Either through their very calculated actions or through complacency, your employees are almost always your biggest threat.
If the ANC (current ruling party) has taught any of us anything, it surely is that the lure and temptation of wealth and quick riches is as difficult to resist as flies to a bear’s backside.
For just on thirty years, I have been plying my trade as a business crime investigator, and for just about as long I have been conveying the same message. Employees pose a larger risk to your organization than any other threat.
Growing up we are largely taught to value friendships and trust those close to us. Perhaps in the “good old days” of honesty bars and milk bottles on the doorstep those values were great life skills to have. But certainly not anymore. In fact, I would argue that in today’s world, open trust and blind loyalty open the gates to business crime and security breaches like no other security weakness.
Whether it’s planned destruction of company property during wage strikes, or wholesale theft and fraud businesses, are doing themselves a major disservice by burying heads in the sand in the interest of political correctness and labour relations.
Harsh, I hear some say. Perhaps harsh to hear, but certainly not inaccurate.
Consider how much your company spends on keeping the “bad” guys out. All the security guards, gates, electric fences, alarms and so forth. Now ask how much is spent towards protection from the “bad” guys you’ve already let in?
Intelligence, information, and discreet sourcing of information has and always will be at the forefront of crime prevention and effective loss control programs.
So how do you put in place a strong and effective intelligence system?
UNDERCOVER OPERATIVES!!
Not openly advertised and operating under a layer of suitable covers, undercover investigators are the one loss control pillar that no company can do without.
When one of the greatest military tacticians of all-time “Sun Tzu” (yes, the 6th century BC Chinese general) penned his classic “The Art of War”.
Tzu wrote “What enables the wise king and the good general to strike and conquer, and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men, is foreknowledge. This, foreknowledge cannot be elicited from spirits – it cannot be obtained inductively from even experience, nor by any deductive calculations.
Knowledge of the enemy’s disposition and actions can only be obtained from other men.”
- Sun Tzu
Why then do business owners and management teams habitually fail to see the importance of internal intelligence and information sourcing?
My experience has proven to me time and time again that any company relying on the goodwill of their employees and the rudimentary deployment of security officers and cameras is a company probably experiencing untold thefts and nefarious activities.
Well placed, well-handled undercover investigators must always be the corner stone of any security loss control strategy.
For a detailed explanation and informative video on the use of undercover investigators in your business.
Here’s to 2022, the year you locked the foxes out of your hen houses!!
For more information, contact Kyle Condon on saint@intrigue.co.za, follow him on Twitter @investigatorsZA or visit www.investigators.co.za.
About Kyle Condon: Kyle Condon – Grad of I.S (SA) is a founding member and Managing Director of D&K Management Consultants. This second-generation Private Investigation and Fraud prevention company assists businesses and individuals to handle various criminal and civil investigations. After more than 27 years in business, Kyle is regarded as one of the country’s leading minds on business crime and investigations. Kyle is a regular contributor to local newspapers and television news. He is also the Regional Director (Africa) on the Council of International Investigators (CII).