The Numbers Don’t Lie – Employee Theft

Employee theft investigations require time. Internal theft is unlike the immediacy of watching your high shrink merchandise walk out the door with a shoplifter and subsequent apprehension.

When one observes a dishonest employee taking product or conducting a fraudulent refund on live surveillance, it is only the beginning of the process and one must move forward with patience and caution.

The true exposure or scope of internal theft is most often revealed through detailed exception based and statistical reporting. I have had many conversations regarding the importance and practicality of these reports.

On the one hand, reports should be the road map directing the employee theft investigation from point to point. The investigation may lead to further refunds or pass offs of merchandise. The reports may also indicate if other employees or outside parties are involved in the internal theft.

There really should be no surprises when running these reports if you truly have a pulse on your store and inventory. If employee theft has targeted a specific item, there should be no surprise that this particular item is on a high shrink list.

The employee theft investigation should reiterate the findings of statistical reports like excessive refunds or inventory losses. These reports should indicate specific areas of concern where employee theft likely is the culprit. Sudden spikes in the losses from certain product groups are good examples of this trend.

Reports will ultimately enhance and solidify every employee theft investigation, although the results could well become an example of what came first – the chicken or the egg.

Visit the Loss Prevention Store to purchase CCTV Systems that can help you stop employee theft and internal theft problems and help with your employee theft investigation.

For more information about employee theft, employee theft investigation and internal theft please contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 – Atlanta Georgia.