Want to know how to prevent the fastest growing business crime in the United States?
Your business could be at risk, so you'll want to read this.
The American Society of Employers estimates that twenty percent of every dollar is lost to employee theft.
But you can prevent this from happening to your business. Here we list seven ways to reduce employee theft.
Start with your hiring practices.
You might think your hiring practices are up to par but have you incorporated the following:
- How quickly are you expanding? Is it affecting the quality of your hiring process? Take the time to conscientiously expand. Don't rush it.
- Run background screenings and drug tests on potential new hires. These are ways of sifting out the bad apples.
- Did your new hire provide references? Call them. Following up on references is frequently missed by employers. Take the time. It will make a difference.
- Make sure no positions have broad power to make authorizations without the consent of another colleague or the business owner. Offenders can often be employees in positions of power.
Prevent and prepare. Do all employees know the repercussions of theft?
Employees are much less likely to perform an act of theft if they are clearly aware of the consequences. It pays you back, in the long run, to have a clear dialogue at the time of hiring, and that it is covered in your company handbook.
Get to know who you're working with.
Are your employees comfortable having an open dialogue with you? That can mean the difference between them reporting a company theft or not.
Include a confidential tip line and encourage open communication and a sense of ethics among your employees.
Use the buddy system.
Remember summer camp when you had to take a buddy with you at all times? While this is different, having a second set of eyes on your business will significantly reduce the chances of employee theft.
All hands on deck: Reducing employee theft means training employees to look out for it.
It's like Clue, where everyone is involved in the plot, so they're all accountable. Train your employees to keep an eye out for odd behavior from their colleagues.
Are they always working unsupervised overtime? Do they appear too eager to take out the trash all of the time? Does break time never come fast enough?
Odd behavior like this should tip off you and your employees to keep an eye out.
Auditing is key.
As a business owner you probably already have this practice down, but it never hurts to repeat it. Always perform cash, payroll, and computer usage audits. If you own a business with inventory, compare your physical inventory with your shipment and sales records.
A security system will save you.
Installing a security system, camera and entry chime in your store significantly reduces employee theft. If you do nothing else, do this one thing. Why?
By installing a proper security system, everyone is held accountable and you have can relax knowing that footage will always be taken in the event of a theft.
While no one likes to think of that this would happen on their watch, by taking these steps you will significantly reduce theft in your business.
For more tips on how to keep your business secure, check out our website!