April 07, 2010

Economic turbulence has contributed to a rise in workplace theft by employees, according to a recent survey of 392 employers conducted by the Institute for Corporate Productivity.

Twenty-four percent of all respondents and 31 percent of respondents at large companies (10,000 or more workers) reported an increase in theft of office supplies, products produced by the company, electronics, and food items since the economic downturn began.

Don't let employee theft decimate workplace morale and your bottom line. Join us for an exclusive webinar on April 22 and find out how to eliminate the problem.

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What's more, 18 percent of all respondents and 22 percent of large-company respondents said they noticed a surge in monetary theft by employees — including padding expense reports, cash disappearance, and other financial crimes.

How do you rein in the problem? Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

1. Hire smart. It may sound obvious, but the best way to keep thieves out of your workplace is not to hire them in the first place. Do your homework on all applicants before you give them the green-light to come aboard; it will save you time and money in the long run.

2. Keep track. Make sure you have effective systems in place for tracking inventory, supplies, and cash. It's much easier for employees to steal when standards are lax.

3. Audit yourself. Conduct periodic audits to make sure that you're not missing a costly outflow you'd otherwise be unaware of — this will also help you minimize losses due to honest mistakes as well as deliberate thievery.

Employee Theft: Best Practices for Preventing — and Addressing — Stealing in the Workplace

It's no surprise that, given the tough economy, employee theft is on the rise. It's also a surprisingly common crime: Studies show three in four workers will steal on the job at least once — and half of those employees will do it again. In fact, an employee is 15 times more likely than a customer or a stranger to steal from you, and experts say 75 percent of these thefts will go largely unnoticed.

Spotting and stopping employee theft can be very challenging, because your workers know your systems, your procedures, and your assets from the inside — and they can take their time looking for the best opportunity to pilfer and steal before covering up what they've done. It's not just tangible property that's at stake, because many workplace thieves also steal time on the job and your intellectual property, too.

Learn how to prevent workplace stealing before it happens — and how to react when you discover possible theft — in this 90-minute webinar on April 22, as our expert speaker explains the basics of dealing with this threat. (Bring along your HR team and your frontline supervisors, too.) You'll learn:

• The many different ways your employees may be pilfering and stealing from you these days
• What policies you need in place at all times to discourage theft and outline the penalties that may result
• Which tools you should use with applicants and new hires to nip thieves in the bud — from targeted interview questions to background checks
• The pros and cons of requiring "honesty tests" and other employment assessments to identify potential thieves
• Which types of in-house training and compliance programs can help reduce employee theft rates (from orientation sessions to audits and job rotations)
• The steps you should take immediately when you suspect an employee is stealing
• How to conduct an effective, lawful workplace investigation when employee theft is alleged
• The legal dos and don'ts of searches, polygraph tests, surveillance, and other common tools used by employers investigating thefts
• What you can do — and what you must never do — when you confront a worker suspected of stealing (and what you're risking if you wrongfully accuse an employee of theft)

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