Every workplace has the potential for employee theft and even small amounts can add up to be a significant problem. That is why developing a loss prevention strategy is very important for every business.

The Theft Triangle
When it comes to stealing there are three factors that come into play. The first is motivation; that is a person has a desire for an item or money. The second is opportunity; a person has to be able to have access to get a particular item or money. The third is little risk; the person has to have a reasonable expectation to get away with their theft. These three factors are called the Theft Triangle.

If a business can remove any one factor it will go a long ways to preventing employee or inventory theft. The most difficult and nearly impossible factor to remove is motivation. It is rare a person who will know what another person is thinking, much less how they justify their thinking. But a business can remove opportunity for theft and increase the risk of getting caught. This goes to the old adage of keeping an honest person honest.

Reduce Opportunities For Theft
One way to reduce theft opportunities is to secure any valuable products or equipment. A material handling company can provide caging for products and equipment. The value of caging over say cabinets is that so much more can be secured at one time. Most other ways to secure products and equipment has to deal with some form of cabinetry. This means fewer items in less space and makes it difficult to get the items we needed. Caging can secure quite a bit in an area that can be walked into.

Increase The Risk Of Getting Caught
In addition to reducing opportunity for theft a business can also increase the risk of getting caught. A great way to increase risk is to add cameras to inventory locations. Many businesses do not think to add cameras to their back areas, yet they need to secure the interior non-public spaces too. The security may not have to be as thorough as public areas, but enough to add some risk to keep employees honest.

Security cameras come in all forms and price ranges. Since the motivation to have security cameras is to add risk for those who might steal, one doesn’t have to buy the most elaborate of monitoring equipment. A few well-placed cameras wired back to a central point for recording should suffice. Getting a commercial contractor to install cameras and run wires should be relatively inexpensive. Then the monitoring and recording could be automated.

Hopefully, it is evident that it does not take much to reduce theft. Preventing theft before it becomes an employee issue will help establish better relationships in a business. That means less employee turnover and of course reduced costs because of product loss. The main take-away is to remember how a business can use the Theft Triangle to protect itself and improve relations with its employees.