Staff Editor — Page 119

Increased Profitability – Employee Background Checks

October 15, 2013 by Staff Editor

Do you know how much employee turnover costs? It might be more than you think. For a lot of small business owners, spending money on employee background checks and pre-employment screening seems counter productive when you are trying to enhance your profitability.

When you take a look at a bad hire, you are going to start incurring more monetary losses than what you initially bargained for. You hire a new employee with the intention that they will be proficient in their job after an introductory training period. Once they are up and running, they should be able to complete the assigned tasks of their job description within an allotted time period that maximizes your productivity and subsequent payroll goals.

If this hire is unproductive, or even worse begins to alienate customers, you will begin to decrease the leverage you might once have had by hiring this employee. You are now beginning to lose money by having them work for you.

Unfortunately, you can’t just bounce them to the curb. To avoid litigation, you have to have a disciplinary action plan where they are given the opportunity to find out that they are not fulfilling the required expectations of the job, and are given an action plan and time frame to complete their turn around.

This action plan may be repeated up to three or four times before the employee can be let go. In the mean time, you will continue to suffer losses from this employee.

Employee background checks help reduce these incurred costs by reducing the likely hood of hiring a bad employee from the beginning.

To purchase Pre-Employment Screening Services or for more information on background check experts, background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: background check company, background check experts, Background checks, criminal background check, employee background checks, pre employment screening

Left on your own – Loss Prevention Seminars

October 15, 2013 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day. He was trying to get through a very rigorous set of tests to get his state licensing completed. He had taken them once before, but had failed. Knowing that I had conducted loss prevention seminars covering extensive information in a short span of time, he asked me for some advice.

The advice wasn’t on the information that I had specifically covered in my loss prevention training. Rather it was in how to manage and disseminate the massive amount of information he had to sort through in such a short span of time.

The advice I gave him was to find a way to categorize the information. If he could loop the ideas together into groups, then he could break the information down into smaller sections of information. For example, my loss prevention workshops fell into three main categories of employee theft, shoplifting, and operational breakdowns.

From there, my trainees could spend time focusing on one category until they knew it forwards and backwards. They didn’t need to loop it all into one big mess of information. If I tried to talk about all three situations, but labeled them all under the guise of say, shoplifting, it would have been too much to handle.

For more information on Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Training, or Loss Prevention Workshop contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia

Visit the Loss Prevention Systems website for more information on Retail Employee Theft and Retail Shoplifting problems and view the Retail Loss Prevention Seminars, Retail Loss Prevention Training and Retail Loss Prevention Workshop we offer to help with your Employee Theft and Shoplifting problems.

Filed Under: Seminar Tagged With: Employee Theft, Loss Prevention Seminar, Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Training, Loss Prevention Workshop, shoplifting

The Check is in the Mail – Internal Theft

October 14, 2013 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

I ran a store that did a thriving mail order business. It was a great way to capture sales from customers not only in the area, but also some of the tourist shoppers as well. It was a little too late when I found out that one of my employees was committing internal theft through our postal process.

I didn’t have any real indication that while it was going on that I should have started an employee theft investigation. In fact, this employee stayed so far under the radar that the only reason I had any suspicions was because of another employee.

The employee that was running the mail orders had quit to find a job somewhere else. He had gone out with one of my other employees and had confided in them how much product he had taken and how easy it was to get away with it.

He had been shipping orders out to his home address and to the addresses of his friends. These orders were never paid for. Because we didn’t do an audit on 100% of the packages, his employee theft was undetected. He would hold his personal packages behind until the mailman was about to come by. Then he would slip his packages in with everything else.

There was no record of the packages, and there was only a slight influx in postage. It would have been the perfect crime had he only kept his mouth shut.

For more information on employee theft, employee theft investigation or internal theft contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase CCTV Systems that can help you stop Employee Theft and Internal Theft problems and help with your Employee Theft Investigation.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: employee theft, employee theft investigation, internal theft

When Opportunity Knocks – Retail Theft Prevention

October 13, 2013 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

How do you stop shoplifting when the shoplifter doesn’t know that they are going to steal?

What? Are we supposed to be mind readers here? How can that even be possible?

Well the reality is that retail theft prevention really can stop shoplifting by opportunist shoplifters. I guess I should start at the beginning. You don’t have to be a mind reader or have a crystal ball. Opportunist shoplifters are shoplifters that don’t plan on coming into your store to steal.

They are presented with the opportunity to steal and decide to take it. What if someone leaves a shirt in a fitting room, and you don’t clean it out before the next person goes in. They may decide that to take that shirt because they are aware that no one knows the shirt is in the fitting room. Therefore, no one will know it is gone.

How about taking a small piece of jewelry because no one is looking, or because no one came to help them?

What if your wrap stand or checkout is not cleaned off and an additional piece of merchandise is accidentally put into a bag. The customer didn’t take it, but they also probably won’t bother to return it when they get home and discover the error.

This is where retail theft prevention comes into play. Anti-shoplifting tools like Checkpoint systems will help keep your customer’s honest. It will also help detect errors at the point of sale.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Anti-Shoplifting devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems to stop shoplifting in your store.

For more information on Anti-Shoplifting, Checkpoint Labels, a Checkpoint Security System, Checkpoint Security Tags, Checkpoint Systems, or Checkpoint Tags and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at Retail theft prevention to Stop Shoplifting in your store or call 1.770.426.0547

Filed Under: antishoplifting Tagged With: Anti-Shoplifting, Checkpoint labels, checkpoint security system, Checkpoint security tags, checkpoint systems, Checkpoint tags, retail theft prevention, stop shoplifting

My Time or Yours? – Clothing Security Tags

October 12, 2013 by Staff Editor

I was watching a suspected shoplifter over the weekend. As far as clothing security goes, she knew what to look for. She was checking a selection of clothing for Clothing Security Tags. She would go through a table of shirts, for example, and see if she could find one without a tag on it.

If no one else was in the area, she would casually walk to a corner and stuff her bag with the un-sensor tagged merchandise. She would go back to the clothing area and start looking through a new section of merchandise for the checkpoint tags. Once she could fit no more in, she would make her way to the exit. Luckily for us, we were watching and were able to make the apprehension.

Unfortunately, after reviewing more video from the day, we realized that she had been in the store at least three other times. There’s no way to tell how much we lost in those stuffed bags of merchandise because the security tags on clothes were not 100% accurate.

We learned an important lesson about why we need to stay consistent with our clothing security tags. I have a story that can help remind my employees that even if they don’t have the time to properly tag, it doesn’t mean that a shoplifter doesn’t have time to look for our errors.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Checkpoint Tags, a Clothing Alarm, Clothing Security or Clothing Security Tags to put Security Tags on Clothes and an Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.

For more information on Checkpoint tags, clothing security, clothing alarm, or clothing security tags how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us at security tags on clothes or call 1.770.426.0547

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Checkpoint tags, clothing alarm, Clothing Security, clothing security tags, security tags on clothes

Keep a Grip On It – Bottle Security

October 9, 2013 by Staff Editor

When it came to deterring shoplifters, your bottle security can’t be soft. These are the times that you need to use an iron fist, or at least having a steel grip for your bottle security. When this need arises, it is good to know that there are products and resources out there that show the shoplifters that you mean business.

The Alpha Steel Grip is an easy way to add bottle locks to your bottle security. This Alpha Security bottle lock is actually a steel band (with an alarm component inside) that is strapped to a bottles neck. The bottle lock secures into place and stays there until a detacher key at the point of sale removes the band.

This is a basic model of available bottle locks. The steel grip is a visual and audible deterrent against shoplifting. It is not made for product denial. It is more common for a store to have shoplifting issues than having unauthorized sampling. Unless you are experiencing that issue in your store, there may not be a need to use bottle caps for your bottle locks.

The Alpha Steel Grip works well for this basic level of security. The grips can work on almost all sizes of bottles. They are compatible on liquor, wine and champagne bottles. The Alpha Security lock has a better locking mechanism and increased durability of the interior steel band over off brand and imported locks.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase EASy Bottle bottle locks by Alpha Security and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system.

For more information on Alpha Security, Bottle Lock, Bottle locks, Bottle Security, EASy Bottle or Liquor Bottle Security and how they can work with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

Filed Under: Security Tagged With: Alpha Security, bottle lock, bottle locks, bottle security, easy bottle, liquor bottle security

Her Time to Shine – A Loss Prevention Training Success Story

October 8, 2013 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

One of my most successful moments in my career came from the Loss Prevention Workshops that I did with all of the store’s new hires. There were three main topics that I routinely presented on: employee theft, credit card fraud, and shoplifting.

This isn’t a story about how Loss Prevention Seminars stop shoplifting. This is a little different.

There was an employee who was very clear that the only reason she was working there was to get the employee discount. Policy and procedure were nothing to her, no matter how many conversations were had. She spent more time shopping on the clock than she did working.

One day, she burst into my office with a huge smile on her face. She had in her hand a form that I had implemented to help curb credit card fraud with phone orders. She proudly waved the form at me and exclaimed, “This is credit card fraud, and I know it!! All the signs are there and I remembered you said this in our new hire class. It happened just like you said it would!!!”

Wow. The woman that no one could reach and no one expected anything from, remembered what I had said. That was a pretty good feeling realizing that she had taken away something from that meeting.

More importantly, she did something she never thought in her life that she would do and she was proud because of it. I was proud of her for it too.

Without my passion and that Loss Prevention Training, she never would have stopped that fraudulent phone order. She never would have had that moment to be better than what she or anyone else ever believed she could be. I have to say that I am proud that my training somehow took hold in her mind and all those months later, it came back to her so she could do something positive.

For more information on Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Training, or Loss Prevention Workshop contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia.

Visit the Loss Prevention Systems’ website for more information on Retail Employee Theft and Retail Shoplifting problems and view the Retail Loss Prevention Seminars, Retail Loss Prevention Training and Retail Loss Prevention Workshop we offer to help with your Employee Theft and Shoplifting problems.

Filed Under: Seminar Tagged With: Employee Theft, Loss Prevention Seminar, Loss Prevention Seminars, Loss Prevention Training, Loss Prevention Workshop, shoplifting

In the Corral – Alpha Spider Wrap

October 8, 2013 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

We recently re-designed the tool area of our store. Because the new area is a closed off horseshoe shape, it was deemed a corral. The concept was to reduce our shrink in power tools. If the shoplifters only had one way in and one way out of the department, there would be a greater chance of them being detected. Unfortunately, this didn’t work as well as expected so we went to plan B – the Alpha Spider Wrap made by Alpha Security.

Our corral would probably have worked out well, if we had taken the time to staff it correctly. Since the right hand (who made payroll decisions) didn’t know what the left hand (our loss prevention team) was doing, it was unfortunately a doomed concept from the start.

With no one watching the area, it didn’t matter how many exits there were out of the department. What did work was the implementation of the Alpha Spider Wraps. These wraps were attached to the outside of the boxes of our high theft power tools. Now there was a means to permanently prevent shoplifting regardless of how many labor hours involved.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store for Alpha 2Alarm, Alpha 3Alarm, Alpha Fashion2, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Shark Tag, Alpha Spider Wrap and other retail anti-theft devices from Alpha Security to use in conjunction with your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system that can help you prevent shoplifting in your business.

For more information on how you can use Alpha Security retail anti-theft devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system to prevent shoplifting contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Alpha Fashion2, Alpha Jewel Lok, Alpha Nano Gate, Alpha Shark Tag, Alpha Spider Wrap, Fashion2, Jewel Lok, Nano Gate, Prevent Shoplifting, Shark Tag, Spider Wrap

Track Your Cash- Employee Theft

October 7, 2013 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

If you have a cash shortage problem, then you have an employee theft problem. While it does happen, it is very rare that someone who does not work in your store causes cash shortage.

One of the first things that should be done is to maintain a daily cash over and short log. It is the first at a glance look at what is going on with your cash. You have to have a handle on when and where you are missing cash, as well as tracking any overages.

To be accurate, you need to create a chart that lists the sales date, the dollar amount short or over, and the employees who had access to that register on that day. They could be cashiers, or managers that might have a key to the drawer, or someone who reconciles the drawer either at opening or closing.

You might decide to only track discrepancies over a certain dollar amount – say plus or minus five dollars.

Now that you have your chart made, you need to document all of your cash discrepancies. Over time, perhaps a week or maybe even a month, you should start to see a pattern emerge. If the same cashier is working on every day there is a discrepancy, or maybe there is a pattern (cash shortages on Fridays when there isn’t a paycheck) you probably have an issue with internal theft.

Start an employee theft investigation by monitoring that employee’s activities. You might find that they are stealing, or it might just be a simple training issue.

For more information on employee theft, employee theft investigation or internal theft contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase CCTV Systems that can help you stop Employee Theft and Internal Theft problems and help with your Employee Theft Investigation.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: employee theft, employee theft investigation, internal theft

The Nuts and Bolts – Checkpoint Systems

October 6, 2013 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Have you ever wondered how Checkpoint Security Tags Checkpoint labels work.

There are two main components to Checkpoint systems. The towers, which are stationed at an entrance door, and the Checkpoint Security tags or Checkpoint labels.

The towers flank the door and send out a signal, creating a sort of force field around your door. An audible alarm is generated any time a tag enters this field,. This alerts your staff to the door to offer quality customer service to validate a false alarm, or ultimately to recognize a theft in progress.

By just having the Checkpoint system at your door, many would be thieves will bypass your establishment, because you are not an easy target to hit. This element, in itself, helps stop shoplifting in your store. Thieves want to be able to slip by undetected. If they see an obstacle they would have to overcome before making a clean escape, they will think twice about that particular target.

The Checkpoint Security tags will also stop shoplifting by providing another visual cue. These tags affix to garments and are only deactivated by being removed by a store associate. If you can’t remove the tag, the garment is rendered useless to a shoplifter.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase Anti-Shoplifting devices and your Electronic Article Surveillance or EAS system from Checkpoint Systems to stop shoplifting in your store.

For more information on Anti-Shoplifting, contact us at Retail theft prevention to Stop Shoplifting in your store or call 1.770.426.0547