Protecting Your Business from Employee Theft

Many businesses ensure that they are adequately protected from external threats, including burglary and criminal damage, with the installation of alarms, commercial gates and other security measures. However, they often don't see the threats that come from inside the company as clearly. Each year employee theft can cost businesses thousands of pounds and impact on the operation of the company, resulting in further losses. By taking the prevention of internal theft more seriously, you can ensure that your business is properly protected.

Reducing Employee Theft

There are ways that you can reduce the risk of employee theft by taking the right measures to secure and protect your business. The risks that your business faces will depend on the nature of the company and the industry that you operate within. However, there are some areas that all companies should be aware of.

The most effective way of stopping employee theft is to screen new workers adequately before you take them on. This will bring up any past problems and highlight issues that you should be aware of.

When it comes to securing the commercial premises at night, it's best to limit this activity to as few people as possible. This way you can restrict who has access to keys and entry codes and which employees are left alone in the business. Any keys that you provide for doors and commercial gates should have 'do not duplicate' engraved on them. This will prevent employees from having them copied and then passed to other people outside of the business.

In retail businesses there are some specific issues that you need to be conscious of, as the large amount of stock makes these businesses a prime target for employee theft. Within these businesses it's vital that you keep track of any purchases made by employees, as well as their friends and family. If they purchase and consume items during their shift, they should retain their receipts in case they need to be checked. They also shouldn't be allowed to put through their own transactions, and managers should verify all employee purchases to prevent collusion between staff.

By concentrating more on the risks that you face within your own business, you will be more aware of where the threats can come from and be better prepared. This will make it harder for employees to target your business and reduce the losses that the company has to endure.