In my over 30 years of corporate fraud investigation I have come to a sad but simple reality. Management uses the wrong kind of trust when dealing with employees, assets, cash and the rest. I have finished the investigation, the employee has confessed and we are filing criminal charges. At that point the manager or owner says something like “I trusted that person”.
They feel guilty, are angry and question their own skills. It is not their skills that they should be questioning. In this world there are two kinds of trust: personal trust and business trust.
Personal trust is the kind you have with your best buddy. They are always there for you and you for them. You would trust them with your house, car, spouse and dog. You know that no mater what they have your best interests in mind.
Business trust is defined in three words: Trust But Verify. That’s it! You do not have the luxury of doing anything else.
Most reasons that we end up doing a corporate fraud investigation is that management uses personal trust in a business environment. This is business not personal and if your management style is to be “friends” with your employees then you should probably change careers.
You are responsible for an incredible amount of assets and liability. In most cases you’re not the owner of the company (but this applies to owners as well). As a professional you realize that you must protect those assets to keep the company profitable, which insures that, your employees have a job.
To do this you must trust but verify. I am not advocating that you are always watching over people’s shoulders. In fact a healthy work environment gives employees the ability to grow and do things in their own style.
That doesn’t mean that we just walk away and let them run wild. People like a structured environment. So what do you do? Here is an example; you receive a shipment. The person who is responsible for checking it in is almost finished. Pull part of the paperwork and audit 10% of it. When they say to you “I just did that” you reply, “ It looks like you did a great job to, it is accurate, thank you and good work”.
As a professional you cannot afford to use personal trust in a business environment unless a frequent corporate fraud investigation is your thing.
For more information: corporate fraud investigation or call 1.770.426.0547
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