An Ounce of Prevention; A Pound of “Catching Em Doing Something Right.”

With all the technology available to employers today, the monitoring of workers’ activities has never been easier or more intrusive. Big Brother is watching with intelligence technology that critics find offensive and intimidating. One of the best examples of this is the monitoring of personal e-mails along with tracking Web sites visited from workplace computers. Of course, the valid argument is that employees should not be engaging in personal surfing or correspondence on company time. But this doesn’t sit well with those employees who resent the implication that they might be stealing time while they’re on the clock.



This rapid growth in monitoring has virtually destroyed any sense of privacy as we know it in the American workplace. Most invasive of all is video monitoring. Some cameras are appropriate. Security cameras in stairwells and parking garages make us all safer without intruding on privacy. But employers often install cameras in areas that are completely indefensible. Many employers have installed hidden video cameras in locker rooms and bathrooms, sometimes inside the stalls. What in the world do they expect to catch employees doing wrong on the commode? Using too much toilet paper? C’mon already, enough is enough!


You DO Need to Take Preemptive Measures in Your Business


The fact that employers adopt extensive surveillance methods to monitor their employees’ integrity and work ethic is obviously in response to a real problem. According to Profiles Research Institute, 95% of companies are victims of employee theft. It goes on to say that only 10% of companies actually discover that they are the victims of employee theft. Obviously, if large and sophisticated companies can fall victim to employee dishonesty, we “little guys” must also be vigilant in this regard.


You can’t put video cameras in your clients’ homes (although more and more households have installed them as a security measure). But since you send people out into your clients’ homes you do need to adopt preemptive measures to help avoid potentially costly incidents. Standard criminal background checks and finger printing of all new hires is a step in the right direction at the outset. But you can’t stop there.


It’s important that the topic of trust and responsibility is addressed with each employee. They need to believe that they could be the subject of random “sting” operation, wherein money may be left somewhere they’ll be cleaning as a way of verifying their honesty (not their dishonesty). Likewise, prepare them for the advent of a theft claim by a client. Again, to verify their personal integrity and clear their good name, if a client makes an accusation of theft of personal property, it is your company’s policy to advise the client to file an official police report and that the company is obligated to cooperate in the investigation.

 As you can see, I believe in the theory that you should carry a big stick, but speak softly. I don’t think trying to pulverize employees into good citizens actually produces those results. The mere appearance of gun-turrets in maximum security prisons serves to keep violent inmates at bay; it’s not necessary to walk around behind them holding a loaded gun to their heads (with rare exceptions, of course).


Positive Reinforcement Can Produce the Best Results


You notice how we made a point of taking a positive approach to discussing the topic of integrity. We raise the issue of theft of client’s property, but take the approach that rather than trying to determine the employee’s guilt, we are going to take steps to prove her honesty. The first approach raises intense antagonistic overtones; the latter sends the message you will go to all lengths to exonerate her.


Look for Opportunities to Catch Them Doing Something Right


It’s one thing to have measures in place to discourage employee dishonesty. It’s another thing to put the focus on distrusting your workforce. This also applies to work habits of your employees. You teach your dog obedience by granting rewards for good behavior, not by beating it with a stick for failing to obey your commands. In fact, as any dog trainer will tell you, a dog that is beaten may initially show submissiveness but, do it long enough, that animal will eventually turn on you. The same is true with your employees.


Reinforce good behavior with praise; it will go a long way. Catch an employee going out of her way to satisfy a client. Catch an employee volunteering to take on that one extra job today because another worker didn’t show up. Catch an employee constantly keeping her car washed because she’s concerned about the company’s image. Catch an employee studying her manual without being cajoled into doing so. Catch her volunteering for the neighborhood blood drive or her city’s “run for the cure.” Catch a worker admitting to breaking a vase in her customer’s home before the client calls you. In fact, make up a list of “catch” subjects to look for from your employees, which will present opportunities for praise and perhaps other rewards.