The Big Picture - April 2012 - (Page 18)

business ++ management business management Protecting Your Company By Marty McGhie A few weeks ago, one of our facilities experienced a breakin by burglars. Fortunately, the would-be thieves triggered our alarm, and they were scared o . As a result, they were not able to actually steal anything and we had zero losses. I’m guessing that many of you have probably experienced theft of one form or another in the course of your business. Like us, you have then had to ﬁgure out how to prevent something similar from happening in the future. And while theft of personal property is, of course, bad, other types of thievery can be equally damaging. Our company’s insurance broker points out that, for most businesses, the biggest risk of loss is not from a burglary like the one we nearly had. Rather, it’s from a company’s own employees. Further, he says, the type of property that’s most subject to theft is not a shop’s personal property, but rather its proprietary information and trade secrets. What are these types of losses? Your company’s proprietary information and trade secrets can include customer lists, credit-card information, ﬁnancial information, your customers’ intellectual property, production processes, and any other valuable information that creates a competitive advantage for your company. And, of course, there’s the embezzlement of corporate funds and fraud, something I’ve previously covered in this column (February 2011). It’s important to keep in mind that these types of losses generally come from people within your organization who are in positions of trust. theft. But they’re not much help when it comes to proprietary information and trade secrets. Instead, the answer is to initiate corporate policies that are clearly understood by everyone in your organization – and for you to then enforce them. For example, at our company we have each sta er sign an employee agreement when hired. This agreement speciﬁes the terms of their employment, and it documents some standard policies of our organization. We also have everyone sign a conﬁdentiality agreement. Here’s an example of the type of language our agreement contains: “Employee agrees that, during the period of employment by Ferrari Color and following termination of employment for any reason, the employee shall hold conﬁdential and not use, reveal, communicate, divulge, or disclose to any person or entity outside Ferrari Color, or use for any purpose other than the employee’s work for Ferrari Color, any of Ferrari Color’s conﬁdential information.” Our agreement later speciﬁes what type of things that the company considers to be classiﬁed as conﬁdential information: “Any information relating to Ferrari Color’s operations, processes, know-how, techniques, designs, drawings, equipment, test data, analytical methods, research and development projects, future developments, operating or production costs, product or market information, distribution system, customer information (including customer identity), ﬁnancial reports and data supplier information (including volume and source of supply), project bids, business negotiations with third parties, the terms and conditions which Ferrari Color deals with customers, information and/or materials Ferrari Color received from customers or others which Ferrari Color is obligated to treat as conﬁdential or proprietary.” Your company’s attorney can help you with verbiage that you feel comfortable with, and that you believe can hold up in a court of law. Additional preventative measures can be taken as well. One good idea is to regularly discuss with your employees about the importance of conﬁdentiality in our industry. Hit on this topic in your annual sta reviews and revisit >38 An ounce of prevention Yes, alarm systems, surveillance cameras, security personnel, and the like can help discourage personal-property MARTY McGHIE is VP ﬁnance/operations of Ferrari Color, a digital-imaging center with Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Sacramento locations. The company o ers high-quality large- and grand-format photo, inkjet, fabric, and UV printing. marty@ferraricolor.com 18 THE BIG PICTURE APRIL 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Big Picture - April 2012

The Big Picture - April 2012
Contents
InSight
Wide Angle
Up Front
Graphics on the Go
Business + Management
Ignite with White
Business & Management Software
Cutting Corners
R+D
Job Log

The Big Picture - April 2012