How to Reduce Employee Theft Risk

     In late 2020, there was an employee theft case in a procurement company located in South Jakarta. The misconduct was organized by general affairs staff and supervisor, civil supervisor, and an office boy. 

     They were proven guilty of stealing the company’s inventory, such as laptops, cables, server units, and handphones at the company’s warehouse.

     The criminal act was found out after the company conducted an audit. It was done from February to November 2020 and caused the company to lose IDR 538 million.

     In another case, in early 2021, embezzlement was done by the assistant manager of fund finding of Bank Rakyat Indonesia located in Cileungsi, Bogor. Suspicious funds reduction from IDR 1 billion to IDR 1 million found on a customer’s account. 

     Then it was revealed that the culprit offered a fictitious fund-saving program. He has used the fraud scheme since 2018 to defraud the same customer. The customer was estimated to lose IDR 2 billion worth of savings.

     These two cases highlighted that anyone in the company is capable of conducting crime at the workplace. According to various sources, employee theft may be varied, from stealing inventory or property, fictitious supplier or petty cash purchases, payroll theft, giving a discount, misuse of company’s data, etc.

     There may be various reasons why employees committed theft, including financial needs and greed. An article by The Balance Career stated that many trusted employees ended up stealing even though they did not have any intention before. 

     Besides, lack of control and insufficient compensation for their hard work will also drive employees to commit theft. Hence, reducing opportunities and managing the risk of employee theft is an important thing to do.

     The company can reduce the opportunities by establishing check and balance systems and using an external audit team to examine its financial records. Keeping track of the company’s inventory is also needed to look out for petty theft.

     The company also needs to implement a whistleblowing system and periodically review crime prevention measures to check any concerns. 

      As an HR, it is crucial to help to maintain employee engagement, promoting integrity and honesty. All employees must be treated fairly and give them compensation or rewards to show appreciation for their hard work.

     One of the first things HR can do to manage employee theft is by conducting a pre-employment screening on all positions. It may also help to uncover any inconsistencies or discrepancies stated in resumes.

     It will be a good start to understand what your candidate is like, whether they have any red flag, family problems, or committing a crime in the past before conducting a further hiring process.