One of the biggest problems that a lot of enterprises face is focusing too much on the external enemy. For this reason, they completely forget that some of the danger comes from the inside, as well. Think about it, what good is even the best lock in the world, if you give the key to the wrong person? We’re, of course, talking about employee theft. Unfortunately, this is something that you can’t completely prevent. Therefore, even though we’re talking about the prevention of employee theft, what this is really about is more of damage control. By adhering to these methods, you’ll make it so much harder for all those fraudulent elements of your staff to mishandle or steal company resources.
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Credit card instead of cash payments
Cash has a mesmerizing effect on some people, which is why, if you manage to keep some of your employees as far from it as possible, you might help them keep their hands clean. The simplest way to achieve this is to opt for credit card payments instead of cash payments whenever possible. Just because someone can’t be trusted with cash doesn’t automatically make them into a bad employee or into a person less productive than their peers. Also, bear in mind that the safety of your employees might also be compromised when handling cash, which is one more reason to opt for digital payments.
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Peer system
Another way of preventing people from stealing lies in organizing your staff so that your employees are never left alone with company resources. This way, you can use peer pressure to keep everyone honest. Now, even if you pair up two people who are, on their own, potential thieves, they are unlikely to team up in this endeavor. The lack of knowledge about this side of their colleague’s character, as well as lack of trust with something this vital makes for a simple, yet, fail-proof anti-employee theft method. Needless to say, the bigger the group, the more reliable the method will be.
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Fuel theft
Keep in mind that cash and office supplies aren’t the only things that get stolen. Namely, if you spend money on fuel for your fleet and your employees use these vehicles to get around the city to do their own chores, this is also a form of theft. Some drivers even actively extract fuel from corporate vehicles in order to use it in their own personal vehicles. Needless to say, with better fleet management and the use of devices and systems for GPS vehicle tracking, you can have an easy way of figuring this out. This could help you hire more reliable drivers but the very fact that you’re regularly checking for signs of such misbehavior may be enough to dissuade some of your employees from ever attempting such a thing.
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Corporate time theft
One thing you might have failed to realize by now is the fact that time is also an asset. This means that when an employee uses their time at the office to browse their personal social media profiles, chat with friends or watch YouTube videos, they are actively stealing from you. Fortunately, the methods for preventing this are fairly simple. First, you need to set clear expectations and explain to them that what they’re doing is, in fact, theft. You would be surprised to learn just how many of them never saw it this way. It’s also a good idea to find a proper tool to help you out. For instance, you can get employee monitoring software in order to get an insight into what your employees are doing when they’re supposed to be working.
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A more careful vetting process
Finally, you might want to invest a bit more time into your vetting process when hiring. First, inquire about the previous criminal record of job applicants, especially if you’re putting them in a position where they’ll have access to cash of valuable supplies. Second, ask for a letter of recommendation. The problem with these two methods is that just because someone hasn’t stolen from their previous employers, there’s no guarantee that this won’t happen in the future. Nonetheless, failing to check this beforehand is outright reckless.
Conclusion
As you can see, preventing employee theft requires you to take a more holistic approach to the concept of corporate resources. Just because an employee isn’t stealing cash, this doesn’t mean that their deliberate lack of productivity or theft of resources won’t hurt your company’s budget. It all comes down to being able to protect your assets, regardless of the form they take. This is the only way to protect your business in years to come.
Dan Radak is a marketing professional with eleven years of experience. He is currently working with a number of companies in the field of digital marketing, closely collaborating with a couple of e-commerce companies. He is also a coauthor on several technology websites and regular contributor to Technivorz.
