Are Your Employees a Security Risk?

When you run your own small business, you have myriad of responsibilities that come with such a privilege. Making sure you hire and retain the top employees, overseeing a budget, promoting your brand and more can quickly fill your days, weeks, months and years at the helm.

With that in mind, do you ever worry about being the victim of crime, specifically an in-house crime? As all too many small business owners have discovered over time, it just takes one criminal act within your office/s to throw your business for a loop. In some cases, it can be financially devastating.

Securing Your Workplace

While some small business owners are running such a tight financial budget that in-office security is all but non-existent, many others make sure that their business, their possessions and their employees for that matter are protected.

Just as you would turn to companies like ADT and others in the security business to protect your home, using the right security system to guard your small business is crucial too.

Among the ways to better secure your small business:

1. Who you hire – First and foremost, make sure you hire the best talent from day one. While a person’s skill set is critical for your business, so too is their reputation. You want employees who will earn and hold your trust from the day they are hired, not look for the first opportunity available to steal from the workplace. Although most companies do background checks on potential hires, some sidestep the matter and bring people on without any investigation. Make sure you are hiring quality people that can be trusted in and out of your office to do a good job representing your business and brand;
2. Safeguard your office – From security cameras on the ceiling to alarms at any and all entrances and exits, it is important that your office is protected 24/7. Granted, some employees may feel a tad uncomfortable knowing they are being watched during their shifts, but think about it, most everyone is watched regularly anyhow whether they be in a store, bank or any number of other businesses;
3. Backup your procedures – For many small business owners, it is hard to afford enough employees just to cover the basics from accounting to customer service and brand promotion. Even if you have a small workplace staff, you can improve the odds that one individual won’t ruin everything. As an example, maybe you’ve only had one person handling all the accounting duties, among which include paying your employees, overseeing invoices and purchasing office supplies etc. It does not hurt to have a second employee skilled in those tasks to check and make sure all the numbers add up. As too many business owners have discovered in the past, security can be a major issues when it comes to someone handling your financial books;
4. Prosecute when necessary – Finally, make sure employees know from the day they are hired that there will be serious retribution for anyone caught stealing from you. If there is no punishment or just a slap on the wrist, the worker may end up doing it again, even if it means with a different employer. Send a message the first time around that such behavior is unacceptable.

With all you have to lose as a small business owner from just one in-house crime, make 2015 the year that you secure your company from top to bottom.

About the Author: Dave Thomas writes for a variety of websites on topics such as small business and marketing.