To prevent fraud in your business, you need to pay attention to few important things such as your company’s work environment and control systems. You can prevent business fraud in the following ways.
Inculcate The Right Values in Your Employees
Inculcate the right values in your employees. Assure them that your company will never do anything wrong with them. Let them know that you expect honesty, truthfulness and hard work from them. Do not allow your employees to do anything illegal or adopt unethical behavior. This same rule also applies to those employees who hold higher positions in your company, your company’s managers, leaders etc.
Establish Well-defined Guidelines and Policies
Establish well-defined guidelines and policies for your employees. Each employee is supposed to follow those guidelines and policies. Also mention that strict action will be taken against those employees who are found guilty of committing fraud. Conduct a training program for all employees of your company to educate them about these guidelines and policies.
Conduct Detailed Background Checks on Your Fresh Recruits
At the time of recruiting new employees, conduct a background check on each of them. To be more specific, you need to do criminal checks on your new employees. This way you will be able to get rid of those employees who may become disloyal to your company. You can also ask them to write references in their application form. You also need to check your loyal employees as you never know when they might start to show their true colors.
Establish Proper Internal Controls
Establish proper internal controls as these will help you to manage your company well. Examine whether these controls are working according to your expectations or not. If you want, you can also monitor every department in your company.
Put Pressure on Your Employees to Work Ethically
Make it clear to your employees that if any of them dare to commit fraud, it will not go undetected and the culprit would have to face dire consequences for his or her inappropriate action. On a few occasions, you can take the complete charge of monitoring your employees. This way your employees will be under pressure to follow the guidelines and policies of your company.
Help your Needy Employees
Make provisions to help employees who are having financial or personal problems. Employees will feel secure to discuss their problems privately and will not think of finding solutions of their problems, through committing fraud in your company.
Take the Help of Quick-books
You can also take the help of Quick-books as this software package helps organizations with fraud prevention and detection.
Introduce Whistle-blowers Hotlines
You can offer whistle-blowers hotlines to your employees. This is the safest and most cost effective method of preventing fraud in your company. Employees can report to you or your company’s management anonymously about the fraud. You can also allow your employees to report issues or matters that can disrupt your company’s normal workflow.
Divide the Work Among your Employees
Divide the work among your employees; for example, assign tasks such as collecting sample products, testing sample products, maintaining record of sampled products, handling the documentation of sampled products to different employees. Monitor your employee’s performance regularly.