Dealing with Theft in the Workplace

Money causes trouble. Bottom line. When money is involved, mark my words- everyone will have their eye on the bottom line. That being said, some individuals may not approve of their bottom line and search for other…opportunities in spite of morality or decency.

Theft occurs in the workplace. Where there are humans, there are thieves and heroes, basically. But as a manager, theft means something completely different, and it is a scary notion to entertain. I mean, think about it: someone you hired went into a house, took money (or whatever), and then left without a second word. Don’t just limit this to a cleaning business, either. If you are an owner/manager, one of the things on your mind should be loss prevention.

An associate of mine runs a business. Runs it well! Unfortunately, he had a bad run with a few hiring websites, and he got some people that were less than ideal. A few would steal from the company and the customers, along with poor attitude and a whole host of other things. And he could have avoided the madness and frustration of a resolving the matter in if he knew how to deal with theft better.

The idea is not solving the problem after it has begun- it’s solving the problem before it happens. I did some research and found good information in this article detailing the ways you can keep theft nonexistent, or minimal.But tips and tricks aside, a mindset is what you need more than anything.

Going back to my associate, he not only did his own personal investigation, but certain customers wished to have the police involved, and he had to cooperate. He also lost these customers and will never get them back due to the trust lost. He had to find good people (although now he’s gunshy) to replace the bad apples, and he had to get his insurance company involved to help cover the value of any stolen items.

My bottom line is this. Money is useful. It is everywhere, and it dictates much. So knowing that, keep two things in your mind. One- never be satisfied with the appearance of “everything is okay”, and Two- know who you are hiring first because the money you might save in not doing a background check will cost you much, much more in the end. Just ask my associate!