It is one thing for employees to steal office supplies. It is quite another for employees to steal sensitive proprietary data. In a rotten economy with people in need of money, some employees have become more adventurous in their desperation. Employee theft is way up around the country.
According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, a husband and wife have been accused of stealing trade secrets from General Motors, which they allegedly intended to peddle to Chinese automotive competitors. The sensitive proprietary information involved hybrid technology. The couple has been indicted for conspiracy, fraud, and a variety of other charges. I would think corporate espionage may be among them.
Needless to say, this type of employee theft of corporate espionage can prove very costly to GM who has had its serious troubles and in this tough economy it is only now wending its way back to profitability. Theft of such sensitive data about hybrid technology is the last thing it needs. But then no business needs its precious information shoplifted by its on employees looking to make an extra book. It is one thing to be moonlighting, but quite another to be committing corporate theft.
A series of background checks as part of you preemployment screening program is highly advisable. I should caution that criminal records searches may not be enough. An employer may want to consider county civil records searches to see what types of lawsuits and employment candidate as incurred. Credit reports or at least bankruptcies, liens, and judgments background checks will help demonstrate what type of financial shape the job applicant is in. While background checks cannot guarantee that an employee won’t steal from you, especially in an economic downturn when debt is piling up, it can serve as a good indicator of the shape of things to come.
So check them out before you hire. And periodically conduct background checks to see if there any sudden surprises.
