Florida-based Spherion Staffing Service is a recruiting and staffing company with 650 locations in the United States and Canada. Recently, the firm conducted a survey showing that nearly one in five workers has stolen office supplies such as pens, paper and file folders during the past year.

Explain the significance of these findings.

It is possible that most of these workers wouldn't ordinarily dream of stealing goods from a store, yet they feel that it is within their right to take office supplies. It is not easy to uncover who has taken them, and because supplies are singularly of little monetary value, workers may not view taking them as theft. Taking a company pen home could be done in complete ignorance. But supplies, which seem small, can add up to be very costly to an organization's bottom line.

Only 21 percent of workers expressed guilt. What does this say about the business culture?

Because workers might not view this as a crime, they may not feel guilty about it. On the other hand, this may show that workers are remorseful toward their employer and effectually highlight a negative side of business culture.

The survey showed 23 percent of workers earning more than $75,000 took office supplies - compared with 11 percent of workers earning up to $35,000. Why?

The line between work and home life is somewhat blurred. Workers are putting more hours in at work; therefore what may be considered "stealing" supplies may not mean the same thing to everyone. People who earn more money may also assign less value to supplies, leading them to believe that it is not a big deal. On the other hand, workers with a lower income may be more cautious because they assign greater value to supplies.

Any observations on why younger workers are more likely to take home office supplies (29 percent, compared with 9 percent for older workers)?

Younger workers, who may be trying to prove themselves, may be taking supplies home in order to work after hours or on the weekend. Also, these workers are often newer and may have less loyalty to their companies.

How can you make any determination about a worker's honesty in your recruitment efforts?

It's very hard to judge a person's honesty at the first meeting. A criminal record or evidence of lies on their résumé are obvious indicators. Otherwise, often the only way to tell is through intuition. It is doubtful that most workers come to a job with the intention of taking office supplies. And don't be too suspicious of a candidate when recruiting, because it probably will turn them off from coming to the company. Remember, innocent until proven guilty.

- Dawn House

house@sltrib.com