Preventing Employee Theft & Fraud
Businesses are facing a new threat in the form of employee theft and fraud. The worst-hit are small businesses which suffer due to lack of trust, incorrect employee recruitment, insufficient or loose supervision and the most basic of all is the lack of proper tools to control and manage the financial department.
According to a survey small businesses lose between 5-10 percent of revenues to employee theft and fraud. Due to the limited resources it is quite difficult for any small business to be 100 percent safe from employee theft and fraud. However this can be controlled quite substantially by following a few simple steps:
1.Hiring: One of the first and most important step towards a theft and fraud free environment. Checking and scrutinizing previous details of the prospective employee with regards to criminal history, lawsuits pending, verification of documents, previous job details etc will give a clearer picture.
2.Work Culture: This is one of the multi-faceted tools that can be implemented. A efficient and positive work culture will prove to be a motivation for the right employees and a deterrent for dishonest people.
3.Checks & Controls: Implementing devices and tools will prove to be efficient and effective for the various operations and will assist in the proper functioning of other tools eg. Financial and reporting tools.
4.Education & Awareness: Making the employees aware of business policies, fraud tools etc will not only help in preventing fraud but will also help in proper functioning of the organization.
5.Whistle Blowers: A trustworthy and confidential system that will encourage reporting of any suspicious activity.
6.Communication: Probably the most important tool determining the success or failure of any organization. The communication system need not be an intricate one but should be tailor made to fit the organization.
The above mentioned steps will prove to be a deterrent to employee theft and fraud, but it is worth mentioning here that there is no single process or system that can guarantee a 100 percent relief from employee theft and fraud. The basic structure of any small business or organization should determine the kind of policies and practices used for preventing employee theft & fraud.
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- Spam & Phishing Protection for Small Businesses
- Preventing Consumer Fraud & Identity Theft
- Avoiding Work at Home Scams!
- Preventing Tax-Related Identity Theft
- Recession Times-Deposits Do Matter!
