begins to pour some punch into a cup. The dipper slips and crashes to the ground,
breaking into two pieces. Cinder panics and picks up one of the pieces, turns on
her left slipper, and bolts out the door with the mice in hot pursuit. The farmer
hears all the commotion and returns to the cottage in time to see Cinder running
away with the not-so-nice mice in pursuit and Cinder holding the remainder of
the dipper. He pushes away a lock of his hair and then vows, to no one in particu-
lar: “Somehow, someday, I’ll find the fair maiden with the glass dipper!”
Based on this story, here are a few sample ideas for reducing employee theft:
- Install hidden video cameras that record everything employees do (from “visually
challenged mice”). - Have a subliminal audiotape that periodically reminds employees not to steal (from
“stepsisters... tell her to bake a pumpkin pie instead”). - Use voice-recognition locks on storage areas where too many keys might exist (from
“laugh in her face”). - Provide rewards to customers who report incidents of theft (from “they decide to
toast each other”). - Have weekly tea or coffee breaks where managers solicit theft-reduction ideas (from
“pour some punch into a cup”). - Install body temperature sensors that notify security whenever an unauthorized
employee enters an “off limits” area (from “bolts out the door with the mice in hot
pursuit”). - Offer a free “makeover” for employees who report shoplifting or theft (from “The
pumpkin turns into a beautiful maiden”). - Recruit an employee from another division to work undercover and report on theft
problems (from “sneak into the castle kitchen”). - Install locks with retina identification that works only with certain employees—an
alarm sounds if anyone else tries to open the locks (from “her magic wand only works
with mice and pumpkins). - Have all employees submit to a voice stress analyzer to determine if they are telling
the truth about theft (from “The farmer rushes in to say goodbye to his dying wife”).
188 101 Activities for Teaching Creativity and Problem Solving
101 Activities for Teaching Creativity and Problem Solving.Copyright © 2005 by John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. http://www.pfeiffer.com
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