Part two of two: target hardening

by Mark Rowe

David Kearns, Managing Director of Midlands-based Expert Investigations, concludes his article on target hardening. For the first half, visit https://professionalsecurity.co.uk/blogs/david-kearns/target-hardening-part-one-of-two/.

Businesses of all sizes and in all sectors will accept that they have to have a tolerance to loss of that tolerance will not be a realistic figure in the majority of cases. Businesses will not readily accept that there is a product that has a value to be stolen or an employee that will be willing to commit theft or fraud in any format.

It is much more simple to build in situational crime prevention methods and target hardening in retail or public space than it is within a business. Within public space situational crime prevention techniques are not held with one individual or with one organisation. A council will control the CCTV system, the police authority will be controlling the police service, shops will have CCTV and uniform security staff, some stores will have access control, such as a jewellery shop and large numbers of public, transport methods and services will naturally provide situational crime prevention and assist with target hardening.

In many retail outlets and public space there will be natural surveillance, whereby premises, individuals and product are naturally observed and under the view of the public. There will be natural territoriality as businesses, individuals and interested parties will naturally observe their business and commercial space.

With a dishonest employee in the commercial environment many of these preventative and destructive measures are not in place allowing the employee the opportunity to be dishonest as the target hardening and situational crime prevention does not fulfil a primary role.

My belief that it is indicative on businesses to look at their target hardening and crime prevention measures regarding the prevention and disruption of dishonest employees in a realistic mature and proactive manner.

Employers and businesses must be realistic and accept that there will be has been or are dishonest employees in the business. They need to understand how the employee may be dishonest where and why.

Employers and businesses must be mature in understanding this risk and conducting a gap analysis to identify the opportunities for dishonest employees and weaknesses within the organisation and working from the broad and general towards the specific they look at cost-effective and operationally feasible means in order to prevent and disrupt employee dishonesty.

Employers and businesses in being proactive can substantially reduce the risk of financial loss and reputational damage as well as creating an environment of low morale and create an environment whereby it prevents an employee from becoming dishonest and creating that environment that progresses from what I believe is the perception to a realistic perception for a dishonest employee.

I would suggest that the current perception for an employee who is being dishonest is that they are unlikely to be caught. If they are caught the sanctions are likely to be minimal, probably resulting in a dismissal from the workplace and no police involvement and that there will be no financial retribution for them in repaying any monies back to the employer or the business.

The perception that a mature and realistic employer and business need to create is that if an employee is dishonest then the likelihood of being caught is high and the consequences and sanctions will be swift and severe. If this is the perception of an employee you have at the initial outset of being mature and realistic already commenced a disruption and prevention structure.

With all of my experience over the years I consistently see that employers and businesses do not fully understand the risk that an employee could be dishonest in the workplace. They consider that the situational crime prevention measures that they have installed in the organisation will prevent employees being dishonest. They consider that they have no target which needs to be hardened. The naïveté is understandable as only when you have worked within law enforcement and investigations is an issue such as this at the very forefront of your mind and consciousness.

Over 19 years on every occasion that I have gone into any business environment and detected the dishonesty by an employee it was so simple to see how this could have been prevented and disrupted with often very simple and cost-effective methods or protocols.

I adopt a simple three tiered approach:

1a boardroom and senior management seminar / workshop which educates the decision-makers within a business as to the risk of dishonest employees and the reality that this will pose in their business.
2A gap analysis of their business to show where the vulnerability is that can be exposed by a dishonest employee. This process is not about writing policies it is about the realistic availability for an employee or a group of employees to be dishonest.
3Simple training to assist in how to conduct an investigation and gather evidence when they think that there is some dishonesty within the organisation.

When you look at situational crime prevention and target hardening I am introducing this from the minute that I walk into the business because I am presenting to a board and senior management, some of whom may be being dishonest at that time, may be dishonest in the future or may have been dishonest in the past. What I am doing is highlighting to them how they are likely to be exposed and what I am doing to their colleagues is highlighting how they will be able to see the potential for one of their colleagues to be dishonest. The board and senior management will have just had a shot put across their bows.

Generally when a senior employee is dishonest the figures are significantly higher in losses and it take significantly longer to expose that dishonesty. In that workshop or seminar I may have just prevented and disrupted a substantial financial loss to the business. This is the cheapest or most cost-effective form crime prevention and target hardening.

In conclusion

My advice is for an employer and business to be mature, realistic and proactive and to look at the three tiered approach of education in the form of a seminar, assess your vulnerability in the form of a gap analysis and obtain some training to equip yourself. Consider target hardening within your business and workplace by thinking outside the box to prevent, disrupt and detect dishonest employees.

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