When recognizing signs of potential fraud in the company's operations, the accountants can refer to the following five steps to take the most appropriate behavior in the working environment:
1/ Clearly verify fraud problems and clearly define the level
When you notice signs of fraud, you should be sure of it, not simply through guesswork and suspicion. So, when faced with this problem, you need to be really calm to consider all possibilities. You should also find out why because this will help you understand the problem more broadly.
Also, consider the concept of fraud, distinguishing it from "using tricks". Because in reality there are many types of jobs that require us to have certain tricks to do the job smoothly and easily. Thus, when considering the problem, we should not take a too rigid view, instead you need to know how to be most flexible, and understand the nature of the problem, of the behaviors in performance of others. Besides, you should clearly determine the impact of such fraud (if any).
2/ Collect relevant evidence
It is taboo to accuse someone of cheating without having any clear and authentic evidence in hand. Because this can damage the opponent's honor if you misunderstand them or if that is the case then you also don’t have any weapons to bring them to light, otherwise you have to pull the strings to make them more vigilant and have a chance to do a detriment to you.
At this point, you should remember that the sooner evidence is found, the higher the accuracy of the facts will be. If you are sure that the colleague is actually cheating, the behavior also has a huge impact on the company or the work of other individuals and departments, you need to quickly collect true evidence. The quicker the evidence is found, the lower the risk of loss and the more effective and more reliable its authenticity. Because then maybe that cheating colleague has not been able to erase the remaining traces. You should search for relevant documents, use effective support tools such as USB, picture, camera ... They will make it hard for the other colleague to deny his wrongdoing.
Even if the cheating of a colleague has not had too serious effects, you still have to find a way to deal with it. Since this is a danger in the long run, you still need to be very careful. If the person's cheating can be flawed, then they will continue to perform for the next time. So, try to find the most convincing evidence from the small details.
3/ Share honestly and sincerely with cheating colleagues
For those cases where you have confirmed their cheating at work, it is best not to speak up with any other third party immediately as doing so will cause undesirable misunderstandings for yourself.
In this case, it is best to have a face-to-face conversation that clearly shows the other person your constructive, cooperative attitude, that you don't want them to make a mistake and that the mistake can affect the company and everyone.
4/ Find the optimal solution to solve:
If you only think that reporting the misconduct of a colleague just to satisfy the need to expose them to your boss and everyone in the company is known, then that behavior is like that you are “playing bad" against a bad colleague. And more importantly, this does not solve its root, radical problem. So, when you talk to your colleague about their mistakes, you should include solutions. Find out clearly what led to their cheating.
If you know that the behavior of a colleague has an adverse effect on you, you need to quickly find ways to fix it yourself so as not to affect your position at the company, always prepare yourself to deal with the negative effects of a co-worker's fraudulent behavior.
5/ Report to leaders?
The reason this is a question is because reporting this incident to leaders also needs to be considered. Depending on the case, level and evidence gathered that determines whether to do so. Because if you are not dexterous and have clarity, you will be at a disadvantage on your part.
The advice is to honestly share with the managers and leaders in the company if in case this is the last option you can do, the above options are not effective. But to report it to a higher level, you must be aware of:
- Have convincing real evidence on hand, as non-convincing evidence can harm you
- During the process of gathering evidence to report to management, you should also discuss this with a close colleague and you are really sure they are reliable to be able to best support you.
- Select a manager to report: consider whether the person is capable of solving the problem or not, is he a highly responsible person for the job, a fair public-private leader? and especially attention must be paid to the relationship between the manager and the cheating employee.
Thus, the detection of a co-worker cheating can help to re-adjust work in the company more effectively, but it also creates certain difficulties in behavioral skills. Behavior not clever, all problems will turn back to adversely affect you. Please carefully follow each step.