One of the biggest information risks a company can have is its own employees. It's a difficult risk to deal with however. Companies have to trust employees with information in order to accomplish just about any task. Employers generally have to have a mix of trust and a lack there of, in order to survive. Have too much of one or the other though, and you either end up with theft or unhappy employees.
As the article states, employee theft is not uncommon. Companies that aren't cautious about it can lose a lot of money, and some can go out of business; all because of a single employee taking advantage of trust. "On average, it takes about 18 months for an employer to catch an employee who is stealing." With that said, its very important for companies to assess the risks of trust at the start of a companies beginnings.
Personally I think employers need to give their employees a good amount of trust. At the same time, employers should set up measures to keep an eye on employees.
Employers should utilize basic accounting controls. If a company has accounting measures in place, the company can better determine if there are shortcomings or losses of any kinds in terms of employee theft.
Employers should also certainly have a greater degree of misplaced trust. If you let your guard down, you wont even see theft coming. If you are always on the lookout for suspicious activities, you will catch a thief before its too late.
Trust is a very iffy subject for employers. It's important to let your employees know you trust them with information, but its also important to never let your guard down.
Blog by Hans Harvey
Blog Post 5
Sources-
Author: Patricia Schaefer
Title: Employee Theft: Identify and Prevent Fraud, Embezzlement, Pilfering, and Abuse
Address: http://www.businessknowhow.com/manage/employee-theft.htm
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