It can happen to all of us. A disloyal employee decides to take a job with a competitor or start his or her own business. What makes them disloyal is that they download and take with them your customer and confidential information. This is internal theft. What can you do? I most cases it depends on your states law. However, there is also the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
But you must first take preventive actions. The internal theft of your information should be prohibited in your employee handbook that the employee signs when they come to work for you. Their access to your data is only for the furtherance of your business only and ends when they terminate. Even if you forget to remove them from your computer systems.
Next make sure that you retrieve laptop computers and immediately delete their access to your building, alarm system, remote access passwords. The courts cannot help you unless you first help yourself prevent internal theft.
Trying to prevent shoplifting is a difficult task if you do not know who the shoplifter is. The best way to prevent a shoplifter from succeeding in you store is to start with knowing the three types of shoplifters:
Impulse Shoplifters – This type of shoplifter steals because you provide them with opportunity. Most want the merchandise for personal use
Amateur Shoplifters – Steal consistently and enter your store with the intent to steal. Amateur shoplifters generally keep the merchandise they steal. However, they may steal for friends or others and give or sell them the merchandise.
Professional Shoplifters – These thieves steal to sell the merchandise. This is their job. This type of shoplifter is usually skilled and quick.
Prevent shoplifting by using anti-shoplifting techniques and equipment. These methods will shut down all levels of shoplifters.
In my 30 plus year career in loss prevention I have had the duty to conduct employee theft investigations on over 2300 employees. These investigations have involved employees of all ages, races and positions from entry level to upper management and partners.
Most employee theft investigations must be conducted as a result of management failing to follow their own policy, procedure or even common sense. I have also found that in many cases management will fail to learn from previous employee theft investigations. Not learning from history will make you destine to repeat it.
Get your policy manual out, dust it off, review it and update it. Then make sure that everyone else know and understands that they must follow it. This will be work in the beginning but will make the life of a manager easier in the long run because they do not have to keep reinventing the wheel. You will also find that you will reduce the number of employee theft investigations that need to take place. The rules are there for a reason: It happened before and the company lost money. That’s why there is a policy for it.
In my 30 plus year career in loss prevention I have had the duty to conduct employee theft investigations on over 2300 employees. These investigations have involved employees of all ages, races and positions from entry level to upper management and partners.
Most employee theft investigations must be conducted as a result of management failing to follow their own policy, procedure or even common sense. I have also found that in many cases management will fail to learn from previous employee theft investigations. Not learning from history will make you destine to repeat it.
Get your policy manual out, dust it off, review it and update it. Then make sure that everyone else know and understands that they must follow it. This will be work in the beginning but will make the life of a manager easier in the long run because they do not have to keep reinventing the wheel. You will also find that you will reduce the number of employee theft investigations that need to take place. The rules are there for a reason: It happened before and the company lost money. That’s why there is a policy for it.
Too often, signals pointing to internal theft, even when noticed, are mistakenly ascribed to chance, error, coincidence, or some other benign circumstance….and the signals are ignored.
What are the signals for internal theft? Contact us and we will share some. Internal theft will not go away on its own.
