Footsteps of abuse: silent threat growing in your company without noticing

Footsteps of abuse: silent threat growing in your company without noticing

What shakes a company is sometimes not the competition outside, but the invisible negligence that grows inside.

 

When you wake up one morning, if your company's numbers are in place, but if there is a strange unrest in you… If some things are going missing, but you can't name it ... Perhaps you are confronted with that silent threat called “abuse” without realizing it.

Suiistimal is not only emptying the company's case; It is an invisible fire that consumes trust, loyalty and labor. Especially in family companies, this fire is often initiated by the people we trust and is noticed last. This is exactly why to ignore this issue means to risk sustainable success.

What is abuse? Why does it grow quietly?

Suiistimal; The abuse of an authority, task or position for personal interest. Sometimes it begins with a small habit: a debt that is assumed to be replaced by a safe deficit, to get the company's property “entrust ,, to divide the working hours into personal affairs… When these behaviors say, these behaviors turn into habit and spread quietly.

The most dangerous is that these processes are mostly seen “normal .. Sentences such as “It works a little comfortable, but does not harm”, such as, legitimizes abuse. However, statistics show that 85 %of working abuses come from the inner environment.

Why does abuse of family companies find an easier place?

There is high confidence in the nature of family companies. This trust is the most valuable bond that keeps the company survived for years. But when it turns into the weakness of the work structure, the weakness of accountability, trust leads to abuse.

• The task definitions are not clear: “Everyone does every job” culture creates uncontrolled spaces.
• Kinship relationships make control difficult: it is not odd to use the cousin.
• The function is not transparent: expenditures, purchases or business processes may progress informal.
• Loyalty and productivity are mixed: for years in the company does not mean that the person is the right person.

These dynamics make it difficult to notice abuse. Suiistimal is not only limited to theft. The abuse of time, resources and opportunities is also a betrayal of a kind of company.

Damages caused by the abuse to enterprises

It is a great error to measure the cost of abuse with money only. Of course there are material losses: stock deficits, unnecessary expenditures, embezzlement events… However, deeper and permanent damage occurs:

• Trust Erosion: "I wonder who did it?" The question of the team poison.
• Loss of reputation: The resulting events shake the trust of customers and suppliers.
• Weakness of the Leadership Authority: The manager appears weak when it does not take precautions.
• Cultural collapse: “If everyone is doing it, I do it too” spreads.

Sometimes these damages gnaws the company from inside for years without being noticed. However, most of the time, tips are long in advance.

Footsteps of abuse: What should pay attention to?

If there are these symptoms, something may be going wrong somewhere:

• Are there often differences in safes and stocks?
• Do some employees look too much “untouchable”?
• Are tasks and processes change constantly according to people?
• Aren't audit systems weak or not work?
• Are internal complaints and rumors increased?

Such signs can be overlooked in environments where institutional reflexes do not develop. So it is necessary to look carefully, but also establish effective systems.

Way to prevent abuse: institutionalization and transparency

The good news is that the most effective way to prevent abuse is institutionalization. Although this word sounds a little cold, it is actually a sine qua non for the healthy growth and sustainability of family businesses.

Here are some applicable measures:

1. Create net task definitions

Who, what, with what authority? The answer to this question should be written and open to everyone.

2. Establish a balance of authority and responsibility

Clarify the responsibilities of your authority. The accountability determine the abuse.

3. Establish an internal audit mechanism

Independent and regular inspections create a positive sense of control over employees.

4. Develop Open and Transparent Reporting Systems

Income-expense tables, stock movements, purchases should be reported regularly and shared with managers.

5. Set corporate values ​​and ethical rules

The values ​​that will strengthen the company culture and say “we work here” should be written and kept alive.

From the eyes of a consultant: a real story

In a family business where I gave institutionalization consultancy last year, an employee created embezzlement through small shopping receipts from the company for three years. The amount was not visible. But when the total damage exceeded 700 thousand TL, the boss's world was destroyed. He was the most trusted, almost one of the family.

The problem wasn't just the money. The boss had come to a point where he could not trust anyone anymore. The team's morale had collapsed. Not only internal audit, even psychological rehabilitation was needed.

However, if the institutional structures had previously been established, this damage could be prevented from the beginning.

Conclusion: It is not a abuse, but a weakness of management

The presence of abuse is caused by openings in your company rather than the malicious intentions of your employees. This is not a weakness, but a call for waking up.

"Institutionalization is necessary not only to grow, but also to stay healthy."

If you sometimes feel in your company “everything is fine, but something is missing”, this article was just for you to listen to that inner voice. The footsteps of the abuse does not always be high, but if it is not heard in time, it can cause major noise.

 

Will continue…

This article was the first part of the series of articles that I prepared to understand the reality of “abuse” more closely and take preventive steps in your business.

In the continuation of the series, we will deepen the subject with the following titles:

• Types of abuse and most common examples
• Audit without shaking confidence: Fine line between ethics and discipline
• Ways to detect abuse in your company with real case analysis
• How do you prevent abuse with corporate culture?

Each article will offer you practical ways; It will help you establish a strong defense line against this silent threat that gnaws your company inside.

 

 

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