Catching a thief is protecting your business but preventing theft from happening is even better than you think.
An employer would never wish to believe that the workers he has employed are dishonest. Yet sometimes employees abuse the trust they have been given and betray their employer. Employees can be tempted to steal for many reasons, including financial difficulties, revenge, or even the sheer thrill of committing a crime.
It would be best if you deal with a thief at your workplace. Figuring out the thief is not always straightforward. People with dishonest intentions often develop techniques for stealing from the workplace. With modern technology and audits, you could easily catch a thief.
There are policies, procedures and practices you can implement at the workplace to prevent employee theft. However, a policy’s success must depend on how clearly and unambiguously it is communicated to employees.
Prevention
Hiring and Screening Applicants
The first phase towards theft prevention in the workplace is the screening process of new applicants. You can do this by asking for supporting credentials, or you can hire a firm to do that for you. You can also check his credit score and criminal records, provided that a waiver is signed to do so.
It is always good to protect your company and your investments by hiring only the best and the more reliable people. Here are other things you need to do during the hiring process:
- Providing Detailed and Clear Hiring Qualifications
- Assessing Resumes for some Red Flags
- Having Best Employees as Part of the Hiring Process
- Asking Appropriate Interview Questions
As a manager or hiring administrator, you must carefully consider the importance of hiring and screening applicants. Having an aptitude for the job is a plus. But with all the different work that a person can get into, your personality and character must fit the job perfectly. You may not like it when people make remarks about your personality or how you can relate to people. Still, you must put up with it because it will help improve your job performance.
As an administrator or manager, your primary responsibility is to ensure that your employees are honest and dedicated to their work without being negligent in doing their responsibilities.
Laying Out Theft Prevention Policies
In laying out your anti-theft policies, you must make them clear and specific. You must consider every aspect of your company and establish written guidelines outlining procedures and practices for handling cash, inventory, equipment and supplies. Explain the policies to your employees as they are implemented or updated, including the consequences if they are caught breaking the rules or stealing. You can include the consequence of written warnings, termination and the possibility of pressing charges as part of the disciplinary actions.
Establish an internal reporting system where employees can report confidential information of theft. The program will allow employees to report thefts and policy violations anonymously. All staff must understand the value of theft prevention at the workplace. They need to know that they are expected to report any instances of theft to you immediately.
You can also include a reward system to motivate your employees not to commit the crime and report any suspicious activities. The rewards may include a monetary sum, salary increase, paid days-off or promotion.
Detection
Installing Security Systems Like CCTV Cameras
CCTV cameras are very useful in keeping workers accountable for their jobs. Install surveillance cameras both within and outside your company, both concealed and obvious. It will aid in detecting individuals who are scoping out the company or performing different forms of fraud.
You may store monitors in a manager’s office and video recordings for further analysis.
Install a CCTV camera in a location where valuable supplies are stored, and cash is treated often, such as near cash registers. Someone may be caught on camera stealing money from a lockbox, ledger, or safe.
Regular Monitoring and Scheduling
Do regular monitoring by walking around the production areas at different times. As the owner or managing staff, your regular appearance in the workplace keeps employees honest. Walking around offers you the chance to watch over your employees occasionally throughout the day. Do it randomly so that your employees will not expect you to be around.
You can also impose shifting schedules to your employees in pre-chosen positions and departments. Another option is to recruit hidden shoppers or secret employees to visit or stay in your company daily. They can help you report and disclose any unusual activity in the workplace. Hiring one or more security guards is also an effective strategy.
The presence of security guards can intimidate your employees into committing theft. Also, with CCTV cameras, employees will change their minds about committing theft at the workplace.
Financial Handling and Auditing
Theft prevention begins by limiting employee access to assets, such as cash stored in a safe. You cash out the registers by yourself. If you have a trusted employee, you can give him access to your register.
It is ideal for conducting a surprise audit to prevent employees from skimming. Additionally, regular audits uncovered theft before it became uncontrollable. Please make sure your employees are not falsifying other records. Also, hire a bookkeeper outside your workplace to ensure that your bookkeeper isn’t falsifying your records to cover up the theft.
Final Thoughts
In today’s uncertain world of crime, theft prevention in the workplace can be a daunting task to undertake. With the rising costs of stolen goods and the ever-increasing threat of identity theft, you need to ensure that your company is as safe as possible.
Increasing security measures such as CCTV and video surveillance in the workplace is undoubtedly worthwhile and will go a long way towards protecting your business from the threat of theft. Compared to other ways to catch a thief in the workplace, installing a CCTV camera may seem a tad excessive. On the other hand, if you carefully scrutinize the circumstances, you will realize that installing a camera is a sensible idea.
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