How to Stop Theft Incidents in Your Office

Theft incidents in the office are far more common (and potentially more damaging) than most business owners seem to realise. Here, we are not just talking about stolen lunches and pens and other stationery items. In fact, computers, cash, and most important of all, even employee identities can be stolen from an office building; often with devastating results. However, there is no need to stand helplessly by as employee theft continues to wreak havoc on your office supplies and finances. There are certain actions that you can easily take in order to make sure that all such incidences of employee theft have been minimised, and the amount of damage they cause is also kept at a bare minimum. Let us check out a few pointers that can help you to do the needful: You Should Try and Hire the Right People for The Job It is simply not enough to completely rely on the credentials and the qualifications of the candidate. While taking things at face value may seem very convenient, trusting strangers can get you into a load of trouble. This is why you should also try and perform a thorough background check of the candidate. This might help you to uncover information that the candidate has gone through great pains to hide. And even if that is not the case, a methodical background check will allow you to catch a glimpse of his work ethics with regard to his previous behavior. After all, what he has been doing in the past, he will almost certainly continue to do so in the future as well. Review the Organisational Structure Of Your Business Suppose you have given too much power to a single manager. The age-old adage ‘power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely’ might apply in this situation. If there is no system of check and balance in place, then how will you be able to measure accountability? Especially with regard to financial transactions? This is why each and every position in the organisation must have its matching accountability criteria. Not doing so can only increase the risk of fraud. Don’t Leave Them to Their Own Devices Most petty crimes and thefts are committed by unsupervised employees left alone for a long time. Encouraging teamwork and a buddy culture can help in alleviating this issue to a great extent. Theft incidents do not need to be an inevitable part of doing business. If you are able to employ proper safeguards against this menace, the odds are that you will not only curtail it to a significant extent, but eliminate it altogether.