Business Week recently reported that an executive at Tiffany & Co. allegedly stole $1.3 million in jewelry from the company over roughly a year. According to FBI reports, the former VP of Product Development methodically took items valued at less than ten thousand dollars to avoid drawing attention to the losses. The missing pieces were discovered during a company-wide inventory review. This story shows that employee theft can take place even at companies with high security measures in place.

How to prevent employee theft

Managed access control and surveillance cameras are one solution. Business keyless entry systems create permanent records of who entered what part of a building and when. These records provide an audit that can be compared with information about when certain things went missing. For increased precautions, access cards (which could be stolen and used fraudulently) can be replaced with biometric scanners that allow entrance based on fingerprint matching. Another option is a dual verification system in which access cards or biometric readers are paired with numeric passwords or other knowledge-based means.

Internal business surveillance cameras have the joint benefits of both deterring criminal activity and providing a record. Today’s cameras and recording devices offer many possibilities for surveillance and can store more data than ever before. Cameras can also be installed in a number of positions and sizes for size of view, discretion and aesthetics.

For areas where items of critical value are stored, movement sensors can be installed to trigger alarms (either silent or audible) to notify internal security guards or an alarm monitoring station when something is moved or opened.

Aside from managed access control and cameras, creating a culture of accountability is key in preventing employee theft. Regardless of an employee’s status, there must be checks and balances in place to ensure that company assets are not being misused.