Deterring Employee Theft

“One can only speculate how much more profitable this industry could be if these many sources of inventory shrinkage and other forms of financial loss could be significantly reduced.” Wise words from Dr. Richard Hollinger, a professor at the University of Florida, Gainsville.

His summary of the 2010 National Retail Security Survey (NRSS) really drives home the point of how severe the losses really are for the retail industry. The NRSS states that 45% of retail inventory losses come from employee theft.

How does the retail industry respond? Pre employment screening.

The NRSS says the “hottest” trend is a Criminal – History Background Check.

Criminal Background checks will show any convictions for any crime. The background check will often uncover the real reason why this person left their last job (prosecuted for employee theft). Lengthy gap in employment history? It could be due to jail time. Maybe that “attendance issue” was actually being in a holding cell all weekend.

The NRSS states that this year actual criminal prosecutions (of dishonest employees) nearly doubled. Employee background checks are catching these prosecutions. They make it easier for hiring managers to side step these hidden land mines.

Employee background checks are becoming increasingly integral to the war on shrink. Catching these dishonest employees before they step foot in the door is a front line defense.

While pre employment screening will deter bad applicants from the beginning, employee background checks should continue after someone has been hired. How else will you know if your long time associates are now a high risk associate?

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 

Pre employment screening: Taking a Proactive Approach to Business Losses

Pre employment screening is quickly becoming the industry standard for hiring in the retail industry.  Many leading retail companies are using every measure available to ensure that quality employees hired.  Pre employment screening most often consists of:  criminal background checks, employee background checks, and general background checks.  The aim of these checks is to eliminate any negative employees from an organization.   While many of these larger retailers employ a department to conduct these background checks, criminal background checks and employee background checks, smaller organizations can resource background check companies and background check experts.

Background check companies and background check experts can provide the smaller business a cost effective approach to quality hiring practices.  Having worked in a managerial loss prevention capacity for large organizations and worked in a small family business, I can attest the importance of pre employment screening.  While managing a regional team for a large organization, I was tasked with hiring and maintaining employee head count.  I used a background check company to process the new employee information.  On one occasion the background check revealed a employee that had an extensive felony record.  This information was not provided during the hiring interview.  As one could imagine, this person was not hired.  It’s because of the background check company and their background check experts, that we were able to remove the offer of employment.

Many small business owners will say, “Well I can’t afford this service.”  The fact of the matter is, that while background checks, criminal background checks, employee background checks, and pre employment screening is a cost, a bad employee can cause a much greater financial loss.  The difference is one is controllable and the other is not.

 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 

Let a Background Check Company help you create the best staff for 2012.

As we enter the new year I would imagine we can all look back at the associates we hired in 2011 and in many cases ask ourselves, “What were we thinking?”.  The hiring process is a very complex process.  One large problem is that for the most part you have to rely on the person’s word that they are a good employee and you don’t get to test them out before you make an offer.  (Hint: Most people have biased opinions about their skills that may not reflect their actual ability).  To help with that you can utilize pre employment screening and background checks to help weed out the less than desirable candidates.

“Knowledge is power” – Francis Bacon.  We have all heard this quote and hopefully understand how true it is.  So then why would we give someone the keys to our success without finding out as much about that person as possible?  There are many different pre employment screening and background checks that can be performed by professional background check experts.  One type is criminal background checks.  Criminal background checks look into an applicant’s life history and searches for arrests and convictions.   Generally, you don’t want to hire a sex offender to work at your daycare or put a thief in your jewelry store.

Background check experts can also conduct employee background checks that look at a person’s education, work history and finances.  Don’t you want to make sure the person who says they’re a doctor to actually have a medical degree?  Applicants often overstate their qualifications on their resumes too.  Perhaps they were an assistant manager, but said they were the manager.  That is important.  Plus a small lie up front is usually a prelude to bigger lies down the road.   Employee background checks can help prevent a lot of headache later and is definitely worth the investment to make sure you have the best people working in your business.

 For more information on, background checks, criminal background checks, background check experts, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547 

Don’t let a Scrooge infiltrate your business. Use Background Check Experts to properly vet your potential employees

We have all worked with some really undesirable associates.  As a matter of fact I am sure you are thinking of someone right now.  How much of a better environment would it have been if that person had never been hired?  Poor employees can have numerous negative effects on a business.  They can steal which cuts into profits and sales.  They always bring down morale and they usually affect the great customer service we all strive to deliver to our clients.  Using Background Check Experts to conduct employee background checks and pre employment screening will go a long way to keeping these types of bad apples out of your business.

Background Check Experts are trained individuals who are skilled at looking into a large range of a perspective employee’s past history.  You can get criminal background checks that look for past crime history.  You can get background checks that look at a person’s financial history.  A pre employment screening could include drug tests and lie detector tests.  All of these are aimed at helping you hire the right person for the job that is being filled.  Now all of these employee background checks are not necessary for every position.  I would not use criminal background checks with lie detector test for a part time bagger, but I would consider it for a corporate executive or private security position.  It all just depends on what you feel is necessary for your workplace.

The biggest recommendation is use a reputable background check company to do the checks.  A quality background check company will use private investigators that are licensed to supervise the background checks being done.  They can also advise you on what checks might be best for you company.

For more information on background checks, background check experts, criminal background checks , employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547

Sometimes Things Change. Background Checks – Atlanta, GA

So you did your due diligence and hired the best possible candidate for the position. Time has passed and they are ready for a promotion. Do you just hand over the keys to the store? They passed the Pre employment screening, shouldn’t that be good enough?

No!!!

Sometimes things change. The Background Check company you used to run their initial background check only found what had been done. Background check experts aren’t fortune tellers. They can’t see that your trusted associate has fallen on hard financial times and now may be a higher risk for cash theft. Pre employment screening for an employee background check won’t show the DUI they got after they were hired.

Before you start handing out promotions, the proactive employer will make mandatory background checks (including a criminal background check) at every level. This will allow you to see anything that may have transpired since they were hired on. A fair amount of companies also make a drug test mandatory prior to any promotions or transfers.

Background Check experts can help determine which employee background checks will be the most effective. They will help you keep only the best candidate for each and every position.

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 – Atlanta, GA 

Do you have a Background Check Company?

I hope the answer is “Yes”.  Criminal background checks and a pre employment screening are vital to ensuring you make the right hiring decisions.  We all know how much of an impact our employees have on the success of the business.  A good employee increases sales and customer satisfaction.  Conversely, a bad employee affects moral, customer service and losses.  While many companies have developed insightful interview templates to help find the best candidate, I find that many forget about employee background checks and pre employment screening.

Here are some of the things that background check experts can offer your business.  1) Criminal background checks can help you to be sure you are not hiring someone with proven integrity issues.  With the recidivism rates as high as they are you can make an educated guess that someone guilty of one crime will at some point commit another.  Why take the risk?  2) Pre employment screening can cover many different avenues.  They can be personality tests to ensure you are hiring someone with the right temperament to handle customers and stress.  They can also include drug tests which is another important aspect of ensuring you have a trusted candidate.  Background check experts can also offer insight into the financial stability of a candidate.  Statistically someone in need is much more likely to steal than someone who is flush with money.  I would not recommend making a hiring decision simply based on this fact, but it can be an important factor to take into consideration with the other facts.

Employee background checks offer a lot of useful information to assist you in making the right hiring decision.  Employees are perhaps our largest investment so doesn’t it make sense to spend the money to get the right one?

For more information on background checks, background check experts, criminal background checks , employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547

Picking the right Background Check Company can be hard.

It is not hard to find a Background Check Company, but it can be difficult to find the right one.  Pre employment screening and employee background checks are vital to any business.  When looking for a Background Check Company I recommend finding one that utilizes background check experts.

Some companies simply push information to the local police and say they did criminal background checks.  In reality a good Background Check Company will do much more than that.  They will utilize background check experts to query information from a variety of police departments.  They will also look at financial information and other factors that may be important to paint a good picture of your potential candidate.

A good Background Check Company will also offer a good pre employment screening service.  The pre employment screening can cover drug testing, personality tests as well as other aptitude information.  All of these things are important when choosing to bring a stranger into your business and entrusting them with your customers, your merchandise and your money.

Today, background checks are increasingly affordable.  Modern technology makes background checks much easier which in turn makes them a more affordable service to offer.  It also makes conducing employee background checks more sensible.  If you needed to put together a bookcase would you use an old-fashioned screwdriver or a new powered screwdriver?  Most people would use the newer option since it is available and makes the job easier.  To that end, you can simply rely on the old-fashioned interview and hope you pick the right candidate (which is not an exact science) or you can also add criminal background checks and pre employment screening to improve success in this process.  The decision seems easy.

For more information on criminal background checks, background check experts, background checks, employee background checks or pre employment screening contact us at the background check company or call 1.770.426.0547

Retailers Rejoice Over Clothing Security

Retailers have a lot to be thankful for with the creation of clothing security. Since clothing was made and sold, the sellers have been looking for ways to better provide clothing security.

The 20th century saw the creation of clothing security tags, a feature used by many retailers to protect their merchandise and their profits from the qualms of potential shoplifters. Security tags on clothes are straight forward and offer no disguise, simply stating to the would- be- thief, “We are protection!”

A business partner of a local store owner was worried that his store would suffer the negative effects of shoplifting, but didn’t think clothing security tags were the solution.  This guy believed the key to boosting his profits was through the direct apprehension of shoplifters. Although this method helps, it doesn’t prevent the theft from occurring. What he didn’t understand was the proactive approach a clothing security program, like security tags on clothes, offers.

It took a team of professional to make this business partner understand the benefits of clothing security tags and what could be done to help him protect his profits. Hearing the team speak of positive profits was proof enough that this clothing security plan would work and agreed to implement a program. First, he was shown a clothing alarm. The clothing alarm was attached directly to the garment. He was asked to try and defeat it. In his efforts, he was not able to. He then agreed to install the clothing alarm on several items throughout his store as a test. As time went on, he realized what his store had been missing, a good security program.

Retailers certainly do have a lot to be thankful for, because without the advent of items like the clothing alarm, clothing business could not survive.

Visit the Retail Loss Prevention Store.

For more information on clothing alarm, clothing security tags or security tags on clothes contact us at clothing security or call 1.770.426.0547

Prevent Shoplifting Through Increased Employee Awareness

Many retailers look for new ways to prevent shoplifting, when some of the answers are right under their own noses. A well informed employee can make all the difference in the world.

Working in stores for years as loss prevention, I have seen the different levels of involvement from store employees. Most of the time, the employees don’t have a clue as to what shrink is, or what causes the biggest losses in their stores. Employees want to be involved with helping the store increase sales. They want to feel like they are part of the team and that their work is actually making a difference and benefitting the store.  However, many managers either refuse to inform employees or believe they themselves can prevent shoplifting.  These efforts take a combined team working towards the same goal, to prevent shoplifting.

As a former store manager, I was well in tune with loss prevention and every morning I held rally meeting and discussed loss prevention related topics. I would share with them the store shrink number and the hottest theft merchandise. I would also explain to them what shrink was and how it affects the store, overall. I especially more specific if I had a new hire with me. I am proud to say that when I first took over this metro store, the shrink was in excess of 5.5%. In two years, I took that number down to less than 1.5%. The biggest contributing factor to this dramatic reduction? Employee awareness. My employees worked to prevent shoplifting from happening, and enjoyed the challenge.

Any store, no matter how big or small can have the same results as I did. Stay dedicated to your work, sell merchandise and make sure your employees are well informed on how to prevent shoplifting.

Visit the Retail Loss Prevention Store.

 For more information contact us at prevent shoplifting or call 1.770.426.0547

 

Clothing Alarm Fends Off Would-Be Thieves

It is truly an inspirational sight. When a clothing alarm activates and scares off the thief. Sometimes, when I visit stores, I’ll take a few minutes to listen and watch for an activated clothing alarm.

Clothing security has always been of huge importance to me. Both from a loss prevention viewpoint and as a store manager, I wanted clothing security. Nothing made me go crazy more than walking into a store and seeing an empty display shelf or rounder missing a large section of clothing to theft. Working in the retail industry, and more specifically, the clothing industry has shown me just how ruthless some thieves can be.

The introduction of security tags on clothes was probably one of the greatest gains in clothing security. Years before clothing security tags were rolled out, many retailers used old cables and sometimes chains to keep their high value merchandise in the stores. What an inconvenience those things turned out to be! I remember trying on a leather jacket with this clumsy, tangled mess of security cable attached. As a customer, I was done. Security tags on clothes took away that mess and allowed the store to protect their merchandise and keep the merchandise accessible to the customer… the best of both.

A sporting goods store I once worked for had rolled out security tags on clothes on some new, high risk merchandise. Before the roll out, it was anticipated that unprotected, the merchandise would experience high loss. The store manager decided prior to attaching the clothing security tags, he would put out some merchandise and see what happens. Sure enough, the manager put out two sections of the high risk items and before he left for the day, an entire display was gone, and not by sales. After that, he never put high value merchandise on the salesfloor without the protection of security tags on clothes.

Visit the Retail Loss Prevention Store.

For more information on clothing security, clothing security tags or security tags on clothes contact us at clothing alarm or call 1.770.426.0547