Theft is a huge problem for just about every industry. If there aren’t any physical items to steal, many times, it’s time and data that are stolen. You might be shocked to learn that about 75% of employees admit to stealing from their employer at least once, which costs businesses around $50 billion every year. If you aren’t aware of any theft happening in your business, it’s probably just under the radar. Although some people will always find ways to get around your measures, here’s what you can do to prevent most forms of theft.
1. Implement RFID technology
There are two main ways RFID technology can reduce and prevent theft in your organization. The first is by placing RFID chips on physical items like vehicles, tools, and inventory and then placing scanners at various points, like entrances and exits. The second is by using RFID technology for granting access to secured spaces.
Let’s start with RFID chips on physical items. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags are tiny microchips that send a signal to a radio receiver/scanner. They don’t have their own power source, and are powered only at the moment by the electromagnetic field created by the scanner. This happens just long enough for the data to be read.
The most practical applications for RFID technology regarding physical items are tagging retail inventory and your company’s assets to track everything. For items that people buy, all you need are small stickers that can be deactivated at the time of purchase. If you have items leaving the store without being paid for, the scanner will let you know.
The same goes for company assets – if people are walking away with tools or other items that are supposed to remain on the property, the scanner will record that. When you also have personnel badges with RFID chips, you can track people and items to find out who might be stealing or taking items home without authorization.
When it comes to secured access points, RFID technology makes this easy and is more reliable than magstripes. If you’ve ever had to put clear tape on your credit card’s magstripe to get it to work at the grocery store, you know you can’t afford to have one fail when you need it most.
An RFID reader is attached to the lock that will only open if a person is carrying a device (usually a key card) with an RFID chip containing the right information. This is more secure than physical keys, which can be easily duplicated, and entry codes that can be shared.
2. Don’t give second chances to employees
People are more likely to do something unethical when they know there’s a chance they won’t get fired. Naturally, not everyone is looking for a way to get one over on their boss, but people who want to steal will feel more at ease if the company has a reputation for only giving write-ups and not firing thieves.
When it’s known that stealing is a fireable offense and nobody will get a second chance, you’ll deter a good number of people who need to keep their job to survive. Never give anyone the impression that you’ll overlook theft because whatever they got caught with is probably only a fraction of what they’ve taken.
3. Find out why employees are stealing
It’s not always obvious why someone might be stealing from your company. For many low-wage workers, they’re stealing to survive and don’t earn enough money to make ends meet. It’s not right, but if you aren’t paying people a living wage, it’s time to consider bumping up their pay. This won’t stop everyone from stealing, but it will make some people feel less desperate.
Retail and food service salaries have not increased enough in the last decade to catch up with inflation and the cost of living. Even with minimum wage reaching $15 per hour or more in some states and cities, it’s still not enough. Worse, manager salaries are much lower today than they were ten and even twenty years ago, in proportion to the cost of living. If you can’t afford to stay in business and pay people a decent wage, consider trying to find ways to increase revenue so you can.
Monitor your spaces at all times
You might get flak from employees who don’t like to be monitored, but at the end of the day, it’s your revenue at stake. Monitor your spaces with security cameras so you can review incidents to see what really happened.
Whether it’s customers or employees, you’ll have what you need to press charges if you feel it’s appropriate.