Biz-Wreckers

These days, disgruntled employees are seeking revenge against employers more than ever before-and they're resorting to sabotage and even violence. If you fear angry employees might tamper with machinery or your products just to get you back, you need to take action now, before it happens.

First, small companies should handle disgruntled employees the way big companies do, with established grievance policies. "When you give employees a way to vent, their anger doesn't build up and make them want to get back at you," says Dick McCormick, senior managing director of Westlake, California-based Business Risks International, a division of Pinkerton Consulting and Investigations.

Making some data and equipment off-limits to employees is another way to control sabotage. Surveillance systems are also a good idea. Says McCormick, "If employees know there's a [security] camera around, they're much less likely to do something [destructive]." But don't just monitor the workplace-tape it; otherwise, what's the point? Remember: a safe workplace is a productive workplace.

Ellen Paris is a Washington, DC, writer and former Forbes magazine staff writer.

Contact Source

Business Risks International, (703) 524-2007, dick.mccormick@usa.pinkertons.com.

This article was originally published in the June 2000 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Biz-Wreckers.