Having worked tirelessly to build your company from the ground up, it is a bitter pill to swallow that an interior threat may ultimately undermine it. The harsh reality, however, is that the downfall of roughly 30% of failed businesses is tied to workplace theft of one kind or another. Far too many CFOs, CEOs, and small-business entrepreneurs peer only outward when trying to eliminate vulnerabilities. This can be a costly oversight, certainly, but also one that a private investigator can swiftly help to right
What Is Workplace Theft?
If your business seems to be bleeding out and you can’t locate the wound, there’s a good chance that workplace theft is the cause. This type of employee abuse comes in many guises, including inventory or equipment theft, skimming, fraud, and embezzlement. All too often, these crimes can bring a business to its knees when it aught to be soaring toward success.
The culprits in question may be core members of your ground team, trusted contractors, or even among your leadership. The longer these immoral actors are left to their own devices, the deeper a hole they may dig into the company’s profits and public credibility. The good news, however, is that the moment you become aware of the seriousness of the situation, action can be taken to plug the leak and remove the perpetrators once and for all.
To do this, you not only need to know about it when workplace theft is taking place, but you also need to identify who is behind it and how they are getting away with their crimes. Catching the thief in the act can be tricky for a busy HR or leadership team, but a specialized corporate private investigator will know exactly what to look for; how to trace the criminals and bring the facts to light. So, let’s look at exactly how the PI gets a handle on workplace theft
How a Private Investigator Tackles Workplace Theft
There are two facets to the work of a corporate private investigator tasked with eliminating workplace theft. The first is to discover what drove the losses that have been accrued, gathering evidence of the crime and criminals so that justice can be served and the immediate threat eliminated. The second is to help you modify your business operations to ensure that this kind of trouble doesn’t raise its ugly head again.
To piece together the clues of workplace theft, whether recent or even still underway, the private investigator draws on a diverse skillset. Depending on the situation in your workplace, they may launch a surveillance operation or go undercover within your team. They can investigate the backgrounds and credentials of individual employees, dive into digital investigations, gather documented evidence, and interview witnesses.
At each step in the process, the best interests of you and your business will be held front and center, with absolute discretion assured whenever and wherever it is called for—so much so that your employees only need know that the investigator is there if you want them to.
In addition to pinpointing what happened and how, a corporate private investigator can assist with establishing a new system of employee screening and background checks. You may ask them to run risk assessments of your on-site security, digital security, and daily procedures to weed out weak points. Finally, they can also perform a workplace culture audit to see if workplace theft is part of a larger picture of ill-health within your enterprise. Fundamentally, a seasoned Private Investigator with the specific skillset to tackle workplace theft from every angle can give you the tailored support you need to ensure your company’s future integrity. Are you ready to learn more? The workplace theft team at Lauth Investigations International are always happy to have a no-obligation chat about how they can assist, so get in touch today.
If you are looking for a professional genealogist to conduct an heir search on behalf of your family, what do you need to know? The field of genealogy—particularly in relation to how to conduct an heir search—is one that few people are well versed in. It is likely to be an entirely unfamiliar industry until an urgent need arises; a reality that leaves many private individuals vulnerable to low-caliber services at runaway prices.
With all of that in mind, today we’re going to look at what you need to know when looking to contract a genealogy expert so that you can get the timely and cost effective results you need and rightfully obtain your family’s legal assets. Read on to find the clarity you need to know how to conduct an heir search with confidence.
Why and When are Heir Search Services Required?
What kind of circumstances might lead someone to seek out a genealogist and associated heir search services? This type of professional is poised to navigate issues such as heir search, estate settlement, and probate research. They will conduct this service on behalf of private clients, trustees, and attorneys with fiduciary responsibility. An heir search is commonly required when someone dies without a will, although in certain States, there is an obligation to identify all known heirs and their respective rights to inheritance before an estate can be settled.
To untangle potentially complex webs of lineage, a genealogist will trace the family tree in question and thoroughly document their findings. Completing this task requires not only specialist investigatory abilities but also a distinct note of the detective’s skillset. Why?
Because in a world that sees families dispersed not only between states but also between nations, capacity to traverse borders, navigate diverse legislation, and even conduct in-person investigations can be immensely useful. In any heir search, efficiency is the central tenant, but supporting is the resources to expand the search as required to ensure that the matter can be closed and heirs can find peace of mind. When knowing how to conduct an heir search and who to turn to, the right credentials are an excellent place to start.
How to Conduct an Heir Search: What To Look For In a Genealogist
In recent years, the field of genealogy has seen an influx of professionals adhering to less-than-desirable standards. This makes it critical than families carefully vet an heir search service before agreeing to proceed. There are two factors framing why this counts—beyond the genealogist’s capacity to find the necessary information or individuals.
The first is that their findings will need to meet the standard required to present successfully in court. The genealogist will need to sign an affidavit, delivered with full supporting documentation, and may need to testify on your family’s behalf. This makes the associated expertize and experience an essential prerequisite.
It is also key to ensure that the company you hire is fully certified and transparent about their pricing and practices. You are under no obligation to accept the services of an heir hunter who approaches you cold without confirming their credentials—even if they have already begun the search process. Instead, you can take your time to ensure that the genealogy service you partner with is established and professional, and that you have a clear sense of what lies ahead.
So ask to see certifications, and ensure you have a direct line of communication to the genealogist who will assist you. By taking these steps of caution, you can ensure that your family’s legal assets can ultimately be claimed with dignity.
Turn To Lauth Investigations International for Your Heir Search Needs
Lauth Investigations International is a family-owned and operated investigatory firm that has been operating wold-wide from our Indiana base for more than 30 years. In completing heir searches, we draw on a diverse skillset obtained through decades of collaboration with private individuals, law enforcement, attorneys, trustees, corporations, and many more entities beside. We meet you with a seasoned and personalized service, including established expertize in deft investigation and presenting legally sound findings. Our duty is always to our clients and to truth. So learn more about our comprehensive Heir Search Service, or contact our team today for tailored advice.
A vast survey from Gallup recently provided powerful insight into the current employee engagement landscape in America. We are, it would seem, in a pretty gloomy slump. Engagement began to dip towards the end of 2021 and it’s still in decline. The only silver lining to this unfortunate news is that stats are far more favorable for organizations that focus on culture and wellbeing. So is that you? If not, isn’t it about time you made it so? A corporate culture assessment is a great place to start.
Tune into Your Employees With a Company Culture Assessment
Even for the most intuitive employer in the world, knowing how employees really feel is nigh-on impossible without a comprehensive strategy. How’s morale looking in teams and departments that are beyond your oversight? Have your employees taken recent changes in stride, or is resentment building under the radar? Is it possible that team members are unhappy enough to decide that workplace theft or malingering might have become a great idea? These are the questions that a corporate culture assessment can answer.
It’s no secret that employees who feel heard and seen will yield better performance and greater profits while sticking around for longer. There’s no point in investing heavily to recruit the best talent if your company culture sends the best hires packing not long after their first day in your team. And in contrast to the welcome rewards that a strong corporate culture will manifest, a toxic one can soon turn into a melting pot of toxic management tactics, discrimination, theft, fraud, and harassment. It is a harsh truth that the symptoms of a neglected workplace culture are inclined to escalate.
The salve to these issues is a clear picture of your organization’s current standing and a game plan to get it back on track as required. A corporate culture assessment will aim to deliver on both of these points. First, a thorough investigation will illuminate issues such as poor communication, misaligned values, flawed management practices, cliques and preferential behavior, employee concerns, and much more. Once all of the data is compiled, your corporate culture auditor will lay out a road map towards remedy.
A Company Culture Assessment From Lauth Investigations International
If you can’t answer the question of how your employees feel with confidence—or if you can but you’re not too keen on what you’d have to say—then ordering an audit is the next logical step to take. Understanding exactly what shape the morale of your team is currently in and whether your company culture is serving you or holding you back will allow you to take affirmative action.
The corporate investigations team at Lauth Investigations International have been serving corporate clients for more than 30 years, operating as the largest arm of this family owned and operated private investigations firm. Our track record speaks for itself, and our team of dedicated and loyal fact-finders are ready to turn their expertize to spotlighting your corporate culture and pinpointing how to elevate it. To learn more about our comprehensive Corporate Culture Audit service, head on over to our CCA information page. Alternatively, if you prefer, contact us today for a friendly no-obligation chat about how we can serve your organization best. We’re always ready to advise.
Understandably, embezzlement is something of a specter—a ghost haunting the dreams of business owners across America. Why? Because embezzlers often go undetected for years, are usually in a long-standing position of trust, can leave a gaping financial hole that is discovered all too late.
Alarmingly, the average company loss through embezzlement is a whopping $357,650, and over half of businesses recover less than one-third of what was lost. If you know that a crisis on that scale could cripple your enterprise, a timely embezzlement investigation is a proactive way to place yourself on the happier side of those numbers. In fact, many don’t realize that an embezzlement investigation can be both reactive or cautionary, depending on their sense of vulnerability. So, is it time to call in a corporate investigator to make sure you haven’t got a capital drain in free-flow right under your nose?
Knowing the Common Types of Embezzlement
When we talk about launching an embezzlement investigation, what kind of crimes might we be looking at? Well, embezzlement is an umbrella term for any type of fraud or capital theft engaged in by an employee and afforded by their position of trust.
Common forms of embezzlement include chronic undercharging of friends and family in a customer-facing setting, or creating a phony ghost supplier to charge your company for transactions that never really existed. The embezzler may fabricate fake refunds or fictitious bad debt. Another common type is payroll fraud—although there are many ways in which an embezzler may cook the books so that their thefts go undetected.
Red Flags of an Embezzler In Your Midst
If the perpetrator covers their tracks well, even your CFO may not notice that a sinkhole is growing in the company’s financials. However, there are other factors to become attuned to that may indirectly let you know an embezzlement investigation is called for.
For example, someone neck-deep in a complex embezzlement scheme may be very reluctant to take their accrued vacation days while exhibiting enthusiasm to work overtime. As you can imagine, moments when honest employees and management are off the clock create a far easier setting for them to conduct their nefarious activities undisturbed.
An employee overseeing an unmeasured expense such as office supplies or with access to petty cash that they can skim from should always be subject to scrutiny. So too should employees who start spending in a way that doesn’t reflect their salary, or those who dedicate a lot of time to whispered meetings with co-workers or vendors. Keep in mind that 79% of embezzlement cases involve more than one person collaborating to rip off their employer.
Launching an Embezzlement Investigation and Preventing Future Problems
As grim as these statistics might be, employers can reclaim their confidence by uncovering and stopping embezzlement in its tracks and taking steps to prevent it from happening again. Because of the complex nature of embezzlement crimes, a specialist corporate investigator is the ideal ally for tackling this challenge. They will be able to roll out digital forensics, surveillance, background checks, and even undercover investigations to bring the perpetrators and their methods to light. A corporate investigator from Lauth Investigations International can also help you safeguard your future endeavors with comprehensive employee screening, risk assessments, procedural overhauls, and corporate culture assessments. A rise in employee misconduct often indicates a larger problem and a culture audit is a swift way to address the cause rather than only the symptoms. Would you like to know more about how we can help your business navigate an embezzlement investigation? Then connect with us today for a no-obligation consultation.
When it comes to workplace theft, few forms of criminality represent such a hefty potential drain on company resources than a steady flow of inventory disappearing from your warehouse. It might start out with a few small losses here and there, raising mild alarm but getting swept aside as running the business is prioritized. However, this kind of industrial theft can escalate quickly—especially when the perpetrators think getting away with the loot is an easy mark. Employees steal $50 billion from U.S. businesses every year, and if your numbers aren’t adding up, then you’ve just become part of that statistic.
For the HR team or CFO of any enterprise blighted by warehouse losses, it can soon seem as if the problem is out of hand with no solution in sight. Catching thieves red handed can be challenging for those whose role is already demanding enough. In these instances, an industrial theft investigator offers a port in the storm. But how exactly does this specialist private investigator tackle occurrences of industrial theft? Today, let’s look at red flags associated with this problem and how a PI can help restore honesty to your back end team.
Raising the Alarm on Warehouse Theft
Long before you decide to put that industrial theft investigator on speed dial, you likely went through the experience of beginning to smell a rat, before becoming confident that something untoward was afoot. Perhaps you’re still in the middle of that transition—and if so, what are the red flags that you might look out for?
Of course, the most textbook issue arising is an awareness that your stock level inventories don’t match your sales records. But, there are more nuanced signals, too.
You might spot that sales seem to drop off on days when certain members of your team are on duty or that invoices are missing. Maybe you keep finding stock sitting near loading bays or outside exits, while rumors begin to swirl or morale takes a tumble. You might notice that certain team members are reluctant to take their accrued leave, while showcasing increasing purchasing power or nipping off for clandestine meetings during working hours. All of these indicators should raise the hairs on the back of your neck, but without proof, what can you do?
How an Industrial Theft Investigator Closes the Door On Warehouse Theft
So, the warning signs are there and you know you have to act quickly. It’s time to bring in a professional to nip this issue in the bud, and it’s a specialist industrial theft investigator that you need. There are a number of ways that this type of PI can help you—and sometimes, the mere presence of an industrial theft investigator may lead perpetrators to stop dead in their tracks. But, the goal here is to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.
An industrial theft investigator will combine a number of strategies. They will begin a careful investigation of the thefts that have already occurred to illuminate the facts. This may include tactics such as surveillance, interviews, investigating individuals, and conducting digital forensics. Simultaneously, they will be able to introduce background checks and employee screening to ensure you don’t have any more nefarious actors entering your workforce. Finally, they will be able to conduct a thorough physical and procedural risk assessment of your warehouse, providing you with the opportunity to make key updates to your infrastructure, company policy, security protocols, and more. Are disappearances from your warehouse taking chunks out of your bottom line? An industrial theft investigator can put a stop to stock hemorrhaging today—so why not reach out for a no-obligation consultation and discuss the support you need. The industrial theft investigations team at Lauth Investigations International is always only a phone call or a message away.
