An instinctive contractor got a bad feeling during the night. He drove to the facility where his friend had hired him. His friend the general manager, detected that high value equipment was being stolen. The inventory controls weren’t perfect but they were in fact having losses. The contractor was hired as a maintenance worker but actually was in an under-cover role. His role was to observe the surroundings and track the sensitive equipment.
The facility had been closed for several hours when the contractor arrived. The contractor stared through the glass door entrance and looked specifically at the alarm keypad. The “armed” light, indicating the alarm system was active to detect intrusion, was not lit. The alarm system was off and it shouldn’t be. No vehicles were present and no one ever worked this late. The contractor entered as he had keys to the facility and walked into the main work area which was unexpectantly lighted. The contractor saw a man at a workstation and challenged him.
The man was a former employee and had been recently terminated from the company. The former employee thought fast and tried to explain his reason for being in the workplace. The general manager and law enforcement were called. The former employee was taken into custody and prosecuted.
If you have not already realized it, after the employee’s termination his alarm code to the facility was not deleted. While this sounds careless (and it is), it happens too frequently. Access control not deleted, keys not retrieved, critical access to systems remain in place – after an employee termination.
This writing in part, is a call to have a plan in place, to implement upon an employee termination. Case after case shows a terminated employee re-entering the workplace. Why? So, evidence can be destroyed or taken, files manipulated, customer lists removed and anything sinister you can imagine. It happens again and again to smartly run companies.
One innocuous decision or the lack thereof, has led to a perfect storm –
Consider one terminated employee, who wickedly convinced a co-worker to hand over a laptop. The co-worker had no idea of the termination. The laptop contained evidence of criminal activity and other proprietary information. Yes, you could talk about legal consequences but it’s not always that simple. Besides, the damage can be so harmful that no amount of legal recourse will ever make you whole.
A serious mistake is to keep a termination “quiet.” You understand that eventually those in the workplace will know but perhaps because of emotions or uncertainty, you don’t immediately make a notification. Depending on the employee’s role and level of access, unintended consequences can occur.
The benefit of third-party examinations may be dismissed or cause fear among executives; however, routinely the unbiased party’s independence, assists organizations to make them stronger. Vulnerability assessments performed by professionals can vary in scope and thoroughness. A Ga private investigator explains, “A combination of examining conventional areas blended with inquiries of specific company practices, can reveal a treasure trove of unrealized risks. Of course, probability of occurrence is factored in decision making but too often a volatile hole is discovered. It’s just that the organization has never experienced a particular loss, so it’s not considered for a review.”
The investigator goes on to explain that human nature subtly tells us that since nothing has ever happened, nothing will. Proper handling of terminated employees is just one area to inspect. By looking closer, we can find employment vulnerabilities where you least expect it.