Prevention of internal theft and fraud by personnel.

Prevention of internal theft and fraud by personnel.

If you can't defeat the enemy, create one and defeat him

Annual losses in companies due to theft, abuse or other fraudulent schemes of personnel can reach up to 7% of revenue. And these figures, unfortunately, are not the ceiling for Russia, but rather the «norm». Internal theft and fraud by personnel can not only reduce the competitiveness of a company, but also lead to its collapse — bankruptcy.

According to security experts, theft by personnel consists of 2 components:

1. the desire to steal (motive);
2. the possibility of theft (impunity, lack of proper accounting).

I will note another important component — the criminal's psychological justification for the theft committed. «Nothing will be lost», «everyone steals». etc. – these pretexts allow a person to stifle his conscience.

There is also such a concept as «compensatory theft». The staff, feeling that their work is not paid (not appreciated) properly, allows themselves to compensate for the difference by stealing or not fully performing their job responsibilities. The principles of «As they pay, so I work», «Whatever I can get my hands on (what's lying around), that's what I take» are applied.

The most dangerous are the top positions. An employee steals a nut, and the commercial director immediately steals a wagon of nuts. Although it is worth remembering that 5,000 employees with 1 nut in their pocket every day — that's a wagon a month for you.

Preventing internal theft is a complex, comprehensive process that includes, among other things, work with personnel aimed at preventing crimes. Large companies develop programs to combat theft and fraud — this is a set of measures that includes a well-established system of internal control and audit, transparent procurement and tender procedures that do not allow overpricing services or equipment, strict control over the expenditure of funds, as well as a system of control, accounting, inspections of business and financial activities. These measures are aimed at combating kickbacks and theft of corporate property. At the same time, the program is a set of motivational measures aimed at forming an intolerant attitude of employees to the facts of theft and fraud.

The main task of the company is to make the staff realize that stealing is shameful, that by robbing the company, the employee is robbing himself and his colleagues. It is necessary to actively promote an honest way of life.

It would not hurt to introduce a public control system, and conduct regular audits of business and financial activities. Based on the results of these activities, it is recommended to make decisions on punishing the perpetrators, including criminal prosecution.

The principle of «inevitability of punishment», especially criminal punishment, must be in effect — this is an effective preventive measure for people engaged in illegal activities.

An employee caught stealing must be fired, and the material about the offense must be transferred to the police to initiate a criminal or administrative case. Such violations cannot be forgiven and an employee must be let go with impunity! The company's management must be principled towards all internal «enemies».

The company must adhere to a firm position: «Theft is punishable, and will be punished with particular severity.» Taking someone else's property is a crime, and you can go to jail for it. The inspection materials are transferred to law enforcement agencies, the company's administration seeks to initiate criminal cases on the facts of theft and fraud, full compensation for the cost of the stolen goods. All executives and managers caught stealing, without exception, are fired, and the revealed facts become known to the public.

Employees must feel this through specific actions, and not through empty declarations from management!

It is necessary to create such working conditions in the company that each employee is concerned about the affairs of his company. The salary of each employee depends on how well things are going in it.

Good theft prevention is the creation of such a model of employee behavior in the company that is aimed at preventing illegal actions by the employees themselves.

THEFT PREVENTION OPTION from EKB-SECURITY.RU

The essence of the method can be briefly described by the expression «If you can't defeat the enemy, create one and defeat him.»

Alternatively, you can specially «introduce your own person» into the team, who, after working for a certain period of time, will commit a «controlled» theft. Of course, such an employee will be successfully detained. It is recommended that the detention and seizure of the stolen goods be carried out in the presence of the team with the involvement of police officers. To enhance the effect after detection, I recommend informing colleagues that the employee has been dismissed under the article, a criminal case has been opened. This can be confirmed by copies of documents posted on the personnel information board.

After such an episode, the management, together with the security service, has the opportunity to introduce regulations restricting the «freedom» of the personnel (tighten the screws). The team will perceive such measures with understanding, without resistance.

Artem Pavlov, «Economic Security Agency — D.I.» (Ekaterinburg) believes:

«One of the fundamental factors in committing illegal actions against an employer is the «illusion of impunity». A disloyal employee believes that under certain conditions he will be able to avoid punishment. The question is how to eliminate such an illusion in the employee's understanding. In my opinion, there are two main elements here. Firstly, all investigations into the facts of an emergency at the enterprise should be brought to a logical conclusion with the transfer (publicly or privately) of the investigation results to the employees. And, secondly, it is necessary to use regular polygraph (lie detector) tests as a counter-motivating tool for preventing illegal actions. The inability to hide any information from a polygraph specialist will be a powerful deterrent for any, even potentially disloyal employee.»

Principles of combating theft

1. Comprehensive approach.Implementation of measures on an ongoing basis to identify, prevent, suppress and investigate theft, as well as work to minimize the negative consequences of theft, including taking measures to compensate for damage by persons who committed theft.
2. Economic feasibility. It is necessary to remember that the costs of implementation should not exceed the effect of application.
3. Coordination of actions. Activities to combat theft should be carried out on the basis of clearly structured interaction between the company's divisions.
4. Effective informing personnel about anti-theft activities.
5. Involvement in the anti-theft process of all personnel, contractors, clients and partners.
6. Principled approach to violators. Responsibility for the actions committed should be the same for everyone, regardless of position, merit and personal relationships.