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.