Why Employees Steal In Retail Loss Prevention, Atlanta

September 25, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Over the years many of the employees caught in retail loss prevention theft investigations that I have conducted have given me a lot of reasons why they did it. The most common is “as a favor to help friends out” or commonly called peer pressure. Think of it, an employee commits a felony that will land them in serious trouble to help out a buddy.

My fellow loss prevention and security professionals have heard this so many times. Why does the employee do it? There are several factors. One being age. We mostly hear this from 17 to 22 year olds. I believe that this is because they think that fitting in with so-called “friends” is more important than anything else. This thought process is pretty alien to the rest of us until you start thinking back to your own life at that age. You may have started smoking or did something else that you now look back and say, “what was I thinking?”. All of this in order to “fit in”.

Employees in that age group also tend to feel like they are bullet proof and that they wont get caught. In that situation I always laugh about the security and loss prevention investigations I conducted where a 19 year old cashier thought that she was the only one that ever thought up refund fraud, cash theft, void fraud or some other retail loss prevention theft that I had already put 600 people prior to her in jail for.

There was one retail loss prevention investigation in particular that I think is a good example. Two 18 year olds, male and female who were boyfriend/girlfriend decided that they would steal merchandise and cash to the tune of several thousand dollars. They thought that no one knew what they were doing. Clearly they believed that they were smarter that the rest of us including the store manager.

The manager contacted me to start a retail loss prevention investigation after he noticed variances in both cash and merchandise. In a very short time I had the evidence pulled together and narrowed it down to the two eighteen year olds. The interviews with each of them revealed the reason, they were stealing for each other (isn’t love grand?) and they didn’t think anyone would notice. They got to spend the next two years on probation paying back the business with interest and 50 hours of community service each (separate community service details as the Judge thought the love needed a break).

Your loss prevention security program must take this type of reason in to account if you want to keep your money on the bottom line. You must make clear to employees of all ages that you will not tolerate any theft of any type. The only thing they are allowed to leave the store with that they did not bring in is the air in their lungs. The rest is hands off.

Security and loss prevention professionals help you to balance loss prevention with sales, operations and human resource issues and concerns.

For more information on loss prevention security , retail loss prevention or loss prevention in general please contact us in Atlanta at: security and loss prevention or call 1.770.426.0547

LPSI is the Atlanta area loss prevention security experts.

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Loss Prevention Security Policy And Procedure

September 23, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Loss prevention security is achieved with many programs and concepts running at the same time. However, the foundation of all of this is the company policy and procedure manual. Is it a living-breathing document that is emphasized daily by upper and middle management? Or is it used only and a means to prop open the office door?

Your P & P should clearly spell out how the company operates and when someone asks a question the first source that the person should be referred to is that manual. You must create a loss prevention security culture when employees automatically start with the P & P manual. This accomplishes several goals.

One of the biggest time and profit wastes in a company is reinventing the same wheel over and over. A policy and procedure manual creates a standard. Do it that way. Another issue that a P & P manual solves is the constant interruptions for information that should be readily available to employees.

For example, you have a procedure for receiving. Everyone that touches that area should know the correct way to receive product. It should be the same way and not open to interpretation. Security and loss prevention is only achieved when everyone is doing the same things the same way.

Of course all of this is only possible if you keep the manual up to date with relevant and current information that has changed with your business changes. Loss prevention security personnel should be involved along with all other areas to review and insure that changes are made as business changes.

Security and loss prevention personal can then focus more on prevention and go after the money that is leaking off the bottom line in more complex areas. Loss prevention security should be a profit center. You will never achieve that until you have a stable foundation.

Make your policy and procedure manual and loss prevention a corner stone in your companies profit model.

For more information about security and loss prevention in Atlanta contact us at: loss prevention security or call 1.770.426.0547

 

 

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Retail loss prevention solution a click or call away

September 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Retail Loss Prevention has been around for many years. Names like Store Detective, In house Detective, Grocery Cop, Loss Prevention Agent, Undercovers, and more have been bounced around and used all over the place. Whatever the name, the job of a person in Retail Loss Prevention is ever-changing. 

From Apprehending shoplifters, to running an inventory, leaders in Retail Loss Prevention are always out to find the best return on the investment. This is no small feat. As most business people would probably agree, a knowledgeable and effective loss prevention department can seriously impact the business. Now, whether this impact is negative or positive depends on the organization.

Knowledge is power. In this day and age, it is important for loss prevention leadership to look at ALL aspects of the retail business. Is the retailer suffering from shoplifters? What about organized retail crime rings? Are they having issues with cash shortages? Maybe their receiving habits have gone unchecked for too long. What about employee awareness? Deciding what works best and building a custom program to each retailer should be the goal.

By far, one of the best ways Retail Loss Prevention can impact their business and partners is by helping build the awareness of all employees. Most employees are not aware of losses other than shoplifters. They don’t know about markdown abuse, price adjustments, refund fraud, discount abuse and other point of sale schemes used by the dishonest employee. Employee awareness impacts shrink and losses effectively when managed appropriately.

As experts, Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. provides a valuable service to the retailer working closely with management, ownership and or operations, they can advise on all aspects of the business where opportunities for improvement exist to reduce losses and boost profits.

For more information visit us at retail loss prevention or call 1.770.426.0547

 

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Security and Loss Prevention – Providing the same outcome thru different tasks

September 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Security and Loss Prevention have, throughout their history, been lumped together as one in the same. Some call Loss Prevention, Security, some call Security, Loss Prevention.

I personally believe they are different, here’s why.

Security is, as its name indicates, a position of securing, keeping secure or providing a secure environment for people, places and things. When you hear the name security, you automatically think of a person in a uniform, assigned to patrol or monitor a particular area.

When you hear the name of Loss Prevention, you think of a plain clothes store detective or undercover loss prevention agent. Both working to protect the assets of the company through a pro-active approach, one is overt the other is covert.

Security and Loss Prevention, different or not, should have the same goal. Provide the retailer or business with a safe, secure and profitable environment.

Through shared responsibilities, Security and Loss Prevention offer a great partnership.

Retailers must have their fingers on the pulse of the business to truly identify what is needed. Is it a uniformed security program, or should they develop a full blown loss prevention program? What is the environment? What is the business? What do the stores or business look like? Large box or smaller boutique styles? The demographic can also dictate when and where a uniformed security presence is best suited versus the undercover loss prevention personnel working to apprehend would-be thieves. Having uniformed security personnel at the front of a business can sometimes deter customers. Having a poorly trained and uneducated loss prevention program can lead to bad business practice. It’s no easy task. Security and Loss Prevention are two business needs that should be address by every retailer, business owner and manager alike.

Consult a Loss Prevention professional to asses your specific situation and recommend the security a loss prevention services that best fit your goals.

For more information visit us at security and loss prevention or call us 1.770.426.0547

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Loss Prevention Security, Hiring Procedures, Atlanta

September 20, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Loss prevention security professionals that have been in the business for some time understand that simply conducting employee theft investigation after investigation is not the primary solution to company profitability.

I began to notice early in my career that the loss prevention people are really the ones catching the sludge coming out of the end of the pipe. We deal with the most undesirable soon to be ex-employees. When you are constantly doing this you have a tendency to look up the pipe and try to figure out where all of this comes from. The answer is that it starts the moment that a person walks in to apply for a job.

If your company has poor or weak hiring policies then you are simply setting the company and yourself up for more sludge. I am not even going into the issue of what this costs the company to train and replace the bad hire let alone the cost of that a poor performer caused you in lost sales and productivity. That is for another blog.

Loss prevention is exactly that, preventing loss. In a way when we have to conduct an employee theft investigation we have lost. Whatever the employee did should have been prevented. So how do we do this?

Security and loss prevention must be involved and have input into the hiring process. We should be working directly with Human Resource management as partners to achieve the company’s goal, which is a profit.

Our company should be selecting the most desirable and best candidate for the position. Part of this should be consideration for their background and attitudes. Has this person been involved in any undesirable behavior, criminal activity, poor personal money management and poor work history? In addition what is this candidates attitude towards management, supervision and loss prevention. What is their work ethic? All of these areas affect the company and loss prevention mission, profit. Loss prevention security is not simply chasing bad guys

This is in addition to security and loss prevention involvement in other areas such as inventory control, merchandising and store layout. Loss prevention security personnel must interface with all areas of the company to insure that the profit mission is achieved. But again these are issues for another days blog.

Security and loss prevention is one of the major keys to a profitable company. Ignore it as many have done and face an unprofitable environment while catching more sludge than you should have to.

For more information contact us: security and loss prevention or call 1.770.426.0547

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Various forms of Loss Prevention Security to consider

September 13, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Many business leaders are aware of the unfortunate need for loss prevention security.  Loss prevention security is available in many forms and is probably most popular as retail loss prevention.

In retail you have installed solutions that include camera systems, burglar & fire systems and electronic article surveillance systems (EAS).

Consulting solutions are also available such as loss prevention investigators/ consultants that are for hire on a per incident basis or long term contract basis.  Consulting side lends itself well to retail as well as other businesses who may be experiencing employee theft / employee fraud issues.

It is becoming more popular for businesses to subcontract their Loss Prevention work out due to cut backs in staffing and utilizing this resource to periodically train existing staff can pay big dividends.  The best defense against losses is always going to be a good offense.  Having well informed and trained staff working through a well thought out plan and procedures is critical and getting there can be accomplished quickly and efficiently through the use of periodic outside help.

For installed loss prevention security, cameras are the most popular; however, they are the most missunderstood as well.  You see the evidence of it on TV every day when watching convenience store or bank robberies in action.  Theives don’t care if they are being recorded.  Having a camera system installed will not stop professional theives or even the ametuers.  But it is good to have a record of the event for proof in court if needed.

For more options and information visit: loss prevention security 

 

 

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Loss Prevention in Atlanta…Do You Have a Plan?

September 8, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Most large retailers in Atlanta and elsewhere suffer “shrinkage” of less than 2% of their revenue, but did you know that small business retailers often suffer “shrinkage” of up to 20% month over month?  If your business does not have a loss prevention plan, get one, NOW.

Loss prevention involves all types of retail item loss.  According to Wikipedia, the following outline losses of inventory percentages and their causes:

  • 46.8% from employee theft
  • 31.6% from shoplifting
  • 14.4% from administrative error
  • 3.75% from vendor error
  • 2.86% from unknown error.

The above listed reasons are not the only culprits for loses.  Credit card fraud, check fraud, and skimming can also be considered causes of “shrinkage”.  So what can a small business do to prevent these types of problems from occurring?

Have procedures in place such as the method a cashier checks out a customer? Have them check the bottom of the basket first.  “Bottom of basket” loss occurs when either a customer does not indicate other items are below where the employee can’t see or they are forgotten.  This can be prevented with proper training of employees.

I’ve noticed many retail outlets have anti-shoplifting alarm systems on articles, such as clothing.  However, when the article passes through the alarm and it goes off, no one responds.  Have a loss prevention employee that is responsible for checking the bags and receipts of existing customers.

By having a plan in place, you can decrease the “mysterious disappearance” of items in your retail outlet. 

Need additional advice on loss prevention?  Contact us at loss prevention   or call 1.770.426.0547.

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Don’t confuse security and loss prevention

August 19, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Many smaller to midsized retailers often confuse their definition of security and loss prevention.  Just ask them what they are doing for loss prevention and they will tell you they have a security system.  (Bear with me this is not a bashing article.)

Let’s define a couple things.  First what most call their “security” system is technically a “burglar” system because it is only turned on after hours and will alarm if a burglar breaks in.  It does nothing during business hours which is when losses occur.  So with that being stated, the words security and loss prevention are in two different ball fields.

In fact, burglary doesn’t even hit the radar when measuring inventory shrinkage in the US.  What does hit the radar according to the holy grail of studies in the industry, the National Retail Security Survey by The University of Florida: #1 employee theft, #2 shoplifting #3 Administrative errors, #4 Unknown, and #5 Vendor fraud.

So what is true loss prevention? Let’s look at what Wikipedia says:

Retail loss prevention (in some retailers known as asset protection) is a form of private investigation into larceny or theft. The focus of such investigations generally includes shoplifting, package pilferage, embezzlement, credit fraud and check fraud.  Loss prevention” or “LP” is used to describe a number of methods used to reduce the amount of all losses and shrinkage often related to retail trade.

In other words loss prevention involves specific people using specific methods to discover sources of loss and solutions to reduce those losses.  Only larger retailers employ these individuals as staff and many that have done so in the past have cut them from the payroll to cut overhead in these rough economic times.

What makes sense is to consult a  loss prevention professional to review your specific issues, your current security and loss prevention methods.  The next step will be to develop a custom program that will improve your operational effectiveness and reduces your losses whether shoplifting, employee theft or other.

For more info go to: security and loss prevention 

 

 

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Loss Prevention Security Efforts

August 11, 2010 by Leave a Comment

 

 

Who’s minding the store when the owner/manager isn’t?  A growing number of concerned management leaders depend on mystery shoppers as part of a comprehensive  loss prevention security program.

 

What information will be gained from a mystery shopper’s report?  Most users of a shopping service look first at the customer service category to learn the perception of their clientele has of their business.  Does the customer feel they have received enough attention and are more than their minimum needs being fulfilled by the staff?

 

But shopping reports can go beyond that and be important to the  loss prevention security  area as well.

 

A customer who is promptly greeted is not as likely to shoplift if eye contact has been made by an associate, making them feel that they have been noticed.  Frequent attention to each customer also lessens the likelihood of theft.  Attention not only deters theft, it also makes the legitimate customer feel more appreciated.

 

A trained shopper will also notice transactions occurring at the register and note any irregularities.  Shops may be general in nature or target specific employees, and controlled purchases, or correct change transactions may be conducted ensure the transaction was recorded properly.

 

Many business owners have a false sense of security in believing that all employees behave as if the owner or manager were looking over their shoulders while they work, and this is hardly ever the case.  A well planned mystery shopping program can improve the   loss prevention security  program of almost any retail business.

 

For information go to:   loss prevention security 

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Physical Security

August 9, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Retail Loss Prevention Physical Security

  • A well-lighted area deters shoplifting, stores must maintain adequate lighting. Shoplifters tend to gravitate towards darker, less traveled more concealed areas such as corners to conceal the merchandise they are going to steal.
  • Limit customer exits. Loss prevention security starts at the door. It takes to many employees to keep an eye on multiple exits. Most large retailers know this and do have only one entrance and exit. Close off or make any unused door an emergency exit.
  • Keep displays and shelving low enough to be seen over by employees. A key in retail loss prevention is training and empowering your employees to be your eyes and ears in loss prevention. Make sure they can see every where possible in the course of their normal duties. Teach them how to approach any suspicious customers.

Special loss prevention security measures should be followed if there is an emergency and the power goes off:

  • Station an employee at the front door.
  • Make sure you have flashlights ready for this purpose. Test them monthly.
  • Have a procedure for ringing up sales without the POS. The power is out. Do your cashiers know how to use a calculator? Do you have a battery operated calculator available at each POS? Do cashiers know how to calculate tax? Do they know what the tax rate is?

Retail loss prevention security keeps your profits up and losses down.

Need more information?  retail loss prevention or call 1.770.426.0547

Loss Prevention Systems,Inc

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