No business owner wants to believe that his or her employees would be anything other than honest and trustworthy. The truth is that sometimes people are not what they appear to be on the outside. Discover more about employee theft and how locks and security systems can help.

Employers Can Experience Serious Losses

According to research firm Statistic Brain, employees stole $50 billion in goods or cash from U.S. businesses in 2015. This theft, on average, caused businesses to lose 7 percent of their annual revenues to employee theft or fraud. Furthermore, 75 percent of employees surveyed admitted to stealing from their employers at least once, while 37.5 percent said they had done it at least twice. Finally, 33 percent of business bankruptcies were due to employee theft, a frightening statistic for many business owners. Chances are good that you may have to deal with a dishonest employee who steals from your bottom line at some point during your business ownership.

Implementing Viable Solutions

Clearly, employee theft is a much larger problem than most people anticipate. Thankfully, you have solutions at your disposal. Additional security represents the main prevention method for your business. In order to understand why this is necessary, think about why employees might engage in theft in the first place. 

Why Workplace Theft Happens

Generally, there are a few main reasons employees steal from their employers. These reasons include financial need, such as when they are struggling with their personal finances, and personal problems including mental illness as well as disagreements with their company. However, the main reason employees steal revolves around opportunity, simply because it is easy for them to do so and many employees decide that this is too good of a chance to pass up. Therefore, it is crucial to prevent them from having that opportunity in the first place, which is where security comes into play.

Investing to Protect Business Property

Many business owners choose to invest in locks and security systems that can help reduce employee theft because they recognize that it is worth the hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential losses due to untrustworthy employees. There are a few options that business owners have when it comes to added security. 

Locking Up Secure Areas

This may sound like an obvious solution, that’s exactly why most business owners don’t think of it and why so many employees get away with stealing from their companies.

Added Layer of Security

In many cases, preventing theft is as simple as adding extra locks on to doors to keep employees away from sensitive areas such as offices that contain financial documents, storage rooms with valuable products or other areas you want to keep secure. Adding a door with a lock can, in most cases, provide enough of a barrier that most employees who consider stealing from you will just give up. As stated earlier, the main reason people steal is the opportunity, so if you take away that opportunity then the chances of theft lower because employees won’t pursue the matter further.

Perform Background Checks

In many cases, employees who steal from one company have a history of criminal activity. Therefore, you can often prevent theft in your own business by performing background checks on your employees and using this information when making hiring decisions. Many companies will perform a secure background check on anyone for a small fee, with the person’s consent, so you can simply sit back and wait for the results while you conducting your hiring interviews.

Consider the Past

Then, if the background checks catch any previous run-ins with the law, especially when it comes to theft, you can decide for yourself whether this is someone you want to hire. With that said, many people do deserve a second chance. Use this information in combination with the interviews that you conduct and your own personal judgment. 

Use Security Cameras and Other Monitoring Devices

One of the most foolproof methods to ensure that your employees stay honest is by keeping an eye on what they do and having an actual video record if anything does go missing.

Easy and Effective

Security cameras are one of the easiest ways to do this, and many business owners have them to monitor what customers do in a physical store. Why not extend this to your employees? Furthermore, security cameras are non-invasive and help keep employees accountable in other ways as well, such as making sure that they are working on their assigned tasks during their on-the-clock hours.

Ultimately, you want to know that you can trust your employees. Cameras, locks and background checks can help you to know that you hired the right people or to find out who is stealing from you. These preventive measures help stop thieves in their tracks. Consult with an experienced locksmith today to find out how to protect your business and keep it secure.

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