How to reduce the risks

To reduce the risks of fraud and dishonesty within your business, it is advised that you undertake a comprehensive employment screening service.

Some industries and job roles require higher levels of screening than others. Use our unique Threat Analyser to find your screening requirements.

However, there are certain steps you can take to ensure your business or organisation is protected from the Insider Threat:

• Instigate a background check on all short-listed job applicants as routine prior to confirming an appointment. Ensure the level of check is appropriate to the responsibilities/ sensitivity of the position.
• Review how your checking procedures measure up to current best practice and upgrade them if they fall short.
• Make it easy for staff to discuss their concerns about colleagues with managers informally and in confidence.
• Depending on the culture of your organisation you might also consider introducing a "whistle blower line" for employees to report wrong doing, illegal, unethical or inappropriate behaviour such as bullying, racism etc in confidence and, in certain circumstances, anonymously. We have extensive experience of investigating unethical or other inappropriate workplace behaviour and of consulting on preventive measures.
• Instigate a security awareness programme to remind managers and staff of potential threats and how they can help to avert them.
• Encourage managers and staff to be alert to anything unusual in employees' behaviour or attitudes. You need to help them to feel confident that any information would be handled with sensitivity and treated as confidential.
• Limit access to sensitive areas or information to those who need to have it.
• Consider what physical or IT controls could reasonably be introduced to restrict access to sensitive areas or information. In some situations it is reasonable to have random searches on entry or exit to particularly sensitive areas.
• Obtain advice on the robustness or vulnerabilities of your processes and systems from your professional advisers - accountants, auditors, security, IT consultants, legal etc. - and act on the advice.

Contractors and agency staff

• Make it a contractual obligation that contractors and agency staff validate the identities and credentials of their employees
• Monitor compliance with the contract
• Confirm the identity of the person sent by the agency - in other words that the person who turns up is who the agency sent. Ask the agency to provide authenticated photographs of individuals being sent into your organisation.
• Provide photo passes to contract staff to be worn at all times. Only issue them after confirming the identity of the temporary employee. As an additional measure, the employer could retain the pass between visits in order to ensure the photo cannot be substituted.
• Supervise contract staff who have access to sensitive information. Appoint members of regular staff to be responsible for ensuring this happens in terms of security supervision, as well as supervising delivery of the service.