One of the issues I like to hit hard in my loss prevention seminars, loss prevention workshop and our pre-employment interviewing seminar is how important the pre-employment process is in the prevention of employee theft and loss.

In a study published in the July/August 2012 issue of Inc. Magazine, 34% of employers have rejected a job candidate because of the person’s social-media activity. The study listed the top four reasons that those candidates were not hired:

1. They posted inappropriate photos or information.
2. There was evidence of drinking or drug use.
3. They had poor communication skills.
4. They bad mouthed a previous employer.

As employers we must use every means legally available to obtain information on a job candidate’s suitability for our company. Some may see this as an “invasion of their privacy” or a violation or their “rights”. Nothing is further from the truth. If someone puts information about themselves or their conduct out in the public domain, it is fair for an employer to use that information in our decisions. This is no different than a candidate’s criminal, civil, credit or education information.

A thorough look into the candidate’s background can save you from disappointment after they are hired. Don’t be afraid to use every source at your disposal.

For more information on Retail Loss Prevention Seminars, Retail Loss Prevention Training, or Retail 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 Retail Employee Theft and Shoplifting problems.

Over the years I have run into some pretty weird situations with shoplifters. In a company’s effort to prevent shoplifting we must apprehend the thieves that are stealing.

In one situation I stopped and detained a middle aged woman for shoplifting about $300 worth of new tennis shoes that I had witnessed her switch tags on to a lower priced shoe. She had a pretty heavy Eastern European accent. Again while police officers were taking her into custody she stated that I was discriminating against her because she was European. The police officers taking her into custody, whom I knew very well started laughing. She looked at them with shock when they told her. “Lady this store is owned by a French company and he (pointing to me) is married to German citizen (I met my clearly better half when I was in the Army stationed in Germany). They then reminded her that she had the right to remain silent and that they would prefer that she exercise that right.

Another time I apprehended a guy who had stolen a framed picture of Christ. He did not fight me, resist, run or anything else that we are always prepared to deal with. But when the Police arrived at the store and we were switching handcuffs on the shoplifter he turned to me and said, “This is not a very Christian thing you are doing to me”. This guy STEALS a picture of Christ and I am the sinner!

Another all-time favorite is the guy who stole a $1.00 fishing lure from a sporting goods store. That was all he took! I stopped him and took him into custody. When I got him back to the Security Office I emptied his pockets (he was handcuffed) and was bagging it up for the police when I discovered a “wad” of cash well over one hundred dollars. I was shocked (still naïve then) and asked him why he stole a minor $1.00 item when he clearly had the cash to pay for it. He said, “I wanted to see if I could get away with it”. I just shook my head and told him that it was good that he had the cash on him, as he would need it for bail.

I have found over the years that you can prevent shoplifting and be entertained at the same time. My Loss Prevention Seminars and Loss Prevention Workshops explore these types of incidents and many other situations.

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.

Employee theft, also known as internal theft, causes close to fifty percent of all retail business loss. In thirty years of conducting employee theft investigations, I am still shocked by how little common sense is taken into consideration in theft prevention.

For example, I conducted an investigation where $5000 in forged business checks were cashed. It turned out that the stock of checks was unsecure in an office supply room. The janitor’s stole 20 checks from the middle of the stack, waited a while and then began to cash them. These checks should have been secured in a locked cabinet with strict controlled access. The checks should have been logged out and issued to the person that processes them.

We drop our guard because it is “more difficult” to do it the right way, however the only way to employee theft by doing it the “right way” not the easy way. The key is “prevention”.

Another excuse we say is, “Oh I trust that person, and they would never do that”. When a management person says that, they are basically saying that they have no business common sense.

Another case I worked on involved employees that stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in product from a warehouse they worked in. They had keys to the warehouse that contained millions of dollars in merchandise. The alarm system was not reporting when the doors were being open and closed. So coming back at night and loading up a truck was not a problem.

Employee theft, or internal theft, lurks around every corner. You have to be actively watching for it to prevent it. Internal theft will not go away or stop on its own. In fact it will get worse. Get your policy manual off the shelf, dust it off, update it and make sure people understand that this is your companies “business bible”, live it, enforce it! This doesn’t mean that it never changes. As your business changes your policy and procedures should change.

Learn this and more in our Loss Prevention Seminar and Loss Prevention Workshop.

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.

Do you think you might be suffering from internal theft or Employee Theft? Are you worried that your employees might be keeping known cases of this kind of theft to themselves? Often your employees have no idea that this kind of theft affects them. They may think that there are no repercussions for those who are not directly involved and will turn a blind eye.

In this seminar we will teach you how to effectively talk to your employees about employee theft. This is an aspect of loss that affects the entire company and your employees should know how to recognize and deter it for the good of the company.

Our loss prevention seminar will empower you to solve your own problems. We bring the world of loss prevention out into the open and give you the techniques to identify and address employee theft and shoplifting problems. Our loss prevention workshop will give you and your Managers hands on training to allow you to work through actual investigations and problems.

Weather you have had loss prevention training or not you will walk away with skills and knowledge that will enhance your bottom line.

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.

If you know anything about waging a war, you know that the key to defeating your opponent all stems from the amount of preparedness that you put in. You need a battle plan, you need to strategize, and you need to know what you’re talking about.

Shoplifting is a battle worthy topic. Preventing shoplifting in your stores is not only about reducing the monetary losses from lack of inventory or residual sales. It is also about how to keep your employees and your customers safe inside your stores.

No one wants to be in the middle of a crime-ridden slum. You definitely do not want your store to turn into one because shoplifters have been left untouched for too long.

This is where loss prevention training comes in. It allows you to successfully create a strategy (or battle plan) to eliminate the shoplifters from your store. Going through loss prevention seminars and loss prevention workshops will give you the details and insight you need to take your plan to the next level.

These seminars will go through the basics of types of shoplifters and how to identify them. They will also go through more difficult scenarios such as how to safely and legally approach shoplifters and how to get them out of your store.

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.

As a loss prevention manager, I never got to close to my store employees. There was always a professional separation. I never went out for drinks after work, or celebrated an employee’s birthday or holiday party. It was this separation that made me good at my job, especially when it came to employee theft investigations.

It is never easy to have to terminate an employee. It is even harder to have to terminate an employee and send them off to jail. You know their lives, and future job prospects; will never be the same again.

The separation I had between me and my employees helped two fold. It helped me (without bias) identify employees that were stealing from the company. It also helped not having an emotional attachment or friendship to these employees who were to be terminated and prosecuted.

While there were specific guidelines to this effect in my loss prevention training, it also came about as just useful practice.

As a small business owner, you might not be able to have this same luxury of objectivity. That is why taking in a loss prevention workshop on employee theft will help you overcome these emotional ties.

Loss prevention seminars are designed to help you not only gain objectivity, but also useful information on how to identify employee theft, and then how to legally deal with it.

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.

As a management professional, I am constantly reminded that we live in a very litigious society. Even when we feel that we would be doing the right thing by standing up for ourselves, or our businesses. Often times we make the decision to err on the side of caution to avoid customer complaints, or even worse, a lawsuit.

This can ring especially true when it comes to new employee hiring practices. I have seen hiring managers afraid to not hire a candidate for fear of a discrimination lawsuit, even if there are more qualified candidates applying for the position.

I have also seen candidates hired, despite a gut feeling that there is something the manager is missing. Gut feelings don’t hold up in court, you know.

So what to do? How do you keep yourselves out of hot water, and still fill your open positions quickly and legally?

Take the Loss Prevention Workshop focused on pre employment screening. They will give you the loss prevention training you need to ask the right questions to legally obtain the right answers. They can also show you how to read between the lines of a background check.

The best part about attending loss prevention seminars is because you are with someone face to face, you have the ability to ask questions to make sure you can take away the most useful information.

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.

 

When you are running a business it is very important to know whom you trust and whom you don’t. Hopefully, anyone in your store that has access to keys, alarm codes, and store funds (including sales deposits) is on your trustworthy list.

If they are not on your list, I trust that you have a plan in place to remove them from your employment.

Employee theft accounts for over 40% of a store’s losses, which makes it extremely vital that your key positions are held by employees with the highest of standards and scruples.

Sometimes, as a manager or owner, you might only be seeing one side of these employees. They may act very differently around you than when they are alone. Let’s face it; if an employee is going to steal from you, they aren’t going to do it right in front of your face.

They might, however, do it around other employees, many of whom are not in a position of authority. So how do you instill trust in those employees to come and talk to you about what goes on behind your back?

Take the loss prevention workshop specifically on how to talk to your employees about employee theft, and entrusting you with that information.

Some of the best information on some of my biggest cases of employee theft have come directly from my employees.

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.

 

When I first started out in loss prevention well over thirty years ago, there were very different concerns. I remember my first review of standards involved my closure and reduction of check fraud. Check fraud! Who even writes checks anymore, much less steals them? Criminals have moved on to far more sophisticated forms of theft and fraud than stealing or forging checks.

My point is that things change. Technology has changed, the methods of shoplifting, not to mention employee theft, have changed. If I was still working under the “rules” of a decade ago, I would not be successful in reducing my shrink, and I would probably have gotten myself, or my employers into some pretty sad litigation.

It is important for my success to continue to educate myself on these changes. That is the only way I can make sure that when I do my loss prevention training, I know I am ahead of the game.

Most professional industries have some sort of continuing education or certification to stay employed in their respective fields. Why would loss prevention be any different?

With the wealth of knowledge and information available through loss prevention seminars and loss prevention workshops, it is a no brainer. Sign up for a class, grab a buddy or two and learn what else is out there.

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.

 

As a trainer and as a store manager, I have spent countless hours sitting on both sides of the training room tables. Some have been the most enjoyable and rewarding hours of my life, while others have been hours that I will never get back.

Being a good trainer means providing the necessary material in the most innovative and exciting ways possible. It also means that you need to be able to read your audience and know when you have them eating out of the palm of your hand, and when you are quickly loosing them.

Having overseen a fair amount of loss prevention training, I have the advantage of teaching a great subject matter. If your audience starts to drift off, just start telling riveting stories of high speed chases to wake them back up.

This sort of interaction is so important. I can’t imagine my employees ever walking away with as much information as what they did if they were only reading manuals or listening to a computer-training program.

If you have the opportunity to send yourself, or your employees to loss prevention seminars, or loss prevention workshops I highly recommend it. You can’t ask a computer follow up questions, and manuals don’t always clarify themselves.

I even enjoy going through additional loss prevention training. It’s a great refresher for me and gives me a chance to stay up to date with the most current shoplifting and employee theft trends.

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.