THE PERSON IN THE NEXT CUBICLE
Jul 09, 2017 , http://www.kaieteurnewsonline....in-the-next-cubicle/
The suspects in the attempted robbery at Republic Bank this past week did not fit the usual criminal profile. Two of those fingered so far, including one who was shot dead, were working with companies, one with the government and the other with the very bank he is alleged to have attempted to rob.
They were not without access to money. The killed suspect worked for a better than average salary, and is said to have benefitted from a duty free concession on a motor car. Another worked in the very bank that was robbed.
You really do not know who to employ these days. Employers really have a difficult task. A great many persons who work with employers have been involved, over the years, in conspiracies to rob their employees.
People have to be circumspect about who they employ. While you cannot always be right about who will have criminal intentions, if you do detailed checks, you can obtain a fairly good guide about the risks of employing a particular person. This is what is called integrity testing, and must not be confused with a lie-detection test, which can be one aspect of integrity testing.
Years ago, you could not work in any bank, state or private, unless you were subject to an investigation prior to your employment. Detailed background checks were carried out. These checks included information on your family history, where you lived, who your friends were, your previous employment history, etc. Based on these findings, a decision was made whether to employ you in a bank.
The banks in those days did not trust any and everybody to be part of their staff, since they were safeguarding other people’s money. They had to ensure that the right persons were chosen.
Employers should not only be doing detailed background checks, they should also be doing checks on the validity of the academic qualifications of applicants. Persons are showing up with bogus academic qualifications. The certificates look exactly like the original. With the quality of the scanners and printers which we have today, it is easy for someone to counterfeit an academic certificate which looks just like the original.
The government, therefore, should offer a paid service which would allow for the authentication of academic certificates. Who knows, there may be persons working with government who have presented bogus academic certificates.
Employers in Guyana, apart from having to face a downturn in business, have a bigger problem: the dishonesty of employers. It is hard to find honest employees these days. The job interview is no longer seen as an effective way to weed out undesirables. In fact, there are some persons who are dishonest who excel at job interviews.
Fortunately for employers, integrity testing has now become a fine science. There are firms who specialize in providing integrity testing, and who can advise you on whether to employ someone for a position in your company. But the cost of such services are expensive and beyond the reach of local companies.
All commercial banks should take steps to do background checks on their employees. They should introduce integrity testing to help them select the right persons. Too many backdoor employment practices are taking place. Somebody knows somebody and uses that contact to have some friend employed without sufficient background checks being done.
One of the suspects in the attempted bank robbery is said to have worked with the National Agriculture Research and Extension Institute (NARI) and was said to be a Research Assistant earning a salary of $186,000 per month. That is quite a fat amount to be earning for a Research Assistant. On top of that, as was mentioned earlier, the person was said to be enjoying a duty free vehicle.
First of all, how can an employee of a semi-autonomous agency qualify for a duty free concession? No person working within such an agency or even a public corporation should be receiving a duty free concession. And further, a Research Assistant at that? It seems as if duty free concessions are being given out ‘wild west.’
It was a ‘wild west’ scene this past week in Water Street when the suspects stormed Republic Bank. The attempt at robbing an impenetrable target has raised the fear temperature in society. How safe can anyone feel when a bank is going to be attacked in broad daylight?
Ever since that robbery, persons have been looking enquiringly at some of their work colleagues. You simply do not know for sure how the person sitting next to you will turn out. You think you know someone and then something happens and the person you thought you knew turns out to be completely different.
Be careful who you employ. That person may not be the person you think he or she is. That person may well be a psychopath.
