3 Warning Signs That Can Reveal Your IT Staff’s True Colors

Your IT staff deals with your technology on a daily basis, and that same technology is necessary for your company’s survival. In a sense, your IT staff holds the future of your business in their hands. This tremendous responsibility demands a certain level of trust from the business owner, but sometimes they might have other ulterior motives in mind. How can you tell if you’re being fooled by your IT staff?

According to Roger Grimes of InfoWorld, there are several warning signs that might be able to clue you in on whether or not you can trust your team with your technology. Here are three ways you might see how trustworthy your current IT staff is, and help you make the right choice when hiring top talent.

Your Employees (or Prospective Employees) Fail a Background Check
Under most normal circumstances, a failed background check would be a sure-fire sign that someone probably isn’t the best choice for the position. However, it should be mentioned that not all people who have a questionable background are bad people, or won’t make good workers. Grimes suggests that employers look at the real reason why a prospective hire fails a background check. After all, people make mistakes, some more than others.

How long ago was it? What was the offense, and why did it occur? These are questions that should be addressed at an interview. If the potential hire is honest about it, they might prove a valuable asset to your team. However, if the new hire lies about their past, and they fail the background check, that just tells you that they’re a liar and a cheat. Be wary of these people when looking for IT staff.

They Know Things They Shouldn’t
All companies are responsible for making sure that employees have access to information required for them to fulfill their daily duties. However, what happens when an employee knows more than they need to, consistently? It depends on how much they know. If they know information like salaries, budgets, or new policies that haven’t been implemented yet, and they aren’t supposed to know these things, you can bet that there’s something fishy going on behind your back. One of the worst-case scenarios is that this employee is stealing information from your business. Therefore, detailed audit and monitoring procedures should be set up in order to keep track of who accesses what, and when.

Important Employees Leave Angry
We all know that one employee who works day in and day out to produce quality results for your business. His hard work is respected and appreciated, but sometimes he works too much, or he doesn’t have the tools to perform his job to the best of his ability. In this scenario, he might quickly grow frustrated and leave in a fit of rage, rather than simply putting in a two-weeks notice. If this happens, it’s possible that he might try to sabotage your business, especially if he was responsible for your technology. It’s important to respond to these problems if they occur, and to avoid situations like this in the first place by changing passwords and usernames promptly.

Try Outsourced IT from Ferrum Technology Services
Your in-house IT department has its advantages, but they’re likely strapped for free time as it is. They might not have time to deal with issues as they come up, and you might be on the fence about whether you can trust them or not to get everything done. Ferrum Technology Services provides managed IT services with no strings attached, meaning that we have your business’s best interests in mind and will get the job done right, the first time.

Our knowledgeable IT professionals have proven themselves trustworthy and proficient time and again. We can prevent your team from accessing confidential files by restricting network access permissions, minimize the risk associated by employee turnover, and integrate security cameras to look for sketchy activity. Just give us a call at (847) 697-3282 to learn more.