With 20 to 40 billion dollars getting up and walking off under bosses' noses each year, the mandate to reduce employee theft is greater than ever before. By even the most conservative estimates, some 25 percent of all new businesses go under due (at least in part) to employee theft. For a major multinational conglomerate, the effects of employee theft are bad, but for small- to medium-sized enterprises the consequences are even more brutal.

What can be done to reduce employee theft without scaring off your workers at the same time? Most policy experts agree that drastic measures such as installing security checkpoints and metal detectors are unduly strict--unless, of course, you happen to be the Secretary of Homeland Defense. On the other hand, some kind of surveillance system is almost always justified. At the very least, you ought to consider keeping a camera on your cash register if your business is in retail.

Alternative Ways to Reduce Employee Theft

Rather than treat the illness once it's hit, you're much better off preventing it in the first place. How? By conducting your due diligence on prospective employees using more thorough measures. A lifelong worker who's shown no disciplinary problems is unlikely to suddenly begin stealing one day out of the blue. Such pathologies tend to leave clues, either in the form of rocky employment histories or in questionable character references. Both of these things are yours to discover.

By making a policy of only hiring the most ethical employees, you stand much better odds of weathering the lean years as your business is growing. This is one reason so many people bring their friends and family members aboard on new ventures. If you don't have this luxury, the very least you can do is retain a background search firm that's experienced at weeding out bad apples in the early stages of the recruiting process. This will not only help you reduce employee theft, it will also ensure that you land the most qualified and motivated workers.