Retail Anti Theft Devices

Should You Apprehend The Shoplifter?

November 24, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

According to the statistics by the National Association for Shoplifting prevention the habitual shoplifter steals 1.6 times a week. And although that is an alarming amount, the fact is that theft by employees surpasses theft by the outside shoplifter. The amount they steal is alarmingly higher compared to what the outside shoplifter takes from the store. So how do you prepare your business to mitigate the loses it will suffer from employees and shoplifters alike? Is having up to date inventory data readily available one of the solutions? Is prosecuting the employee no matter the amount the way to go? For more about this and other stories follow the links below.

To Stop Or Not to Stop the Shoplifter: Is This Still a Question?

A male shoplifting suspect has been coming into store 153 three times a week for as long as anybody can remember. Store management has even attributed this guy as a major cause of the store’s shrink woes that have put them on the corporation’s “target store” list for the last two inventory cycles. As the store’s loss prevention agent, you have tried to stop him in the past, but it seems like you have always been just one step behind him and unable to make the shoplifter apprehension.

“Today is going to be different,” you say to yourself.

You can feel it. Today he is finally going to get what’s coming to him, and, more importantly, your apprehension dry spell is going to end. No more excuses needed for the boss. Today you are going to be stopping the shoplifter that nobody else has been able to get.

You have spent the last ten minutes following the suspect through the store, tracking him carefully from the moment he entered. You know and understand the steps of the apprehension process. You have observed him approach, select, and conceal multiple computer accessories that you estimate to be worth over $200.

Seven things retail can teach us all about data security

TalkTalk’s Dido Harding isn’t the first CEO to receive advice from cyber experts safely installed on the This Morning sofa and she won’t be the last. The boardrooms of British Gas, Vodafone and Morrisons have all recently played data-breach bingo and we all now accept it’s ‘when’ not ‘if’.

But retailers have been dealing with theft for a very long time. They call it ‘shrinkage’ – when stock leaves a store by any non-legitimate route and surprisingly, shoplifting comes a distant second to theft by staff. Since retailers need staff they’ve had to concentrate on mitigation rather than eradication.

The information security community would do well to take heed here. The biggest tool most companies have against the insider threat – data theft by staff – is a strongly worded statement. Even then, access to information is so poor that management can’t deliver on any threats. Too much attention still goes on preventing the external attack – the shoplifter.

RETAIL SECURITY

Retail security is a term with two very different and distinct meanings in the retail environment. In one aspect, retail security is an outdated and understated term for a critical sales support function. In the early years of the profession, most companies called this aspect of the workforce the “Security” or “Protection” department. Security teams served as a real and visible force to combat losses in the stores. Uniformed guards would stand at the doors or walk the selling floors. Undercover security agents were eventually brought on to catch shoplifters. Security managers coordinated these efforts, and also handled internal theft issues. Programs typically assumed a reactive and one-dimensional approach; responding to issues as they occurred and working to keep the stores safe and secure. Unfortunately, while this reactionary approach was often expected and requested by retail leadership, it was not conducive to true retail success.

Over the years, responsibilities continued to increase, and these departments were looked at in a different way. It became increasingly apparent that in order to benefit the overall organization the industry would have to evolve, embracing the concepts of retail shrink reduction and incorporating concepts critical to the retail culture.

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Shoplifting Prevention and Your Inventory

November 18, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Keeping track of your inventory this holiday season is not an easy task. The time and work that this task takes is not easy for many managers to keep up with, nor something they relished doing. But maintaining an accurate inventory is not only good to keep up with customers likes and dislikes, but to keep a closer eye if shoplifting is happening in your store.

For more about this and other topics, follow the links below.

Business Security: 10 Tips to Prevent Shoplifting

In 2010, shoplifting accounted for 31% of retail inventory loss, according to a University of Florida retail security survey. This loss cost retailers about $10.94 billion during that year, according to a Washington Post article about the survey.

Items most commonly stolen include clothing, books, music, jewelry, watches, tires and car parts. “Everyone thinks about little Johnny stealing a pack of bubble gum, but there are also professional gangs that target stores and steal billions of dollars every year,” says Joseph LaRocca, an adviser for the National Retail Federation, in the article.

While security cameras can help identify suspects after a theft occurs, there’s plenty a retailer can do to prevent shoplifting from happening in the first place, according to the North Carolina Governor’s Crime Commission and the Specialty Retail Report.

Greet customers as soon as they come into the store. Addressing customers removes their anonymity. Shoplifters are known to avoid stores with attentive salespeople

5 Quick and Low-Tech Tips To Prevent Shoplifting in Your Retail Store

As a small business retailer, it’s not always easy to just throw money at problems like shoplifting and take advantage of all the technology that big box retailers may be privy to. Whether it’s cameras, door scanners, or facial-recognition software, sometimes their big-ticket cost just doesn’t fit with your small business security budget.

But when you recognize facts like shoplifting costing retailers upwards of $13 billion each year, it’s important to identify it as a problem that needs to be dealt with.

So, what’s a boutique owner to do? In this post, I’ll be looking at cost-effective and low-tech tactics that you can start implementing right away.

Let’s dive in.

1. Keep Your Store Organized and Products Well-Placed

How easy should it be to identify whether something has gone “missing” from your store? Empty space on your shelves should be enough of a visual cue to signal something has gone wrong.

However, if your store is messy, disorganized, or a maze to get through, it can be harder to notice that you’ve been “gotten” until it’s too late.

Security expert and founder of Crime Doctor, Chris McGoey recommends the following: “You want to keep all your merchandise “faced,” which means pulling your products to the edge of the shelf to create a solid wall of product. If someone sweeps the shelf, then it is easy to tell.”

Impact of retail theft: Costs customers, hurts business fuels drug trade

Shoplifting is a crime that happens often, but many people don’t often stop to think about its impact. The retailer suffers, shoppers pay more and police resources are expended.

Walmart is one of many stores that are frequently targeted by shoplifters.

By Zach Glenn
[email protected]

Posted Nov. 14, 2015 at 8:15 AM

Shoplifting is a crime that happens often, but many people don’t often stop to think about its impact. The retailer suffers, shoppers pay more and police resources are expended.

“From the law enforcement side (retail theft) can take up a lot of resources when it comes to investigations which can be problematic when there are other emergencies coming in and other cases that need worked on,” said Pennsylvania State Police spokesman Robert Hicks. “From a societal point, we all know when businesses lose money from theft that their prices increase which impacts all of us as consumers.”

Police calls

Last year, Walmart reported that around 1 percent of its total profits had been lost to shoplifting — for a total of $3 billion. Greg Foran, head of U.S. Walmart operations, said in a statement earlier this year that without theft, prices could be lower.

Other stores targeted by shoplifters sell items that are easy to resell, such as scrap metal from home improvement stores like Lowe’s or Home Depot and movies, music and video games from electronics stores like Best Buy.

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Employee Theft Can Create Managerial Burnout

November 16, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

It’s no secret that employee theft in retail stores continues to rise. The amount of lost revenue is in the billions. There are many articles, memos, reports and studies about its affect on the bottom line. But, equally important, and less talked about, is the cost of employee theft on their managers.

Many managers say that “being betrayed” by employees who steal is “the last straw”. This last straw is the one that puts them “over the edge”, which creates burnout. Some of the symptoms of burnout are apathy, anger and unhappiness. Unfortunately, if a supervisor doesn’t recognize and deal with these symptoms a cycle starts.

She starts to resent the employees and dislike her job. The resentment spreads to upper management, customers, vendors and peers. Everyone reacts to her resentment with their own anger. Inevitably, the resentment causes bad behavior or acting out, which leads to an unending process of more hurt feelings and acting out.

The store becomes one of those stores – we’ve all been in them – where everyone has a bad attitude. By the time they’re that toxic it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to sort out whose “fault” the problems are, because both management and employees are responsible.

This cycle usually starts with supervisors who expect and want their employees to have personal relationships with them. They see the workplace as a social situation and the employees as friends. They want everyone to be “one big happy family”. When, not if, an employee is caught stealing he’s seen as a disloyal, unfaithful friend.

The manager’s resulting feeling of betrayal is a personal response, rather than a professional one. Personal response – How could he do that to me, after all I did for him? I treated him like a friend/family member. Professional response – This is disappointing. But, it just goes to show that you can never tell.

Employee theft will continue to be a major problem in retail. A smart, emotionally balanced manager will not take it personally, nor let it create a cycle of burnout. Establishing and keeping a boundary between work and home is a part of good mental health.

Nicole Abbott is a writer, business consultant and psycho-therapist with over 20 years of experience in the fields of mental health, business and addiction. She’s an educator, coach, lecturer, trainer and facilitator – who has conducted over 200 workshops, trainings, presentations, college classes and seminars.

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COPYING EMPLOYEE THEFT

November 11, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Quite often, I like to showcase a new theft trend, or perhaps a funnier shoplifter story for a bit of humor. This month is no different. We’ve talked about some pretty serious issues on the past two articles and now I just want to share a story that goes along with that employee theft piece. It’s something I bet each and every one of you will react to immediately after reading.

At one point last year, our company finally gave us (Regional LP Managers) access to our store’s P&L statements. You would think we would have already had this… Better late than never I suppose. It’s a great tool for me to see the overall profitability of the store. I can use my expertise to help the store reduces losses/expenses and to become a more profitable business. One store in particular stuck out. They were over their office supply budget by thousands of dollars. Odd.

Most stores spent between $500-$1000 a month on office supplies like toner, paper, pens and pencils. This particular store was spending triple that; at least $3k each month. I met with the store manager during a visit and asked about that line item. He was just as perplexed. Where were these office supplies going each and every month? We devised a plan. We initiated a “buy back” program for all employees. We put up signs in the offices and common areas asking all employees to clear their lockers, cars and homes of any supplies they may have taken home. It happens, no big deal. When the employees returned the items, we weighed them on a digital scale. The employee with the heaviest return received a gift card. Well, it worked. We had pens and pencils for the next two years. Next month, the store still spent $2k in supplies.

Baffled, I reached out to our accounting department. Surely, there had to be an error somewhere. Perhaps a line item was being mixed in where it shouldn’t be. It took a few days, but I convinced one of the accountants to give me an itemized breakdown of all office supplies the store had ordered over the past year. Toner. The store was ordering toner. Lots and lots of toner.

I questioned the managers and personally searched the store. Over the past six months, the store had ordered nearly 25 replacement toner cartridges. Couldn’t find them, and couldn’t explain why the store was ordering so many. I decided to ask the administrative assistant. A kind of last ditch effort to explain why the store kept ordering copy toner. 15 minutes into my conversation and I had a theft confession.

Toner, apparently, will resell very easily online, especially if you mark it down about 50%. The administrative assistant was ordering toner, then simply walking out the front door with it. She’d post it on eBay and was making a pretty healthy profit from it. It was a first for our LP department. No one else had ever, in my company’s history, uncovered this form of theft. It was a bit unusual, but still cost us well over $12k. My advice to you; look over your office supply orders.

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EMPLOYEE THEFT IN THE 4TH QUARTER

November 11, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

It always seems that as we get into the 4^th quarter, cases of internal theft seem to rise. Every year for the past 8, I’ve dreaded the case load that I know will be coming in the next three months. While it is impossible for me to predict, with any certainty, internal theft cases at any point in the year, I can always guarantee that each one of my 29 stores will have at least one case in the next three months. Good thing I’ve got my bags packed.

I would almost bet that I’m not alone here. Those of you reading this right now have experienced the same thing. Yeah, sure, we see employee theft cases all year long, but why do they seem to increase during the end of the year? Are more people just desperate to satisfy those wish-lists? Is it driven by greed for the season’s hot new electronics? Is it our temporary associates, who may not receive a background check? Probably a little bit of all of those.

Holidays bring pressure, especially if you have a family. Even more so if you are struggling financially. Those children surely need a new tablet, even though rent may take up an entire 2 weeks’ salary. Let’s not forget about utilities and groceries, clothes and other essentials. If someone is desperate enough, Santa will pass, but it will be on your dime. I grew up in poverty. My father worked long hours for minimum wage, and my mother raised 3 kids. When the holidays came around, I can remember my mother taking on temp work and my dad taking on another job. Nowadays, it seems as that type of work ethic is completely unheard of. Why work yourself to death, when you could just steal what you want.

Our employees also have greater access to product. Even before that new tablet hits the display, an employee has to take it off the delivery truck. Chances are, these receiving employees are grossly unsupervised, and can simply cart it out the back door. Just last week, I had a case where two guys were doing just that. They had bilked the store for nearly $10k in product that never made it to the sales floor. The managers learned a very hard lesson about supervision, as well as back door procedures. Employees also learn our system and understand where our weaknesses are. Last year (same store as the first example), the hard-goods employees (all 10 of them) were taking cash payments from customers and loading up bulk items like treadmills, ride-on toys, and basketball goals. The store has a procedure in place for a supervisor to verify all receipts prior to bulk items being taken out. The store was not following this program and it costs them well over $75k.

Temporary workers are another pain in my side. Obviously, we need the additional support in the 4^th quarter. Hiring is essential, but hiring the right person is even more so. My company waives the background check process for temporary hires. It’s the reason I’m bald at 28. There are better alternatives out there. I know a ton of other retailers also have this practice. It’s not good for business. Yes, these people are only working for you for a limited amount of time, but they can do serious damage in that time. Just last year, two temporary cashiers embezzled nearly $30k in one of my stores by processing fraudulent return transactions. Upon their arrest, we saw on their criminal records that each had multiple arrests for embezzlement and shoplifting. They would have never been offered employment outside of the temp hire period.

There is no quick fix, or simple solution to employee theft. As managers and business owners, you have to take proactive steps to minimize your losses. Employees will always find ways to steal from you; it’s your job to make it increasingly difficult for them to do so. The key to a strong 4^th quarter is clearing your store of product, just not through the backdoors.

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THE IMPORTANCE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE

November 11, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

For me, this is the last week of the 3^rd quarter. It’s already that time of year once again. In just a few short days, the 4^th quarter will ramp-up and shoppers will be in a tizzy as they check their loved ones off that holiday wish list. I just read a national report that predicts consumer spending this season will be at its highest point since 2008. That’s fantastic news to us retailers. We are poised to post some record sales in the next three months, provided that we execute to our fullest potential. What keeps the customer coming into your store? Is it your customer service levels?

I am a champion of customer service. Like many before me, prior to my LP career I was a store manager for a big box retailer. You can set all the POGs, put up all the proper signage and all those other corporate tasks, but you will find yourself on a lonely island if your store is not customer centric. It’s a two way street. Attentive and responsive employees will help drive sales. They will also reduce shrink.

Take for example a customer shopping for a treadmill. Sure, they could come into the store, pick out the item themselves and cart it out. You just made a $500 sale and you really didn’t have to work for it. Did that customer get the foam mat to protect their floor? What about the silicone lubricant for the belt? How about a new pair of running shoes to prevent an injury, or even some fitness supplements to help them with their workout routine? What if by not speaking with someone on your staff, they purchase a treadmill that doesn’t fit their activity level? You may have very well left an additional $50-$100 on the table in add-on sales. Why would you leave all these extra dollars out there?

My company, like so many others, runs a survey. Customers can call in the number on the back of the receipt and share their in store experiences. I often review these for opportunities in the store. One thing I see the most is that customers feel “ignored”. Is it so hard for our employees to simply greet a customer? I see it so often. Employees who are too task oriented, who whizz past our customers without as much as a greeting. Do you see that in your store? Is it acceptable?

Let’s talk shrink. This is an LP centered magazine, right? Do you know that the very best method for reducing shoplifting losses is? If you guessed customer service, give yourself a pat on the back. First and foremost, a thief never wants to be acknowledged. If your employees are engaging and monitoring their areas, a thief will not have the opportunity to steal your merchandise. When my LP team completes a shoplifting report, there is a checkbox at the end of the report. It asks simply if the suspect was ever provided customer service by an employee. When I get those reports that say “no,” I use that shoplifting incident as a tool to coach the managers of the store, and show them a customer service failure. By training your employees to give high levels of customer service, you can and will deter criminal activity.

Customer service isn’t just telling a customer hello. It’s about each and every employee going the extra mile to satisfy your customer. Every single person that comes through your doors has a choice. They are choosing to give you their money. You, as a manager, should be honored by that choice. You should make it a core philosophy in your building that the customer is the most important aspect of your business. Strive to be the store that people will shop at, no matter the distance from their home. Engage your customers, leave no money on the table and be proactive in reducing shoplifting losses. Remember, customer service means money in your pocket and less product walking out the doors.

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Shoplifting, Technology And The Customer’s Privacy

November 11, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

For many retail stores the holiday season is a time when they see a huge jump in sales, and profits hopefully follow. For many of those same stores, the problem of shoplifting is something they have to deal more than ever during this time of year. Billions of dollars are lost due to this crime and stores spend a lot of time and money to combat shoplifting. So, what are some of these big retailers doing this holiday season to combat this crime? Follow the links below to read more about this topic.

Walmart’s Use of Sci-fi Tech To Spot Shoplifters Raises Privacy Questions

Retailers are scanning shoppers with high-tech tools to automatically pick out suspected thieves, absent rules to protect privacy.

In the old days, when a store caught someone stealing, a detective would march the thief to a backroom and take his picture with a Polaroid camera. The photo would be added to the retailer’s in-house rogues gallery to help store security keep an eye out for bad guys.

But earlier this year, Walmart WMT -0.70% showed how times have changed. It tested a system that scanned the face of everyone entering several of its stores, identified suspected shoplifters, and instantly alerted store security on their mobile devices.

The potential of such facial recognition technology has been discussed for years. But now some stores are actually using it.

Shoplifting – is it worth the price? | Your legal corner

The holiday season is quickly approaching as we begin to plan our Thanksgiving feast. Yes, families will gather around the Thanksgiving table and give thanks once again for the blessings received throughout the year. For many, Thanksgiving will also be the official start of the holiday shopping season.

Don’t ruin your holiday season by attempting to shoplift. A moment of weakness is not worth the ultimate price. Shoplifting cannot only put a damper on your holidays but the penalties imposed may follow you around for the rest of your life.

Types of Shoplifting

Shoplifting can take many forms. Most people believe shoplifting is limited to removing merchandise from a store. However, just concealing merchandise may be considered shoplifting. Or, what if you simply switch or alter a price tag? This also may be considered evidence of your intent to steal and is considered shoplifting.

Legendary jewel thief caught trying to swipe earrings — at age 85!

Cops nabbed an international jewel thief who was allegedly up to her very old tricks again at an Atlanta department store.

Security personnel at a Saks Fifth Avenue store spotted 85-year-old Doris Payne — who’s been stealing pricey jewels for over half a century — on video trying to swipe a $690 pair of earrings, Atlanta Police said.

The sticky-fingered 5-foot-1, 110-pound woman was found some time later at a shopping mall next door with the earrings in her pocket, authorities said.

She was taken into custody and charged with shoplifting.

Payne, who was still in the Fulton County jail on Tuesday, was the subject of a 2013 documentary titled “The Life and Crimes of Doris Payne.”

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Shoplifting and Racial Profiling

October 28, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Experts agree that shoplifting can be reduced by having a trained team of employees and managers at the store. Shoplifting seminars or shoplifting prevention training can help reduce shoplifting at your store, and let you keep more of the profits. By training your employees you can avoid racial profiling, or at least mitigate it and avoid lawsuits that are costly for you. For more about this topic, follow the links below.

The black man arrested in Georgetown because he looked like a shoplifter

An hour after Bilaal Briggs clocked in for work at Sports Authority in Arlington on a mid-May morning, a tall African American man walked into Georgetown’s Zara. He grabbed some clothes and, when a manager spotted him, bolted out of the store. The manager called police and dispatched a warning on a private messaging app that hundreds of Georgetown retailers, residents and officers use to discuss people they deem suspicious in the wealthy, largely white community.

“We just got hit,” wrote the manager, Neetu Kaur. The description: “African American male 6’2 tattoos of stars on right side of neck and a tattoo of letters on the left side of his sideburns.”

Two days later, Briggs, who is black, 6-foot-1 and has tattoos of stars on his neck, arrived at Zara to buy a shirt he had placed on hold. The manager spotted Briggs, mistook him for the thief and called police. Within minutes, Briggs was in cuffs, wondering what had happened.

Police to start charging businesses for ‘excessive’ shoplifting calls

LANCASTER, Pa. (WHTM) – Surveillance cameras keep a watch on anyone who walks into Keystone Fireworks in East Lampeter Township.

Business owner Kevin Shaub says that’s one of the reasons they’ve never had a problem with shoplifting.

“Our product, being that it’s generally a fairly large product, doesn’t lend it to be easily shoplifted,” he told ABC 27 News.

Township police told ABC 27 News they’re getting called to more than 300 reports of shoplifting a year and have been burdened by the amount of shoplifting calls from retailers.

That’s the reason behind a new ordinance which calls for business owners who make “excessive” shoplifting calls to pay police.

Businesses who call officers more than 10 times a month will have to pay $250 for each call.

Stores using app to detect shoplifters accused of racial profiling

Some businesses in an upscale Washington, D.C. neighborhood are accused of racial profiling through a mobile app that allows shopkeepers to alert each other — and police — through private messaging about people acting suspiciously in their stores, reports CBS News correspondent Jeff Pegues.

In trendy Georgetown, store owners will tell you shoplifting is part of the cost of doing business.

“The type of people that is more like a shoplifter, they come here all the time, they go to that same item, they get the feel of the store,” said Keisha Green, an employee at the Sports Zone Elite.

In the last 60 days alone, police recorded more than 120 thefts in the heart of Georgetown.

To counter crime, businesses are using an app called GroupMe. It works like a private chat room, in which 380 members — including merchants, employees, community leaders and on-duty police officers — send each other descriptions and pictures of customers acting suspiciously.

But in Georgetown, where nearly 80 percent of residents are white and have a median household income of almost $120,000, the vast majority of the reports are about black customers.

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Protecting Your Employees From Shoplifters

October 20, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Protecting your business and employees from shoplifters seem to be getting harder. Knowing when and what to do when a shoplifting incident occurs in your store can help prevent employees and customers from getting hurt. Do your employees know who to call? What to do when a shoplifter is taking goods from your store and walking out? Making sure your employees know what do, and how to respond when an incident occurs can help prevent accidents.

Follow the links below for more information about this topic.

Spike in shoplifting drives property crime wave in Taos

TAOS — Taos Municipal Court may seem quaint, decorated as it is with landscapes painted by the judge himself, but it’s not sleepy. The court’s docket of shoplifting cases nearly doubled during the last fiscal year to just under 90.

Judge Dickie Chávez says approximately 3 out of 4 shoplifting cases in his court concern the purported theft of alcohol.

And it’s not usually teens stocking up for parties.

The spike in shoplifting cases comes despite the Taos Police Department’s tough approach, arresting rather than citing virtually every suspect apprehended regardless of how small the alleged theft. But it also raises questions about whether law enforcement and courts are the right institutions to address a problem officials say is driven by substance abuse.

‘Operation GroupMe’ was meant to fight shoplifting, enables racial profiling instead

Georgetown has had a shoplifting problem lately, so local citizens turned to group-messaging app GroupMe for help. The Georgetown Business Improvement District partnered with local police to launch “Operation GroupMe” early last year to connect small businesses, police officers, and community leaders in a concerted fight against shoplifting. Instead, it’s become an exercise in racial profiling.

Local police in the Washington, D.C., neighborhood recorded more than 120 thefts in just the last 60 days, according to CBS News. The group-messaging chat room, which comprises 380 members, was meant to help shopkeepers, police, and others alert each other about shoplifters or people who seem suspicious.

In the more than 3,000 messages exchanged about suspicious people in the Operation GroupMe group since January, nearly 70 percent were black, according to a review by the Business Improvement District. This is a particularly startling finding, given that nearly 80 percent of Georgetown’s residents are white.

Police: Helena man bites Capital Sports employee in shoplifting attempt

A 38-year-old Helena man faces a felony robbery charge on accusations he bit a store employee’s hand during an attempted shoplifting.

Dwight Edward Pierson is jailed on $20,000 bond.

Police responded to Capital Sports, 1092 Helena Ave., on Friday after receiving a report that a store employee had detained a suspected shoplifter. Officers noted the employee had two open, bleeding wounds on his right index finger, charging documents say.

The employee told police another worker saw a fishing reel sticking out of Pierson’s pocket while in the store. Pierson, who is on probation, ran from the store, court documents say. An employee grabbed Pierson by his hood and pinned him to the ground.

Don’t Confuse Training with Meetings

October 13, 2015 by Staff Editor Leave a Comment

Initial and continued on-the-job training is one of the most effective ways to curb shrinkage and loss. When done correctly it can reduce employee theft, lower shoplifting loss, cut down on administrative mistakes and catch vendor fraud. Unfortunately, it’s become one of the most dreaded parts of a job.

It’s dreaded, by both managers and employees, for a good reason. On-the-job training has become confused with and replaced by the employee meeting, which is usually boring, poorly run and downbeat. But, they aren’t the same thing.

Over the years experts have promoted replacing the “old way” of individualized on-the-job training (and management) with the “new and time saving” plan of having employee meetings instead. The idea of managing and training people by group, rather than individually, is becoming the norm.

Supervisors are trying to change and manage behavior through group meetings, instead of properly training (at first and on a continuing basis) employees individually. But, that way of managing only goes so far with good or average employees, and it especially doesn’t work with problem ones.

It’s not uncommon for a new policy to be created as a response to one or two people’s problem behavior. The policy is then presented in an employee meeting as a store wide issue, rather than the individual one it actually is. Often, new policies don’t need to be written – the old ones just need to be enforced.

They need to be enforced at the individual on-the-job training or coaching level. Employee meetings are, at best, ineffective places to address one person’s behavior; at worst, they undermine management’s credibility and authority.

For example, this was overheard in a retail store – “Don’t forget the employee meeting at 3. You know, where we all get yelled at for something Brittney and Josh are doing, but the team leaders are too scared to say anything to them.” (These weren’t their real names.)

It’s a given that proper training is the best defense against mistakes, loss and shrinkage. Employee meetings are good places to give information and do general training. But, the best and most effective training is still individual coaching based on the employee’s strengths and weaknesses.

Nicole Abbott is a writer and psycho-therapist with over 20 years of experience in the fields of mental health and addiction. She’s an educator, consultant, lecturer, trainer and facilitator, who has conducted over 200 workshops, trainings, presentations, college classes and seminars.

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