Top 10 Ways To Stop Employee Theft (Before it Starts)

Nobody wants to have to watch their employees like a hawk to see if they’re giving freebies to friends, leaving with a laptop that never returns, or updating their Facebook walls when they should be working. After all, you’re a boss not a babysitter. And yet, the buck stops with you, so to speak. If you’re not on top of money in and money out, you’re leaving yourself open to theft.

A few months back, my dad came face to face with the reality that his employees had been ripping him off. It was so bad that he practically couldn’t find any profit from which to pay his yearly NAFDAC bill. He ended up worried as hell and suffered an acute attack of high blood pressure. We were luckily able to resolve things together as a family.

Here are just a few ways to curb employee theft before it gets out of hand, or even before it starts.

HOW TO STOP YOUR EMPLOYEES STEALING FROM YOU

1. Assessment testing: Even if you have good instincts when it comes to people, you may not be able to weed out all of the dishonest candidates during the hiring process. Luckily, professionals are at your disposal. By asking potential employees to undergo online assessment testing before hire you can virtually see a psychological evaluation that will tell you whether or not an applicant is right for your business. This could go a long way towards helping you hire employees that are less likely to steal.
2. Check reference:. Once the interview is over, many companies fail to contact references or past employers. Although former employers are legally limited in what they can say about applicants to your business, they can tell you whether or not the person in question was fired, laid off, or otherwise let go, which could help you to establish a pattern.
3. Theft policy: It’s not enough to have a strict policy in place concerning theft; you also need to make sure that employees are aware of what constitutes stealing and the penalties that will result from infractions (including legal action).
4. Handling money: Many businesses find it necessary to allow employees to handle the majority of the cash flow, which is why it is important to make them responsible and accountable. Make sure that any employee handling cash counts the till both before and after a shift to ensure that the balance is correct. Give warnings for small discrepancies and fire for multiple offenses.
5. Alarm system: Since you may have to give many employees keys to access the store and you don’t want them coming in after hours, install an alarm system that will not only protect against burglars, but sneaky employees, as well. Use individual employee key-codes so that you always know who’s been in and out.
6. Surveillance cameras: Although this measure may seem drastic, just having that eye in the sky can discourage theft. And it will help you to catch the culprit if money, product, or other assets should go missing.
7. Data protection: In this digital era, theft doesn’t always revolve around money or material goods. Corporate espionage can cause just as much damage (if not more). So control files in your system by encrypting them with safety features like software that will corrupt any data copied to disc, hard drive, or email.
8. Web controls: Slacking off while on the clock is just another form of theft. But you can curb the tendency to partake of social networking by installing software that blocks certain sites from appearing on your network.
9. Asset marking: Labeling equipment, furniture, and other valuable assets with stickers that display a numerical or bar code (or both) is a good way to discourage theft and track assets. Scanning these labels when items are checked out means you’ll always know who is responsible for them.
10. Inventory control. You’d be surprised how much money can be lost when employees engage in petty theft around the office (supplies, small pieces of equipment, slush fund, etc.). Putting someone in charge of inventory so that people must sign for items will allow for tracking and inventory control, which will help you to manage both waste and theft.

Carol Montrose is a writer for SeaReach a manufacturer of labels, tags, and security documents.

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