Another company in which scandal becomes
the main product. Usual situation.
Some ever so busy boss hires some ever so
vindictive secretary/assistant.
My first experience concerned Dr. Rx and
his rather surly "receptionist" who had
been given the keys to the kingdom.
To avoid taxes, Dr. Rx had a method of
'green slip'. Green slip patents received
receipts from the "other book".
Dr. Rx was doing quite well, and Miss Surly
decided she should share in the benefit.
When Dr. Rx refused it wasn't long before
the Income Tax folk arrived, and Dr. Rx
was very very deep in the pickle.
The situation could have been avoided if
Dr. Rx did his own "accounting" and Miss
Surly limited to; "You can go in now."
Although most companies don't have the
'green slip' method, use the image in
larger concerns where the "boss" has a
secretary/assistant who would like to
see him/her drawn and quartered.
If you are too busy to actually plumb
the character of your secretary/assistant
you might have hired your executioner.
He or she could be a relative, could have
arrived highly recommended.
Your job is to prevent a Miss Surly from
being able to execute you.
You don't have to be doing anything dishonest,
you don't have to be particularly cruel to
your staff; you just have to be aware that
at anytime one of them might turn on you.
Overpaying a member of staff to insure their
'loyalty' doesn't work. Giving them a fabulous
package of benefits, is not protection.
What is protection is supervision. Spot checks,
double checks, in an unpredictable order.
For example, sending that messenger to the
bank, ring up the bank, find out if he's there,
find out if he made the deposit yet,
verify the amount.
The messenger can be the most dishonest
person in the city, but he can't be
dishonest when he works for you.
Doing spot checks of receipt books,
checking files, is far more important
than lunch or sleep.
The day your secretary/assistant walks
in to find you at his/her desk, going
through documents is the day s/he knows
that any kind of scam is not going to
work, so does not attempt it.
You can never be so "busy" you don't
know what is happening in your office.
Powerful men and women have been brought
down, some as low as jail, due to the
actions of an employee.
In many cases what was done was not as
bad as it seemed, but spins are dangerous
things.
I have said it before; it is better to
have less work and make less money than
to be so busy that your money is walking
out of the office.
