Boards should be wary of what they are incentivising their
employees to do
There is a different feel to this month's cover interview. I
spoke to Walt Pavlo, Jr, who was convicted of embezzling $6 million
and spent two years in federal prison. Pavlo's story is a
cautionary tale of disillusioned and isolated employees put under
pressure to achieve impossible results.
'It did not make sense to me that people could be unethical,
with low business standards, and be so rewarded. I felt that I had
two choices: one, call everyone out for what they were doing, or
two, join in. Regrettably, I chose the latter', he said.
Since his release, Pavlo has offered his insight to business
schools, accountancy firms, and even the FBI. 'There are three
components [to white-collar crime]: the pressure, the opportunity
... and how a person rationalises it,' Pavlo says, 'There
is context to the crime'.
