Oct 2018
Preventing Employee Theft in the Workplace
Employee Theft Prevention
As an employer, leading by the best example and creating a company with a healthy culture –- one that is home to employees who feel respected and valued — boosts productivity, efficiency and feelings of company loyalty. This is especially important when one realizes the sobering statistics of how real and potentially disastrous the problem of employee theft is across the U.S.
A 2015 report, Global Retail Theft Barometer, found that retailers in the United States saw losses of around $42 billion — in one year -– due to theft of merchandise. A staggering 43 percent –- $18 billion -– was due to employee theft.
Employee theft is a problem that isn’t localized or rife within only one industry. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce found employee dishonesty and theft to be a $50 billion yearly problem. No matter the size of one’s company or their industry, employee theft prevention can spell the difference between one company thriving and another with less effective ways to prevent employee theft foundering. Read the following round-up of some of the best ways to fight this problem.
Screening Potential Employees Using Background Checks & Credentials
First, a simple-sounding but nonetheless effective way to prevent employee theft is to use sound judgment and prudent measures to decrease the likelihood of bringing into your company a potential bad actor in the first place. Credentials and qualifications are great ways for employers to appraise potential hires. For best results, add a background check to your hiring procedures. This is prudent in today’s day and age as well as effective, especially when combined with a drug test. While not all applicants with a less-than-perfect past should automatically be assumed to be potential bad apples, these methods can greatly help in informing wise hiring decisions.
Installing a Video Surveillance System
When asking the question of how to prevent theft in the workplace, technology can be a dependable solution. Don’t be hesitant about going down the ‘Big Brother’ route by putting into place a sophisticated CCTV system. This can serve to protect your company’s assets as well as to keep employees on the straight and narrow in general. While one of the costliest of the interventions presented here, it could prove to be a wise investment in your efforts to answer the question of how to prevent employee theft.
In the everyday course of many companies’ operations, valuable assets, materials, even information are sometimes handled with less care than is prudent. Obviously, not everything can be kept under lock and key all the time. In addition to fostering a healthy culture with plenty of effective supervision, installing a security system is another practical measure to take in the quest to find ways to prevent employee theft on any kind of harmful scale.
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Auditing Employees and Implementing Checks & Balances
In looking for how to prevent employee theft, practices include maintaining effective audit and documentation policies and internal controls. Document management needs to be clear and accurate in order that few to no employees would ever think of doctoring or manipulating them for illicit gain.
As the statistical data show, members of management -– who are singularly positioned to undertake illicit behavior to benefit themselves –- are responsible for a worrying amount of the overall damage done due to employee theft. This makes it important when considering ways of how to prevent theft in the workplace, to ensure that no solitary manager has too much authority or power. A system of checks and balances should work to ensure that no one feels emboldened to use their privileges, access and authority to steal.
Choosing a Video Surveillance System to Prevent Employee Theft
In light of the above statistics and further data, employee theft prevention efforts -– even expensive ones — could easily pay for themselves. Additionally, effective, strong but respectful supervisory efforts, attempts to foster high company morale and a healthy culture are all low-cost efforts that can be quite potent in reducing the harm caused by this nationwide problem. If your business in Long Island, NY is in need of video surveillance, trust the experts with 20+ years of law enforcement experience. Contact Silent Guardian today for your video surveillance installation needs.