Proverbs 20:6 (NASB) Many a man [person] proclaims his own loyalty, but who can find a trustworthy man [person]?
Finding and keeping good people is a journey small business owners take often with disastrous results. Desperation and greed can cause those with hidden character issues a “reason” to rationalize behavior they may never have thought of pursuing previously.
Small business people face yet another impediment to sustainability in a tough economy - employee fraud. Tough financial times often give some employees (and according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, an increasing number in companies with less than 100 employees) a rationale to relieve their personal financial pressure with petty cash theft, check forgery, and skimming from cash register.
Why small business? They are especially vulnerable because of the lack of tough internal controls and often too much trust in their staff despite signals that the staff member is falling into desperate straights – and desperate people can do desperate things.
If you do not have internal controls, this economy may be a great time to begin to exercise that financial discipline, starting with a daily/weekly cash flow analysis. Your local SCORE chapter (www.score.org) will have people that can help with financial controls and training in cash management.
For 5 tips that will help control fraud, click HERE.
Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell
Monday, July 20, 2009
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2 comments:
Sad isn't it. In my town, another problem is transcience. In a college town they come and go so fast, they don't learn their jobs before they go on to another.
SCORE is a vastly underused resource.
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