For the past few years, the world has shown a mixture of disgust and concern for the increasingly erratic behavior of musician, Kanye West. Despite a career punctuated by hit albums and singles, millions of dollars in concert tickets sold, and a level of popularity that was attractive to major brands, West is proving that there is a breaking point in which his behavior drives away his fans, and drives down revenue associated with his name. Not only has his personal rhetoric severely damaged his reputation across multiple industries, but now Kanye West is also garnering a track record of toxicity within corporate settings.
From crashing the award acceptance speeches of other musicians to changing his legal name to “Ye,” Kanye West is no stranger to being in the spotlight for his strange behavior. After garnering controversy by aligning himself with divisive figures such as former President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, and exacerbating an acrimonious and very public divorce from ex-wife Kim Kardashian, the very mention of Kanye West’s name prompts eyerolls from many everyday fans and consumers. While the seemingly endless pageantry of grandstanding and posturing make it easy to dismiss his behavior as childish or inane, the reality is that Kanye West’s increasingly unacceptable behavior is having real impact in the professional world.
Given the totality of his documented behavior, it’s not an understatement to say Kanye West is a walking toxicity conduit. While we think of Kanye as an entertainer first, it’s difficult to remember that behind his entertainment empire are thousands of employees and business professionals who are required to deal with him on a weekly basis. Many of his public statements can be characterized as misogynistic, homophobic, racist, and even antisemitic. Kanye West has already publicly said problematic things about institutional hate and oppression—famously stating back in 2018 that 400 years of slavery in the United States was a choice for black people—but it wasn’t until recently that his words actually caused corporate partners to scatter to the winds.
Kanye first began partnering with Adidas in 2015 to release a line of footwear known as Yeezys. While Adidas was not the first footwear company to work with West, they certainly had the longest tenure. However, a series of tweets and public statements have recently caused Adidas to dissolve their business relationship with rapper. Back in October, West startled the public with an alarmingly antisemitic tweet that read “I’m a bit sleepy tonight but when I wake up I’m going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE…” West went on to say that it was impossible for him to be antisemitic and that the Jewish people oppressed anyone who did not agree with them. Adidas was not alone in severing ties with West, joined by the likes of Balenciaga, Peloton, and prominent talent agency, CAA.
If his horrific statements about Jewish people weren’t toxic enough to a workplace culture, Adidas announced last week that they would be launching an investigation into possible misconduct West displayed in the workplace. An open letter was sent by former employees of Yeezy Adidas’ executive board members and CEO claiming that “leaders of Adidas were aware of West’s problematic behavior’ but ‘turned their moral compass off,” when it came to that aforementioned behavior, implying that this is part of a larger pattern that has never been addressed. In addition to claims of West verbally abusing women on staff, it was also alleged that he would show pornographic videos to staff members during meetings that featured his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian—including pornographic videos featuring himself. The open letter also alleged that there were “disturbingly” sexualized work conditions that targeted women on Yeezy’s staff, along with bullying tactics that ensured West would get what he wanted.
In workplace environments where celebrities are not part of the fold, behavior like that of Kanye West would not be tolerated. His alleged behavior is not in any sort of gray area, meaning that if they did in fact occur and were reported to the staff, then Adidas was responsible for letting a toxic element rot their corporate culture for the sake of a big-name partnership. While it’s true that celebrity partnerships can bring a great deal of exposure and popularity for a company or product, the internal damage that can be done by toxic members of staff can cast a long shadow, both internally and externally. With toxic staff members comes increased turnover, disengagement from employees, and negative public relations should that toxicity ever come to light. Despite the millions to be made from partnerships with celebrities and other representatives of note, the damage that a toxic representative or partner can cost a corporation can take years to mend in the public eye.
If your corporation is having difficulties with a toxic employees, contact Lauth Investigations International today for a free quote on our corporate culture audit program at 317-951-1100, or visit us online at www.lauthinveststg.wpengine.com.
Do thoughts of how to handle fraud and corporate crime prevention keep you up at night? Perhaps they should, because annual losses from these kinds of crimes in the U.S. are estimated to lie somewhere between $426 billion and $1.7 trillion annually. That’s a vast hole for businesses and organizations like yours to plug. How can your knowledge of fraud protect your business?
Things could be worse. Indeed, white collar crime prosecutions have dropped by more than half in the last decade. While it’s fair to say that a substantial number of these kinds of crimes go unreported, there is some reason for hope. Strategies to prevent and detect criminality in the workplace have come forwards in leaps and bounds—that is, for organizations that make the effort to engage in them.
If you’re ready to put the right protections in place and finally get a good night’s sleep, then we’re here to assist. Our dedicated team of experts in corporate crime and fraud protect organizations like yours every day from hidden internal threats. So read on for top tips from the Lauth Investigations International corporate team on how to roll out a fraud and corporate crime prevention strategy that will make all the difference.
Simple Steps for Fraud and Corporate Crime Prevention
So, how would a seasoned investigator of crimes like fraud protect their organization from unseen bad actors? These are all proactive strategies that you can enact today:
Run a Solid Background Check on All Staff
We all like to think that we can read people well, but even those of us who have been trained to read body language prefer to back up or refute our hunches with documented evidence. It’s estimated that around 78% of job seekers lie during the hiring process, and while not all of those people are going to run a scam as soon as they get a foot in the door, some will probably try, so better not to give them the opportunity in the first place. A comprehensive background check drawing on the same databases used by law enforcement agencies should do the trick.
Restrict and Control Access to Assets
We all like to imagine that the people we work alongside every day would never do us dirty. The harsh truth is that employees are far more likely to steal if they have ample opportunity and research suggests a staggering 60% will do so if they think they can get away with it.
Simple ways to remove these dark temptations include tightly controlling access to both financial and inventory assets, conducting regular cheks, and requiring dual approval for all asset transfers. The minimal numbers of fingers in the pie and everyone with an eye over their shoulder goes a long way to preventing fraud, employee theft, and embezzlement.
Get Serious on Cyber Security
Physical inventory and financial assets aren’t the only things that can drift off when left unattended. Payment information, customer data, intellectual property, and internal communications can all fall into the wrong hands when cyber security remains in the dark ages. In the digital age, we all have a corporate crime prevention obligation in the virtual world as well as the physical one.
Eliminate Site-Specific Threats
An on-site assessment of your security hardware and protocols is a vital step in eliminating any unnecessary vulnerabilities. Without the assistance of a keen pair of eyes, many organizations get sloppy about minimizing the risks of violence in the workplace or employees running riot in areas of the premises that they shouldn’t be able to access. A violence and threat assessment will examine this area of corporate crime prevention from the angles of both internal and externally-posed risk.
Get Your Corporate Culture In Hand
Those in the know about fraud protect themselves preemptively. It’s a simple truth that disgruntled or distressed employees are far more likely to turn on the hand that feeds them. A corporate culture that has hit the skids will always serve as a breeding ground for forms of employee misconduct such as malingering, time theft, bullying, harassment, and white collar crime.
In contrast, strengthening your corporate culture is not only key to corporate crime prevention but also the best way to drive productivity, retention, and profits. In this endeavor, the best place to start is with a Corporate Culture Audit. From there, you can map a clear path towards the kind of crime-free and collaborative workplace that’ll see you sleeping like a baby. Ready to learn more? Connect with the Lauth Corporate Investigations team today.
As an entrepreneur, you’ve probably spent years building your business. Brick by brick, you not only constructed its physical presence but also its team and a brand that your audience know and trust. That’s an incredible achievement indeed, but what if a single bad actor could come and undo all of your work?
When someone sets out to sabotage a business, a seemingly rock-solid standing can soon begin to feel like a house of cards. When a well-aimed shot lands reputational damage, public perception can turn on a dime, the media can come for blood, and profits can quickly plummet.
So how can this be prevented? To answer that question, today, we’re going to explore the importance of corporate intelligence services and large or small business reputation management in reinforcing your business against the threats posed by a saboteur.
Where Might a Sabotaging Attack Against My Business Come From?
There are three possible sources to have on your radar for any potential effort to ruin your business reputation.
A competing business: A competitor may set out to undermine your business to its own advantage.
A disgruntled employee: An employee may decide to damage your business from the inside.
An angered customer: A disappointed customer may set out to ruin your business reputation based on their own perception.
Reputational Threats from Competing Businesses
Think that all is fair in the world of enterprise? Think again. The harsh reality revealed by research is that 18% of businesses admit that they would consider sabotaging an online competitor—and that’s only the ones who were willing to admit to such an urge. In truth, there is more to gathering corporate intelligence than being able to outmaneuver your competitors’ marketing strategies.
In addition, corporate intelligence consultants are often enlisted by clients to ensure that competing businesses aren’t actively working to bring them down. An ugly campaign of bad reviews, data leaks, hostile forum and social media posts, public accusations, and exposés can unravel even the most neatly woven of organizations so this threat should never be overlooked.
Reputational Threats from Employees
Alongside monitoring corporate competitor intelligence, there is merit to keeping an eye on your own house too. It only takes one employee of questionable morals who gets passed over for a promotion for things to begin to go awry. Happily, effective ways to minimize this threat are to conduct detailed background checks on every member of your team and keep corporate culture strong and thriving.
If you think that morale may be lagging in any of your departments or are seeing conduct red flags with regularity, a Corporate Culture Audit may be the intervention that stops these smaller symptoms from escalating towards something that causes permanent reputational damage.
Business Reputation Damage Control
Outlined above are plenty of preventative measures that you can use to safeguard your business against those who would tarnish its reputation. But what happens if the floodgates have already opened? In these instances, an expert in corporate intelligence and investigations can be your ultimate ally, helping you evidence the truth, defend your honor strategically, fend off any legal threats, and bring bad actors to justice. In parallel, working with a large or small business reputation management specialist can allow you to gradually wind back the online trail of destruction and restore public faith in your offering. If you need help with this kind of damage control, the corporate team at Lauth Investigations International is ready to provide critical support. Connect with us today for a no-obligation consultation.
Do you have adequate measures in place to protect yourself from the perils of small business fraud, embezzlement, and workplace theft? Far too many businesses don’t realize that the biggest threat to their success is usually standing next to them. In fact, in the world of enterprise, 90% of all significant theft losses come from employees. If that isn’t enough to alarm you, know that those losses lead to more than 30% of business bankruptcies. Investing in preventative measures could represent the best dollar spend you ever make on behalf of your business.
It can feel unnerving to imagine that the biggest threat to any organization usually lurks within, but there are actually numerous rock-solid small business fraud and theft prevention strategies that anyone can roll out fairly simply. Here at Lauth Investigation International, we are proud to provide various large and small business risk assessments, culture audits, employee screening services, and corporate investigations to all in their moments of need. But first, let’s explore what you can do today to protect your business against employees who are anything but team players.
Beef-Up Your On-Site Security Protocols
Sometimes, the physical vulnerabilities of any business are due to a lack of security hardware such as locking doors and CCTV cameras. But at others, they are as simple as managers having gotten sloppy about cash or inventory handling procedures or a lack of strategy when it comes to separation of duties and asset access.
Sometimes, certain employees have become so much a part of the furniture that they are given free rein to ramp up your risks—intentionally or otherwise. Overhauling common practices, policies, and daily procedures can bring such glaring oversights back into view. If in doubt, an expert risk and threat assessment can be the best way to make sure that every security hole is firmly plugged.
Conduct Comprehensive Background Checks When Hiring
Research has revealed that as many as 85% percent of employers have uncovered a lie or misrepresentation on a candidate’s resume. Some of these deceptions will have been illuminated by background checks, but others will have only come to light when the employee in question revealed their true nature—potentially doing substantial damage in the process. The best way to eliminate bad actors from your workplace is to refuse them entry, and choosing to conduct comprehensive background checks is the best way to achieve this.
Be Dutiful About Digital and Financial Safeguards
These days, everything that happens within your business leaves a trail—and that reality can be your greatest asset in mitigating risk or it can be an exposed Achilles tendon. The data that is precious to you—whether trade secrets or customer payment details—should always be indulged with the latest cyber security tools and web safety awareness training.
Meanwhile, access to financial and inventory records should be tightly controlled while every cent on the dollar is accounted for. Make daily deposits and conduct monthly checks to ensure that everything is in order. Access to both assets and the records of them should be need-to-see only, removing temptation from the get-go.
Keep Your Corporate Culture House Clean
If a stranger walked in off the street today and asked your employees how they feel about the place and you as their employer, what do you think they’d say? Corporate culture is a measure of the morale, shared values, and collective goals of any team. When this distinct workplace culture falls into ill health, employees soon stop caring about the wellbeing of the business.
Some may feel empowered or even justified to commit fraud, embezzlement, or workplace theft, while others will simply turn a disinterested blind eye. So, is your corporate culture fighting fit or in need of a trip to the hospital? A Corporate Culture Audit will reveal all of this and more. Hopefully, these pointers will help you make great strides in protecting your business against internal threats. However, if you feel you’d benefit from additional support, the team at Lauth Investigations International has your back. From employee screening to corporate investigations, our full-spectrum and tailored services offer all the resources you need to keep your business thriving. Get in touch today to find out more
It’s easy to imagine that most business owners, leaders, or HR managers would feel a sense of trepidation after receiving a complaint of sexual harassment on their watch. In the post “me too” era, we collectively share a far greater awareness of the damaging impacts of this kind of misconduct—not to mention the potential pitfalls for businesses that poorly navigate a complaint and decisions around mounting a sexual harassment investigation.
However, sexual harassment at work statistics continue to highlight a substantial problem across the United States. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reveals that 27,291 charges alleging sexual harassment were brought between FY 2018 and FY 2021 alone, and those numbers don’t reflect the reality that almost three quarters of sexual harassment claims in the workplace go unreported.
While these numbers point to an ongoing need within the corporate world for efforts to reduce the risks that might set a course towards any sexual harassment investigation, at least those faced with driving such corporate investigations can use the wisdom of those who have gone before them to shine a light toward resolution in the present moment and justice for potential victims. Critical to this process is swift action and a respectful approach to caring for employees while uncovering the truth. Read on for top tips from the Lauth Investigations International team about how to get this done right.
Don’t Wait to Take Action
As soon as a sexual harassment complaint is received, it is essential to take prompt action. This will include reporting the complaint to those relevant in the chain of command and the human resources department. The process of corporate investigations must begin right away, with any delay in doing so putting the victim and other employees in danger of further abuse. Dragged heals at this juncture may also steer an organization towards a lawsuit or fines if they are later found to have acted irresponsibly.
Take Care Of Your Team
Even though you don’t yet have all the facts, it is important to demonstrate how seriously the complaint is being taken while safeguarding the employees involved. This early step of a sexual harassment investigation calls for collaborating with the complainant to ensure they feel protected. You should be prepared to separate the complainant and the accused either by moving them to a new workstation or changing their scheduled hours. Alternatively, you may decide it is most appropriate to put the accused individual on paid leave until the matter is resolved.
Ensure a Discreet and Unbiased Investigation
A sexual harassment investigation can turn the lives of those in its orbit upside down if not handled with care. Every aspect of the investigation must be approached with confidentiality and discretion in mind. Perhaps more importantly, the investigation must be free from bias. This can be particularly challenging in any workplace setting as members of different departmental teams often socialize together.
The person chosen to lead the investigation cannot have a relationship with the complainant employee, the individual subject to the allegation, or any witnesses. Any indications of bias may upend the legal standing of the conclusion of the investigation and any resulting action taken. So if in any doubt, it is always better to bring an external corporate investigator in to oversee the process. Do you need support in mounting a respectful sexual harassment investigation in your workplace? A corporate investigator from Lauth Investigations International is expertly trained to navigate sensitive corporate investigations with diligence, compassion, and professionalism. Working with our specialist investigators will ensure swift resolution while protecting both employees and the business from future harm. To learn more, contact our corporate investigations team today.
