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Entrepreneur: Colin McLaren and Tony Ross
Company: Corporate Investigative Consultants
Turnover: Under $2M
Head office: Melbourne, Victoria
Contact details: +61 3 9681 6000
The Corporate Investigative Consultants Story
Colin McLaren has a good reason for not revealing his company’s address. He has sensitive documents on his premises listing the security details of many large and small businesses.
McLaren and his business partner, Tony Ross, both former detective sergeants, gave up regular employment with the Victorian Police in 1997 to start their own company. They had become increasingly dissatisfied with the level of response to corporate fraud by the Victorian Police.
While budget reductions meant police only investigated a small proportion of reports of internal theft, there was growing pressure on managers to become more accountable. McLaren says: "‘Shrinkage’ is the term used in company accounts for money lost due to theft and about 75% of shrinkage is internal theft."
McLaren says that if a company has more than 10 employees, there will be internal theft. He says: "Previously shrinkage has just been accepted. But it is ridiculous that companies have shrinkage as an item in their annual budget (some as much as $1 million) instead of tackling the issue head on.”
“Head on” does not mean bringing in the police. McLaren says companies are often reluctant to prosecute employees or contractors and they abhor union unrest, which may result from police arriving on the premises. And companies usually do not want competitors or shareholders to find out they have a problem.
McLaren uses countermeasures including undercover operatives and hidden cameras to catch the thieves. If a thief is caught, he advises instant dismissal. Then, he says, beat the drum and warn that thieves will not be tolerated in the workplace. But don’t bother with court, he says. “It may take two years, but dismissal takes two minutes.”
McLaren says contract cleaning companies are a growing problem. He says: “Put a camera in and you will see many of them snooping through top drawers, taking $1 from each. Every second job for us now involves contract cleaners.”
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Key learning points to preventing theft at work:
- Management training - Hold preventative seminars for managers and staff so that they are taught about the two kinds of thieves that operate in the workplace. First are opportunistic thieves who see something appealing, think they can get away with it, and steal it. Most staff members have the potential to be opportunistic thieves if the chance arises. The other type of thief is the criminal, who plans to steal goods and carries out the theft in a methodical manner. The criminal thief may be an employee or an outsider assisted by an employee.
- Minimise opportunities - Make sure managers know how to spot and remove theft opportunities. Laptops are the latest hot device. (There is less demand for VCRs and TVs, although mobile phones are still popular with thieves.) Lock up the laptops every night in a strong cabinet. Appoint an equipment inventory officer to be responsible for the security of laptops and any other sensitive equipment such as video cameras.
- Know your cleaners - Be aware that contract cleaning companies are often the culprits when equipment goes missing. Anyone can get a job as a cleaner and be handed the keys to an office. Make sure you know who is cleaning your offices. Meet with the cleaning company and collect a list of people who will be cleaning your offices. Run a police check on them all. Assign one person the key. Make them accountable.
- Entry-control system - If your company produces finished products, install an entry-control system. This will involve setting up a sealed area with a swipe-card system. If only authorised staff are allowed entry, an audit trail is set up, making it relatively easy to identify which employees had access when goods disappeared.
- Internal video system - Install cameras and have seven video tapes on hand - one for each night of the week. Do not bother reviewing the tapes unless a theft occurs. This is a relatively cheap way of dealing with internal theft as the tapes can be reused.
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