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employee behaviour is
disengagement between workers
and the business. You know, the
boss thinks you’re dodgy, so you
might as well be dodgy. A positive
culture tells employees that their
contribution matters.
“We’re motivated by autonomy,
mastery and making a
contribution to something a bit
bigger,” says Dale. “If a higher goal
motivates people, they’re much
less likely to damage it.”
IMPLEMENT SENSIBLE
PROCESSES
When one person does all the
bookkeeping, you’re vulnerable to
fraud and embezzlement. It might
sound dramatic, but the risk is real.
“If you’re going to grow your
business, you can’t be the only one
who has access to the bank
account, and you have to trust
someone to pay the bills,” says
Dale. “This leaves you open to
fraud, which may include things
like employees stealing money and
paying themselves.
“What you need to do is
understand your books, your
numbers and bills that need
paying, and have good processes
so any anonymous activity or
transactions show up.”
Dale also recommends assigning
one person to data entry and
paying the bills, and another to
account reconciliation to help
identify dodgy transactions.
Tool security and employees’
roles in keeping your stuff safe is
another area that benefits from
sensible processes. “Power tools
that can be easily carried are the
most common thefts,” says Shane
Moore from trade insurer Trade
Risk. “Keeping the whole trailer
out of sight at night is the best
possible strategy, but sometimes
it’s impossible to park off the street.
The next best is keeping tools
well-secured with strong locks and
alarm systems that deter theft.”
For extra protection, many
contractors ask employees to use
their own tools on-site. Noel
Sepulveda from SEP Electrical
says most of his employees bring
their own kit, including hand tools
and battery tools, while he
supplies the big stuff including
ladders, saws and the like.
“I’ve been down the path of
supplying employees with our kits,
and they seem to get lost, stolen or
damaged more so than if it’s their
own equipment,” he says. “It’s not
a massive outlay for them – it’s a
couple of thousand dollars.”
ON THE SLY
WHY IT PAYS TO KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON WHAT’S
GOING ON RIGHT UNDER YOUR NOSE.
Michael Negro from Infinity
Electrical was none the
wiser when one of his
employees used company
accounts to top up a
personal stash of materials.
“I found out after he left
when my material order
was dropping, but my
spend was staying the
same – it was because a bit
over $5,000 a month was
going into his own jobs or
stockpile,” he says.
“I found out when it was
too late, and there was no
way to confirm it.”
To reduce the risk of this
sort of dishonest behaviour
hitting his business again,
Negro now uses a
dedicated invoicing
program, which sees
purchase orders created for
materials and assigned to
specific jobs.
“I’ve told my suppliers
that they’re not allowed to
let any gear come to us
without first being given a
purchase order number,”
he says.
BAD APPLES:
COMMON TYPES
OF EMPLOYEE THEFT
CASHIES – employees who do cash
jobs on the weekend using your
equipment or vehicle.
ORDERING ONE EXTRA – adding additional materials
to an order and putting them aside for personal use.
EMBEZZLEMENT – employees paying themselves out of
company funds, asking clients to pay in cash and
taking a cut, and a heap of other dodgy behaviours.
AUG – SEPT 2019 GEMCELL.COM.AU
21