Small businesses are built on trust, so it can be especially distressing when a member of your own staff is responsible for money and assets going missing from your business. According to research published by Business Matters magazine in May 2017, around 65 percent of UK office staff revealed they had stolen from their workplace. The total cost of this collective staff theft from UK businesses amounted to a whopping £190 million.
For most businesses this would mean a substantial dent in profits, it may even be the difference between staying afloat or going bust in the competitive UK business marketplace. Detailed below are several steps you can take to reduce the chance and the impact of staff theft.
Upgrade your CCTV
Internal CCTV cameras are a strong deterrent for anyone considering stealing from you and the easiest way to catch staff in the act of stealing. A quality CCTV system providing coverage of your entrances, exits, and storerooms helps keeps your business secure and gives you a 24/7 clear HD picture of what’s going on.
Bring in the experts
Specialists in CCTV are skilled in analyzing your workplace and making sure every angle of your business is protected. By knowing what type of camera, resolution and where to position CCTV, you can ensure full coverage and be assured any theft will be detected.
Video management
You can’t check cameras every minute of the day, and likewise, you can’t be on site 24/7. Video management systems allow you to set up scenarios and be notified when movement is detected. If stock or supplies are going missing from a certain area of your business, your video management system can inform you of movement or an intruder in that area.
Lock and key
Door entry keypads combined with CCTV are a great way to keep an area secure. Controlling the access to an area means you can monitor employees that have access to your stock or valuable supplies. Integrating a keypad with a video management system helps you keep track of who has been coming and going, so if something does go missing you can identify who the culprit is.