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I have a fear, that after posting this I might end up rather unliked. The reason is rather simple. I'm going to start a thread that centers around one part of my old job description at Lowe's. It's something you rarely hear of, but every associate knows they exist. In fact, they're usually rather hated and seen as scum.
I'm talking about Moles.
What is a mole?
Well, the description as it was related to me is this:
A mole is an employee who is hired for one express purpose. This purpose is to actively spy on their fellow employees, managment, and in some cases LP. Nine times out of ten, only the District head of LP knows what stores they are in, and whom they are watching. (Usually it's one person, but in the case of some stores it may be a whole location if loss is too common.) Moles are paid by corporate, at a rate comparable to management. They operate in various ways, some who are known by management of the company, most who are not. Very often, if a store has one mole, you can bet that there's several more. Furthermore, it's not uncommon for them to not know of each other. Lastly, you will NEVER get a member of LP to actually admit they do this, or that the company does.
So, here's the discussion part of it. Without relating a huge story, here's my history.
I was hired at Lowe's under the pretense of being a Cashier. However, I'd had some serious managment training, and had worked for a time as a jailor. I think, it was this that brought me to LP's attention. The district head offered me a job as a mole, at greater pay, with a single solitary task. Every week, I would submit a written report by mail to her. This report would include any and all suspicious activities I had witnessed. It may also include any safety violations, or similar. However, it had to always be witnessed. I couldn't write in about rumors.
Monthly, I would meet with her on my day off from the store. There I would relate any changes I may have seen, suspicions, and review what I knew of the loss of the store. I would also go over any evidence I had gathered against fellow employees, and await my orders what to continue with and what to dismiss.
One case in point, I was watching our store manager. LP knew that he was stealing somehow, but could not prove it. At the time, I'm told there were six or seven Moles following him at any given time. I was but one of them. Ultimately, when he transferred to another store it was discovered by a mole in recieving just what was going on. This man was marking items down to a penny (where they would then be destroyed typically) and then buying them and taking the items home.
Personally, I was responsible for the termination of two employees. In my investigations while working as a "Returns CSA" I witnessed two cashiers who were clocking in some thirty minutes or more before the store opened. In my weekly review I noted this, and the LP pulled up their clock records from the prior weeks. Over all, these two had stolen some six hours by clocking in early, and then staying late. When I came to work the next day, I was shocked to find they were gone. (Ok, not shocked they were gone. More that it happened so fast.) The rumor around the store was that we had a Mole... Well, you know the truth. No one then actually believed it.
So, why did I keep quiet this long? To be honest, I was told up front that I was going to make enemies. In all likelyhood, I was going to be the cause of termination for more than one employee. If these people found out what I did, most likely I faced threats or even harm to my person. So, I kept quiet.
Here's the deal:
What do you think of this practice? Do you like it, hate it? Have you ever heard of it? Done it? What are all your thoughts?
I'm talking about Moles.
What is a mole?
Well, the description as it was related to me is this:
A mole is an employee who is hired for one express purpose. This purpose is to actively spy on their fellow employees, managment, and in some cases LP. Nine times out of ten, only the District head of LP knows what stores they are in, and whom they are watching. (Usually it's one person, but in the case of some stores it may be a whole location if loss is too common.) Moles are paid by corporate, at a rate comparable to management. They operate in various ways, some who are known by management of the company, most who are not. Very often, if a store has one mole, you can bet that there's several more. Furthermore, it's not uncommon for them to not know of each other. Lastly, you will NEVER get a member of LP to actually admit they do this, or that the company does.
So, here's the discussion part of it. Without relating a huge story, here's my history.
I was hired at Lowe's under the pretense of being a Cashier. However, I'd had some serious managment training, and had worked for a time as a jailor. I think, it was this that brought me to LP's attention. The district head offered me a job as a mole, at greater pay, with a single solitary task. Every week, I would submit a written report by mail to her. This report would include any and all suspicious activities I had witnessed. It may also include any safety violations, or similar. However, it had to always be witnessed. I couldn't write in about rumors.
Monthly, I would meet with her on my day off from the store. There I would relate any changes I may have seen, suspicions, and review what I knew of the loss of the store. I would also go over any evidence I had gathered against fellow employees, and await my orders what to continue with and what to dismiss.
One case in point, I was watching our store manager. LP knew that he was stealing somehow, but could not prove it. At the time, I'm told there were six or seven Moles following him at any given time. I was but one of them. Ultimately, when he transferred to another store it was discovered by a mole in recieving just what was going on. This man was marking items down to a penny (where they would then be destroyed typically) and then buying them and taking the items home.
Personally, I was responsible for the termination of two employees. In my investigations while working as a "Returns CSA" I witnessed two cashiers who were clocking in some thirty minutes or more before the store opened. In my weekly review I noted this, and the LP pulled up their clock records from the prior weeks. Over all, these two had stolen some six hours by clocking in early, and then staying late. When I came to work the next day, I was shocked to find they were gone. (Ok, not shocked they were gone. More that it happened so fast.) The rumor around the store was that we had a Mole... Well, you know the truth. No one then actually believed it.
So, why did I keep quiet this long? To be honest, I was told up front that I was going to make enemies. In all likelyhood, I was going to be the cause of termination for more than one employee. If these people found out what I did, most likely I faced threats or even harm to my person. So, I kept quiet.
Here's the deal:
What do you think of this practice? Do you like it, hate it? Have you ever heard of it? Done it? What are all your thoughts?
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