Members of staff are your key asset - or are they?

Ask any group of Directors what their most important asset is and the majority will say that it is their staff team.

This should be true, given the time, energy and resources devoted to their selection, induction, training and continuing development.

Some members of staff will be selected for, or promoted into, key positions.  Others, although lower in the corporate hierarchy, will have access to information sources and assets which could be extremely valuable if given to a rival, or damaging if removed or lost to the parent organisation.  Industrial espionage is happening somewhere now, and the majority of losses through theft or fraud emanate from internal staff rather than external criminals.

Any organisation which has carried out a crime risk analysis on itself will know that a coherent security plan merges properly selected, vetted and trained staff carrying out security-minded management polices, supported by appropriate technical equipment.  Within that context vetting is seen as an administrative function rather than a risk avoidance issue.

Ask yourself one question.  Do we really know the background of individual staff members, or do we only know what they have told us? 

If the latter is the case you need to examine your vetting policies.  Frequently the information that is missing is equally as important as that which has been disclosed.  A competent human resource department will seek to fill in the gaps.

Many investigative avenues will depend upon the appropriate compilation of contracts of employment that allow appropriate probing, and sanction failure to disclose relevant information.

As we have seen in recent high-profile cases Criminal Record Bureau checks are not a complete answer.  A review by a competent investigator is needed to tease out the information that potential thieves or fraudsters would wish to be hidden.

You have one chance to weed out potential ‘problem staff’.  Use it wisely.