Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Good day to the community!

I constantly send materials and supplies to a designated employee, and usually check up on the staff`s progress through him by phone.

Recently, I was informed that the designated employee was stealing some of the materials.

First, how do I confirm the claim of my staff

Second, how do I prevent these things from happening again

I think it will be rather difficult to confirm the claim of your staff. A good thing is that now you are aware of a potential problem so you can act to prevent it.

I am not familiar with your business or the materials and supplies being passed off, but maybe you could deliver things in a “lock box” or safe? It isn’t easy to catch a thief. You can always invest in video cameras and review the tapes on a daily basis. Maybe a random and periodic counting of deliverables would help address the situation.

Really, it may not be necessary to catch someone. You might just want to look for ways to create fear. Video cameras and other visibly placed recording devices do this. Never tell where all your cameras might be. It’s always good to keep a thief thinking, “what if.”

Many times simply saying, “It’s interesting but it seems there may be some loss in materials and supplies. I think someone out side our company is gaining access and taking them.”

This (or similar verbiage) will tell the thief they have been recognized. It may turn them a bit more honest for fear of being caught. But then, some thieves you have to really catch red handed and throw the book at them.

keep up the battle.


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Vincent Wilcox (a.k.a. KRAKR)
Drummer
My band: Letters Make Words

Hi Tyke,

On such cases a common practice in retail is to bait the person you suspect, for instance if you are sending him pens on the packing list include write ten but in reality pack in 20, an honest man will let you know that there are twice as many someone not entirely honest will think you made a mistake and pocket the difference. When that happens you’ll have your proof.

HEY STOP!!!!!

What are you really trying to accomplish.  I think preventive measures would be great for starters.  If you set someone up, that would be fun, but you create a liability for you company in regards to your policy and procedures.  If you send out a memo, and follow up with security cameras or random checks.  I`m a Private Investigator and do a lot of Security Consulting for business and personal. Ipswerks.com. You should consider this before you accuse someone of a crime. That could be more costly then a civil suite. 

 

James Valdez

"Loss prevention" is a huge field, well documented in the retail industry. I`d start by doing some research on Google, and I`ll bet there are several very good books about the subject to be had from Amazon. I`d also go through Google Groups to see if the topic`s been under discussion in other forums.

Best way to at least start is to remove the opportunity for theft. Another is to use more than 1 designated employee. If only that one employee turns up with less than the original, you`ve got some information. Yet another is to include a packing slip with these materials you`re referring to. Someone leaves your location (desk, whatever) with a listing of what`s being carried. At the other end, a simple comparison between the list and the actual items would suffice as grounds for questionning.

If all else fails, maybe public floggings? :-) KIDDING!!

Not sure if this helps you, but, this is a true and funny story.
A couple my friends worked as custodians for a gym (run by a service organization). They noticed, after hiring a certain employee, that tools were turning up missing.
You didn`t really need to call in CSI for this one.
After a power saw disappeared, they grabbed the employee and showed him a stack--and I mean a stack--of wood that need to be cut to certain dimensions... with a lowly, elbow-greased-powered hand saw. He spent the rest of the day on the project.
The next day, the employee turned up with--wonders of wonders--a saw of the exact make, model, and color as the one that was missing.
Though, the employee was quick to point out that this one had his initials on it (and sure enough his initials were carved into the handle), so it couldn`t possibly be the missing one.
My friends said no more tools disappeared after this.

The Swaynester

there are many ways to approach this,  currently working in an office supplies retail business, my employer makes a big deal about ethics and trying to create a culture which would reduce  this problem.

I personally don`t think it can be eliminated  with businesses of a larger size.

Mike