Concerning A discouraging word...

Hey...I just read your latest column/article on corruption. It made me smile.

In my former life, I was at [withheld] Mill in accounting for 7 years. One day my Mgr. came and said "they want you in Internal Audit". I told him I didn't want to be an auditor – they were stupid and hated by all! He said "no - give 'em a chance"...I went for an interview. I came back very impressed - they had a new VP and a new Audit Mgr. over the mills. The VP said "we're tired of sending out KIDS to the field that don't know a darn thing about operations - we want YOU and a few select others to come in here and turn our group around".

WELL...I went and had the time of my life! We stopped pulling out reams & reams of invoices and auditing the $200 petty cash box. Instead, we started looking at the payroll clerk that NEVER took vacation...we looked at the addresses of the purchasing gang and actually drove by their houses...we looked at who was related to who, etc. We had lots of tricks. One co-worker actually took 2 key people for drinks/lunch at every location - the shipping clerk and the storeroom mgr. It was amazing what they'd talk about after a few brews. NOW...we also looked at the normal "high risk" items. The one thing that floored me was the payroll clerk that had "total control" over the pay rates & reports - we'd found she changed a rate. The acctg mgr actually said "what's the big deal - she only changed it by $.01." WELL...the mill mgr. understood that she also had the edit reports and NO ONE knew she did it and that it could have been $10/hr. Oh...and it was her relative's rate that she changed - it was valid change to fix a rounding error after contract changes...but that wasn't the point. The acctg. mgr left the next month.

I could also tell you about the audit of the benefits dept that caused overturn in most the managers. Hmmm...seeing piles of reports under desks aren't good - especially when they're error reports. And when they block even the auditors from the benefits employees files, you can smell a problem a mile away!

The sad thing is that YES, there are those few that give a bad impression over the whole. But no matter what - people still hate the auditors. One saying that still irks me is "we do it this way or we do this process because of the auditors". I always said "NO...NO...you do it for a business reason - there is a valid business reason why you do something". UGH!

Now...my best story was about the time we audited a northern mill...and we knew our VP of Audit was coming to visit & review us. SO...one girl had the capital and the wood yard sections of the audit. It just so happened that they'd gotten a new woodyard fence. SO...she wrote up a bogus audit paper about how the mill had a horrible wood recovery rate and it was due to deer eating the chips - she even referenced the capital project. We were all in on it...we knew the VP would review various papers and sign off on them. (required by the external audit firm) We watched...he read & read & read...he asked for the capital workpapers...he looked at the project and said "damn, that was one expensive fence - I didn't know deer ate wood chips, they must have some fat deer." We cracked up - he'd been had. Somehow, a few wood chips appeared in her glass of beer that night. The VP also kept us out drinking that night - a few were VERY green at the morning Exit Conference with Mill management. I think the VP got even.

Later!!

Anne Dittman
Oxford, Ohio, USA

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Jim,

Work long enough and you'll be involved in a corruption case on way or another. It is not pleasant. A friend of mine was fired for requiring kickbacks for contracts and the person wasn't in purchasing. Sad situation. A career ruined and, as you wrote, no telling what other harm done. Preach on - if you reach just one person it's worth it.

On the subject of obsolesce (several columns ago). Kathy and I ate at a relatively new Mexican restaurant in Montgomery today. On each table was a condiment tray. In each tray were three types of artificial sweeteners (pink, blue and yellow). And no sugar. None. If you're in the sugar business, take note! Then there's butter fat from milk. Where does it go with everyone using 2%, 1%, or skim milk? In the 1950's milk farmers were paid based on butter fat. My guess: that has changed.

If low fat milk is so good for us, why are most American's still struggling with weight? Probably because we're eating too much sugar ... but not from the small serving size bags on condiment trays!

The hurricane recovery efforts continue, as they will for years. The damaged housing areas were mostly 20+ year old homes. The thing most noticeable (other than the missing homes) is the lack of trees. They are gone.

Motorcycle? What's that all about? And did Laura have a say in it? Color me green (for St Patrick's Day and for envy).

Peace,

Gene Canavan
Prattville, Alabama, USA

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Gene:

As for butterfat, the "Ohio Farmer" that came this week said milk is at an all time high. And the butterfat, it is going into high end cheese, which is going into the "spare tire" around our middles.

Jim

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Jim,

Thank you for addressing corruption in our industry. I have been in purchasing for a couple of decades, thirteen of those years in the paper industry, and, I am an ex-law enforcement officer. I have been around some of the best of the bad boys and what I have seen and experienced is that the majority of people will roll over and play dead when it comes to identifying and eliminating corruption. No worries about being sued, harassed, run-off, being black-balled, or ground up in a pulper, so why should they address corruption? My point is, thank you to all of those who have zero tolerance and stand up to right the wrongs, and to those of you who stand by their side and support them. Thank you to those who have prevented others from destroying a co-worker or associate, whether it be that person's career, emotional well-being, their family, and in some cases, their very life. These are people of character and they are seldom recognized and in many cases, cannot be recognized. Maybe someday we will learn and get better at recognizing and rewarding character and attitude.

Best regards,

Cynthia M. Davis
Memphis, Tennessee, USA

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