I’ve been doing employee theft investigations for years now. Sometimes, they’re a blast. Often, they frustrate me. Not because the person is a thief, but because the loss could be so avoidable if managers would take the time and play offense. Sure, we can run reports and watch video, but all that’s doing is keeping us on the D-Line. You have to play hard and not be afraid to call an audible when needed.
Kick things off in the interview
Are you a good interviewer, or do you just think you are? I’ve sat around and listened to dozens of managers interview potential candidates. Some stick to the HR script, others go off on their own tangents, others talk non-stop for 20 minutes and rarer, are the mangers that take time to get to know their candidate. Just because someone can show up for an interview doesn’t mean they should get the job.
When asking questions, do so in a way that allows you to understand the candidates work ethic. Don’t ask if they enjoy hard work (most will say YES)! But instead ask for examples in their life where they had to work hard at a job or task. Instead of asking if they think it’s wrong for an employee to steal, ask instead at what point do they feel it’s the job’s fault that an employee steals. Bottom line, get the candidate talking. If you’re doing more than listening, take a step back and ask if you really know the candidate before offering a job.
Return with a background check
Trust, but verify. In today’s world, there really is no excuse to hire a criminal. A background check is simple, easy and provide a host of information that lets you make a more informed hiring decision. People lie. Get over and stay ahead of it.
First down with a strong training program
A good employee has to have a strong foundation. Training an employee shows that you are willing to invest into that person. That goes a long way for most people. If someone took the time to invest time, company resources and money into you, chances are, it becomes morally harder for you to steal from that person. Just look at the opposite. Say you hire a new person for your stock team. The only time they have manager engagement is during the interview and they are thrown to the wolves to learn the job on their own. They won’t care about the job and more importantly, they won’t care about you. That emotional tie is severed and an unhappy employee is more likely to steal from you.
Second down with a culture of integrity
Rules and policies are in place for a specific reason. We simply cannot live and work without structure. It’s important to always address policy violations from all of your team members. Don’t let the little things slip; they can easily snowball out of control. For example, let’s imagine Manager Dave is talking near the front lanes with Little Wendy. Little Wendy grabs a cold drink from the cooler and fails to pay. Little Wendy knows that Manager Dave saw her do this, but Manager Dave doesn’t “sweat the small stuff.” Next week, Little Wendy steals a shirt; she got away with drink, right? Week after that, she steals a designer hand bag. Before you know it, Little Wendy is robbing you blind.
Be open with your team about your expectations. Every employee should know that above all else, honesty and integrity is rewarded. Transversely, failing to meet those standards guarantees the quickest ticket to the unemployment line.
Third down with basic control policies
Implement some very basic controls to prevent employee theft. This is as simple as requiring all employees to check out at one designated register. It could also mean that no personal items/belongings such as purses, jackets, backpacks or lunch kits be kept on the sales floor/office areas and that they must be kept in the break room area. It could also be implementing a package check of all employees prior to the end of their shift. For cashiers, you could have policies that limit the dollar amount of return transactions before needing a 2nd level approval. Think of the ways an employee can steal from you and then implement a control to stay one step ahead.
Touchdown with weeding our poor performers
Even the best interviews end up sideways. I can recall at least two from my past. One young man in particular still stands out, even 10 years later. He was the most enthusiastic and well-spoken person I had interviewed in my career at that point. He was going to be a shining star, I just knew it. 3 weeks into the job and I realized he was a complete flake. Attendance was horrible, performance was below standards, couldn’t multi-task. Disregarded the uniform policy; you name it, he did it. At first, I let it slide due to his sales ability and how attentive he was with customers. That, I learned, hurt the morale of the rest of the team. When you have someone that’s not meeting your expectations, cut them. It’s very easy for a person who can’t follow policies to quickly slip into stealing. I’ve seen it happen time and time again.
Shoplifting affects everyone. As shoplifting and employee theft seem to be an unstoppable problem for the retail industry, researchers try to find different methods to prevent and combat shoplifting.
How did your retail business do in 2016? Face it, regardless of how well you did or did not do, you could have done much better. The key is to keep your cash, assets and merchandise on YOUR bottom line not someone else’s. Thieves take the money you could have had away, easily in some cases.
If you were asked what area of your store would present the most opportunity for employee theft and fraud, what would you answer? The checkout lanes where cashiers have access to the register, the ability to pass merchandise,
Light-When someone is looking to do no good to your property, they feel more secure if it looks like no one is home. The key is to confuse them and make them feel unsure. Remember, most burglars are lazy. If they are not sure about your house, they will move on. So you should have at least two light timers (three is better) set up and running seven days a week. These should be in different areas of the home and should come on and off at different times. Use the random or security feature found on most timers. This will vary the on/off time every day just a little in case someone is watching the house for a pattern. 
Each year retailers take inventory of their merchandise, counting what they have in the store, reconciling that information against sales receipts, vendor credits and receipts and markdowns. Usually the result is some amount of shortage or merchandise shrink due to merchandise that cannot be accounted for and losses due to certain markdowns and damaged products. I have in rare instances seen overages, but those are usually the result of offsets from prior year shortages often attributed to paperwork errors. The store objective each year should be to improve upon the prior year inventory result. Certainly the best case would be to have zero dollar shortages every year, but that is not a realistic expectation. I try to explain to employees that if one package of gum were to be stolen during the year, you have incurred shortage. There are steps a store owner or manager can take to work towards that yearly improvement and shoot for a zero dollar shrinkage year.