As I write this I am sitting here staring at a set of keys I found while cleaning out my desk. The keys don’t belong to me. They belong to a business I use to work for a very long time ago. The one key opens both the front and back door to the main shop. The other key opened the warehouse. For the time that I worked for this company I think I might have used the keys once. Mainly I was never the first one there or last to leave. Plus I never really understood why a business would give a 20yr old keys but hey, it wasn’t my business.
After a while I just left the keys in my glove compartment in my car forgetting about them until I sold my car and cleaned it out some years later. Finding them I laughed a little knowing when I quit I was never asked to return the keys. Not like it mattered to me. I wasn’t going to do anything with the keys.
Finding the key recently again I started asking my business friends if they still have keys to an old business that they worked for. Sure enough a few of them did and they were all for small businesses. My one business friend mentioned they doubt the owners even know that they have the keys or ever had the keys.
Keys to a business can be a dangerous thing. Keys should only be given to trusted employees and as an owner you should keep a list of who as the keys and to what so if the employee leaves or is terminated you can get the keys back. Other precautionary measures should be taken too, like stamping each key with a do not duplicate. Also it wouldn’t hurt to change the locks every once in a while. It you can afford it, installing a key pad or key card entry so each necessary employee has their own key card or code that can be deactivated when the employee quits or is terminated. Along with installing security cameras to see who is coming in and going out.
If keys fall into the wrong hands it can be pretty disastrous for a business. Why break into a business when you can use a key? So for this week, if you business does have keys and your employees have any sets, I would take some time to document it. It will save you major headache in the future.
