Less than one and five businesses have ever performed fraud risk assessment
The Fraud Advisory Panel states:
Businesses themselves could do much more to prevent fraud but choose not to.
Statistics show that fraudster says weak controls were significant factor in the criminal decision making. What is staggering is the fact that business owners, business leaders, and those in senior management have an attitude that it won’t happen to us.
In today’s Business society there is an onus on senior management to place employee dishonesty on the highest agenda level. For a business who is looking for sustainable improvement and creating a no blame culture should identify that there is the opportunity for employees to be dishonest in the workplace.
FAP research has shown that one in five employees doubt that ethical conduct is really a key factor in the business.
Where is the vulnerability in your organisation? It is everywhere in every department but every hierarchical level of employment and businesses have a misplaced perception that theft or fraud will only be committed at a senior level.
How wrong you can be. Employees at all levels in all industry sectors, professional services, manufacturing, logistics, health etc Have a vulnerability from the very bottom to the very top of an organisation.
While the Fraud triangle refers to elements of Fraud it should also be considered for theft.Employees have the opportunity to steal and commit fraud as they go about their daily working routine, they will rationalise in their own mind why they will The theft or fraud and the motivation will always be for financial remuneration.
I have yet to see anybody committing theft and fraud for anything other than financial remuneration, no employee does it for charitable and philanthropic reason.
It is always for financial reward.
The value of that financial reward will depend upon how much the individual can take and the value of what they take and the effect it has on their life. Somebody earning £20,000 a year will benefit from stealing hundred pound per week. I would suggest if you were earning hundred thousand pound you wouldn’t steal hundred pound per week but £2000 a week may well be sufficient enticement for you to fall into the category of a dishonest employee.
The police service is under enormous pressure and has little resource to investigate employee dishonesty. This very places businesses in a difficult position to conduct internal investigations whether they believe they have identified the dishonest employee or not. Businesses must acquit themselves to be able to detect and investigate as and when situations arise. The majority of businesses, particularly within the SME sector, will not have the skills and re-sources in order to do this.
Are they left in limbo?
It is little wonder that so few companies bother to report a fraud to the police. The fraud advisory panel statistics show only 20% of UK business have confidence in the law-enforcement ability to deal with business crime.
Less than one and five businesses have ever performed fraud risk assessment. The most vulnerable sector is the SME, whether you employ five or 250 employees you are vulnerable Evidence shows the SME sector has Little if any controls and usually do not have a manager with overall responsibility for looking at elements of dishonest employees.
“Do you think it would happen to me?”
The old adage is true prevention is better than cure. By educating yourself, your colleagues, your employees and by doing a gap analysis of your vulnerabilities you can introduce simple methods, policies and procedures that will drastically reduce the opportunities for employees to be dishonest.
Expert investigation group have the tools and facilities to allow you to befriend and disrupt employee dishonesty. In addition the report will allow you to detect any dishonesty in a much more simplistic and ordered approach.
How true is this quote from the author Douglas Adams?
“Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.”
Now is the time to act. Now. Not next week ,it may have cost you £50k.
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