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By Will Sturgeon, 25 July 2003 12:14

NEWS Ex-employees pose one of the most significant threats to a company - with bad-blood redundancies, heat-of-the-moment resignations and sackings all likely to lead to damaging recriminations. From intellectual property thefts, such as stealing contacts and customer leads, to physical thefts such as hardware - an outgoing employee can leave their ex-boss with a far greater headache than simply worrying about having to manage with fewer staff or filling a vacated position. Stories of disgruntled bosses walking out of offices with their laptop in a briefcase - and taking with them numerous files of business critical data - are commonplace, leaving companies needing to implement solutions to crack down on such leaks. And according to research by TNS, 67 per cent of respondents said they would take information that would help them with their next job. More worrying is the finding that only 27 per cent of UK companies have security policies in place to ensure employees cannot damage a company when they leave. Clearly companies are failing to implement even the simplest measures, such as removing access to shared networks upon termination of a contract. Furthermore, companies shouldn't expect any loyalty from those staff still with the company. A staggering 79 per cent of respondents said they would forward sensitive company information to a former colleague if requested - even if that ex-colleague was now working for a rival firm. Steve Brown, UK MD of Novell, said: "Losing your job is upsetting whatever the circumstances and it is vital that employers handle the situation with professionalism and sensitivity. What concerns me most about this survey is the impact that former employees could have on the remaining staff. The costs will be felt throughout an organisation and could impact on pay, bonuses and benefits. Many organisations are like leaky buckets and companies need to start plugging the holes in their organisations to ensure they are watertight when an employee leaves."