ethical dilemma.

Understanding the why behind the what will sometimes lead to an ethical dilemma and in this line of work it's that understanding that dictates the decisions we make. It also helps to understand why people make the decisions that they do. It's easy to think that people just steal because they want to, and it's easy sometimes to get numb to it, but it's truly when you have an understanding of people that you realize that the dilemma was there for them too. They just made the wrong choice.