Your employees can make your company, but they can break it as well. Many companies suffer because of employee theft acts, the severity and type of which can vary. By employee theft, we do not necessarily mean the stealing of an actual tangible object. It is actually defined by the mishandling of the employer's assets. So it does not always have to be cash or say any valuable device.
According to the National Retail Security Survey (2017), internal employee theft was around 30 %. External retail crime and loss came out to be around 36.5%. The difference between these two isn't much, and while you can try your best to limit external crimes by gangs and shoplifters, it is likely that you'll be able to completely eliminate the risk. Employee theft, however, can be minimized to a pretty good extent and it's possible for you to even get rid of it entirely.
Let's look at the various ways an employee can cause damage to your company, starting off with something that may surprisingly not pass as a theft act for many- killing time. Time is money, as the famous saying goes. If an employee is getting paid for the time in which they did not work, then it's an offensive act of theft. Another type of offence can be stealing the company's assets or properties which they are preparing to sell.
Also See: Employee Theft: An Inside Job #infographic
The next time you hire an employee, make sure to do a background check. A background check can play a good part in preventing crime, but it should be done thoroughly along with cross-checking to ensure that your employees are not conning. You can also prepare clear and strict policies to prevent such acts from happening. The statistics and information below will further help you to protect your business.
Infographic by: JWSuretyBonds
