VISIONOMICS

Preventing Theft

Protecting your business from theft of cash, product, and time

american businesses lose an average of $50 billion each year as a result of employee theft. Embezzlement is out of control within the business community. Theft of cash, time, and product is rampant in retail establishments. Almost every business experiences the theft of employee time. Optometric practices are no different.

Understanding that your practice or optical shop is not immune to these retail and small business problems is the first step in protecting your business. Knowing where to look for theft is the next. Implementing simple procedures in your business to prevent such crimes is the final, and most important, step.

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Here, we look at three of the biggest theft threats to optometric practices and optical businesses, and some quick tips at prevention. The course will provide action plans for detecting and preventing these and other threats to your business.

POTENTIAL PROBLEM: Theft of time. Time is money for any practice, and if an employee is consistently late or absent without notification, you are losing money. As social media and smartphones become ubiquitous, employees may be stealing time by tending to their personal media instead of their jobs. Habitual tweeting, texting, or checking Facebook—not to mention the solitaire games happening on work computers—during working hours can create a bleeding of time and focus.

PREVENTION: Documentation and procedure are your biggest allies here. Keeping your finger on the pulse of your practice means knowing what your employees are doing, keeping track of their hours, and noticing who is recording the time worked. Develop a disciplinary procedure that provides consequences for tardiness or absences without notification. To keep the social media in check, implement a “no phone” policy, except for lunch and other breaks.

POTENTIAL PROBLEM: Theft from the optical department. I have heard many cases of employees who develop a side business selling glasses (particularly plano sunwear) and contact lenses, or ordering extra from the owner’s account.

PREVENTION: Keep tight control over who does the ordering, especially if employees are ordering for your other offices as well. Verify all invoices of product against what has made it to the floor.

POTENTIAL PROBLEM: Theft of cash and credit. Though you might not think this is a big problem in optometry or optical, it does happen. It may come in the form of theft of money in the cash drawer, theft from the petty cash fund, or embezzlement from your bank account.

PREVENTION: The owner must be the “state patrolman.” The daily bank deposit must be verified by comparing charge, payment, and schedule. Insure or bond all who handle money, and create a system of checks and balances for their actions.