G'day folk,
This post is on behalf of a friend who runs a cafe, she is having issues with staff taking money from the till, giving in correct change etc.
They have installed camera's on the till, but she mentioned the suspect person just turns and covers what the camera can see.
Any one got good advice/tips to prevent theft from employees and keeping them ethical.
This person works in the business 7 days a week and when she took a week off work the takings where considerably less. Example Fridays usually bringing in $3,000 but on the week she was off $1,200.
Any general and specific advice would be greatly appreciated. Any systems that you business owners have in place to minimise outgoings/loses would be great to hear.
Regards,
RH
Here's a few management processes to consider;
Always be on duty with the offender, and make it a point that you will be on the register and they won't. They will immediately know you are onto them without you saying a word. They may leave as a result. One sure way to get rid of a dud is make work hell for them - but legally.
As above; call a staff meeting and explain that money has consistently gone missing, and every staff member is now under suspicion, pending further investigations. Again; the guilty party may resign for some obscure reason soon after.
Anyone who is innocent will understand and be glad of the inquiry. Anyone who is offended; bad luck - it's your business and your livelihood.
I reckon the innocent already know who it is and are afraid to come forward.
1. Introduce a policy that all transactions must have an amount tendered on the register to calculate change. Failure to adhere to Company policy will result in written warnings per incident or whatever it is that you are allowed to do in this employee protected workplace world we now have to endure.
2. Use a till whereby all staff must use a specific code before using the register. Most registers have this function these days. Enforce the use of codes as company policy, with written warnings for non-compliance.
3. Make it that all meals and beverages are paid for at time of ordering, and make it policy that all customers must be given a receipt with an order number on it.
2. Calculate how many coffees from each container should be created (by weight), same with things like bread, eggs, bacon (slices per serve) and so on.
3. Do daily (or weekly) stocktakes on above items to monitor how much is sold. This is a pain in the @rse, but it puts staff on notice that you are onto it, and it will be very hard for anyone to keep touching the till.
4. Make all staff casuals, and explain why, (you can BS and say the business is going bad and you need to cut costs - sorry everyone. Some will cry about it, too bad again.
Then don't invite the offender back to work ever again. You can secretly cofer with the staff you want to retain and explain what is
really going on. They will understand.
Now; let me qualify this statement by saying that I am a great believer in looking after good staff and keeping them on. I look after my staff and want them to stay with me forever, so I look after them. Spoilt pack of b@stards!
Obviously, you want to get rid of the thief and keep the good ones, but in this day and age of BS workplace regs and Union cr@p which favour loser staff, you need to get creative or you will go broke.
Thanks Unions - you pack of d/heads.
I saw a docco a few years ago about exactly this scenario with a guy who owned a sandwich bar. One chick touched him for nearly $200k. The guy was an idiot I reckon, but I did feel sorry for him at the same time. He went broke; lost everything including his wife and home. Bad luck about the house....... Just kidding girls!!
So, the time is calling for drastic action. Basically, you need some firm company and business procedures put in place to track your money.
