If You Suspect Employee Theft, Follow These Dos And Don'ts
Posted on: 14 October 2019
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It has been said that employees are the biggest source of loss in business, and in many cases, this is true. Employees have insider access to cash drawers and to your product; unfortunately, some of them are not as trustworthy as you would hope. If you suspect an employee may be stealing from your business, however, you need to handle this situation carefully. Here are some dos and dont's to adhere to as you detect and deal with employee theft.
1. Do hire a private investigator.
As the owner of the business, it may be hard for you to get the details on whether or not an employee is stealing. Of course, they are not going to steal cash or your product when you are around. A better way to catch them in the act, so to speak, is to hire a private investigator. This PI can pose as another employee or even a customer, observing the suspected employees in the process. They will take notes and report back to you on what they see. PIs are specifically trained to avoid detection and to behave in a manner that encourages the employees to be open with them, so you might be surprised how fast they catch the crook.
2. Don't accuse someone without evidence.
It doesn't matter how convinced you are that a certain employee must be the one stealing. If you do not have hard evidence of the theft, either in the form of video or testimony from your PI, do not accuse and fire the employee just yet. If you fire them and they happen not to have been guilty, this will reflect very badly on your company and may make it even harder to find good help in the future. Plus, the employee who is stealing from you will still be employed, and you'll have to go through more trouble to identify and fire them, too!
3. Do let employees know you are monitoring them.
Don't tell them how. Don't tell them when. But do let employees know that you are assessing for theft and tracking your income and stock. This may put an end to the theft entirely, scaring off any employees who were not following the rules. While you may not catch the thief in this case, you will have stopped the theft, which is the ultimate goal.
To learn more about stopping theft, talk to a PI who has worked in this industry before.