Have you ever had one of those days or weeks when it seems like everything breaks down on you? Compounding that is when all of the breakdowns seem to happen at once, it’s enough to make you go crazy! I recently experienced this in the college library where I work. Day one of classes and that is when it seems all of the students come to the library to print out their syllabuses, first assignments and projects. In fact, every day of the week is busy with printing needs and freshmen needing to learn how to print from library computers to the library printers. Murphy’s Law says something is going to go wrong and this particular week it did. Out of four black and white printers one primary printer broke down along with a bill/coin machine used for printing when a student without their student ID needs or a non-student wants to print. On top of all of this we were answering all types of other questions, some related to library services and some just general questions regarding the college. Similar situations have happened to me as a Retail Manager On Duty, cash registers crashing, power goes out and credit card readers go offline. Store owners, here is my question to you, how do your store management teams respond to crisis? Have you trained them so they are prepared to address emergencies? I’ve also been a Loss Prevention Manager and have had to deal with a Checkpoint Security System that stopped working several times over my tenure. Issues were sometimes due to power outages and sometimes due to equipment malfunctions.
Before I go further, I may have readers who know about point of sale systems, credit readers, computer and scanning technology but have little information about a Checkpoint Security System and anti-shoplifting devices. A Checkpoint System is a series of components that uses radio frequency waves to protect merchandise from theft. Usually referred to as electronic article surveillance (EAS) technology, a system uses EAS towers at points in a store where owners don’t want unpaid merchandise to be carried by customers and near store entry/exit doors. EAS tags are the protective devices applied to merchandise that emit the radio frequency that is detected by the towers. Tagged merchandise carried too close to the towers sets off an alarm and elicits an immediate response from store personnel. Other critical components to a Checkpoint Security System are deactivation pads at the point of sale to “turn off” soft tags on some merchandise and Detachment keys to remove EAS hard tags for reuse later on. The system is effective as an anti-shoplifting tool for the alarms it creates when someone tries to steal merchandise. It also serves to deter theft since criminals try to avoid anything that may get them caught.
Back to my original point, when systems fail for one reason or another things can be totally out of control and some managers don’t know how to adapt. Leaders have to be ready to control a situation and redirect resources as necessary. In the case of our library printers I had our staff redirect patrons to the other three black and white printers in the building. Although somewhat inconvenient the students were still able to print. If a customer needed to pay for a print job with cash we were accepting the money, giving change and releasing the print job manually. We adapted to the situation, found alternative solutions and maintained control of what was taking place in our building.
In those situations as an L.P. Manager when my Checkpoint Security System would stop working, I took steps to minimize the chance someone would be able to steal. I did trouble shooting on my end, then placed a service call to the vendor. In the meantime I had a store employee stationed at the front doors to conduct receipt checks and I had one of my uniformed security officers walk the salesfloor as an anti-shoplifting solution. It was important to have someone visible to deter thieves who might try to take advantage of a situation if word got out that the system was not functioning properly.
Store owners train your managers to be leaders when things start to go awry. It may be as simple as being the person who keeps things calm and orderly when the power fails. It could be redirecting customers to a functioning register when one goes down, as long as you can keep ringing sales. Freezing up or failing to lead during any crisis leads to chaos and a lack of trust of those who depend on a manager for guidance. Don’t let breakdowns in equipment such as a Checkpoint Security System lead to breakdowns in leadership.
Need information on a Checkpoint Security System? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Applicant Management Center – 5 WC Blog 506
Pre-employment Screening-3
An Applicant Management Center Streamlines The Hiring Process And Saves Time
Filling open positions on a team can be a logistical nightmare for many reasons and the goal of Loss Prevention Systems Inc. is to assist you in making the process easier with their Applicant Management Center (AMC). The task of hiring becomes more burdensome for the smaller retailers that may not have a dedicated Human Resources Manager to manage all of the pieces involved. Filling position vacancies requires the posting of job ads and having all of the pertinent hiring paperwork ready and available for applicants. Added to that there is the issue of pre-employment screening and possible drug testing procedures. There are federal labor regulations an employer must be in compliance with such as following the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) rules when reviewing an applicant’s credit history. If you are managing your hiring process are you ensuring all I9 documentation is completed and submitted to the proper government agency? It is a lot of work to manage the process not to mention the time involved for a store owner or manager.
The Applicant Management Center offers a number of benefits to clients. For starters an applicant tracking list makes the management of a candidate pool easier to navigate. Sorting through emails and attachments or paper applications is unwieldy. Emails may be received as spam and paper has a tendency to get lost in a shuffle. Is your current hiring process one that involves an applicant coming in and filling out documents? The Applicant Management Center gives you the ability to provide electronic forms and customizable options including a mouse signature to prospective new hires. All of your required forms and documents are stored in one location for each of your candidates. No more digging through file drawers and cabinets looking up information on a particular candidate.
I mentioned earlier the requirement that employers must follow FCRA rules when conducting credit checks on applicants. Retailers should be completing pre-employment screening on all candidates being given serious consideration for a job. There are many reasons for this that will be discussed in future articles but suffice it to say that as a retailer you are hiring people to work with money and financial transaction information. As part of a background check a credit check should be part of this process. The Applicant Management Center will display appropriate FCRA notices to applicants as part of the application. There is no longer a need for managers to have to remember to remind applicants of these regulations and risk being out of compliance.
How many times have you set up a job ad and an application with specific questions you would like to flag that would alert you that this is a person you automatically want to interview or disregard based on the answer to that question? The Applicant Management Center gives employers the ability to flag responses to streamline your interview process. It can be cumbersome to interview every applicant in those situations where a lot of people have applied for one position and many may not be qualified to work in that job. Having a weeding process reduces the time spent sifting through applications and trying to make the decision of who is really meeting your qualification expectations.
Hiring is usually not a fun process and it requires a significant amount of time and effort on the part of a store owner or manager when there is not a Human Resources Department or Manager to take care of the task. Streamlining that process allows those owners to focus their attention on the operations of the store(s) that will drive sales and profits. Loss Prevention Systems Inc. CEO, Bill Bregar sees the problems this causes and is now offering AMC as a way to help those owners and managers avoid getting bogged down in hiring paperwork, pre-employment screening, unnecessary interviewing and direct their time where it needs to be on building a profitable business.
For more information about an Applicant Management Cystem contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Filling open positions on a team can be a logistical nightmare for many reasons and the goal of Loss Prevention Systems Inc. is to assist you in making the process easier with their Applicant Management Center (AMC). The task of hiring becomes more burdensome for the smaller retailers that may not have a dedicated Human Resources Manager to manage all of the pieces involved. Filling position vacancies requires the posting of job ads and having all of the pertinent hiring paperwork ready and available for applicants. Added to that there is the issue of pre-employment screening and possible drug testing procedures. There are federal labor regulations an employer must be in compliance with such as following the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) rules when reviewing an applicant’s credit history. If you are managing your hiring process are you ensuring all I9 documentation is completed and submitted to the proper government agency? It is a lot of work to manage the process not to mention the time involved for a store owner or manager.
The Applicant Management Center offers a number of benefits to clients. For starters an applicant tracking list makes the management of a candidate pool easier to navigate. Sorting through emails and attachments or paper applications is unwieldy. Emails may be received as spam and paper has a tendency to get lost in a shuffle. Is your current hiring process one that involves an applicant coming in and filling out documents? The Applicant Management Center gives you the ability to provide electronic forms and customizable options including a mouse signature to prospective new hires. All of your required forms and documents are stored in one location for each of your candidates. No more digging through file drawers and cabinets looking up information on a particular candidate.
I mentioned earlier the requirement that employers must follow FCRA rules when conducting credit checks on applicants. Retailers should be completing pre-employment screening on all candidates being given serious consideration for a job. There are many reasons for this that will be discussed in future articles but suffice it to say that as a retailer you are hiring people to work with money and financial transaction information. As part of a background check a credit check should be part of this process. The Applicant Management Center will display appropriate FCRA notices to applicants as part of the application. There is no longer a need for managers to have to remember to remind applicants of these regulations and risk being out of compliance.
How many times have you set up a job ad and an application with specific questions you would like to flag that would alert you that this is a person you automatically want to interview or disregard based on the answer to that question? The Applicant Management Center gives employers the ability to flag responses to streamline your interview process. It can be cumbersome to interview every applicant in those situations where a lot of people have applied for one position and many may not be qualified to work in that job. Having a weeding process reduces the time spent sifting through applications and trying to make the decision of who is really meeting your qualification expectations.
Hiring is usually not a fun process and it requires a significant amount of time and effort on the part of a store owner or manager when there is not a Human Resources Department or Manager to take care of the task. Streamlining that process allows those owners to focus their attention on the operations of the store(s) that will drive sales and profits. Loss Prevention Systems Inc. CEO, Bill Bregar sees the problems this causes and is now offering AMC as a way to help those owners and managers avoid getting bogged down in hiring paperwork, pre-employment screening, unnecessary interviewing and direct their time where it needs to be on building a profitable business.
For more information about an Applicant Management System, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Alpha Keepers-4 WC Blog 394
Prevent Shoplifting-4
Retail Anti-Theft Devices-4
Retail Anti-Theft Devices; The Decisions Stores Make That Drive Me Crazy! Part 1
From time to time I see retail Loss Prevention initiatives that make me go crazy. Sometimes the initiative goes too far in reducing security measures. I have seen Loss Prevention payroll cuts in an effort to save money. I have seen merchandise such as video games removed from lock-up cases (which I might add I am not necessarily opposed to) but then no security measure is added to prevent shoplifting, by using Alpha Keepers or even soft electronic article surveillance tags. I have seen high priced items removed from “security grids” that direct what items get retail anti-theft devices placed on them. For example, I am aware of a company that sells laminators. No, not really a high sales item but there was a time when a certain price point of the item required them to be protected with a security device and now they are no longer protected. Certain ink jet cartridges in one store are stored in Alpha Keepers while other brands are not protected. News flash! Shoplifters are not necessarily concerned with the brand or price points sometimes they just want the merchandise in order to trade it for whatever cash they can get or for drugs.
I want to briefly clarify for readers who may not be familiar with them, what Alpha Keepers are. Keepers are clear, solid, plastic boxes with hinged, locking lids that allows merchants to display merchandise on the salesfloor while protecting the merchandise from theft. The boxes require special detachment keys in order to open them adding an additional level of security. The boxes are also built with electronic article surveillance technology (EAS) that makes the Keepers detectable by EAS towers when stores have them installed. This makes sure that if a shoplifter tries to carry secured merchandise out of the store tower alarms and lights activate and warn store employees that an attempted theft is taking place. Employees respond to the doors and recover merchandise and prevent shoplifting or get the patron to purchase the item.
The beauty of retail anti-theft devices is that it allows retailers to take merchandise from the showcases and place them in the reach of the customer. This gives customers the ability to handle merchandise, read package information and carry it around the store while they continue to shop. Likewise, the Keepers give flexibility to store owners and managers to not tie an employee down to the showcases waiting to help customers or standing at the showcase taking out merchandise and putting it back while the customer browses merchandise. So YES, remove merchandise from showcases, make it accessible and sales will inevitably climb. People will buy products when they don’t have to wait for assistance.
My irritation is NOT at the removal of product from security lock-ups, my irritation is when merchandise is put on the floor and not secured with retail anti-theft devices. Furthermore, DON’T have a policy of securing product with anti-theft devices and then removing the devices or not placing them on new shipments anymore. Is the policy in place because there is no longer evidence that the merchandise is being stolen…WELL DUH! The merchandise not being stolen because the protections did what they were designed to do, prevent shoplifting! Is the decision based on the lack of sales of a product? That has nothing to do with the security device or the ability of customers to access them, it may be due to product placement, price point, lack of customer service or simply the item is not in demand. As long as it is being carried in the store all merchandise should be protected.
Removing merchandise from lock-up cases can certainly improve sales. Placing merchandise on the floor without protecting it is an invitation to increased theft and shortage. Make products available to your customers but use Alpha Keepers and retail anti-theft devices on all the things you sell to prevent shoplifting.
For more information about Alpha Keepers, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
From time to time I see retail Loss Prevention initiatives that make me go crazy. Sometimes the initiative goes too far in reducing security measures. I have seen Loss Prevention payroll cuts in an effort to save money. I have seen merchandise such as video games removed from lock-up cases (which I might add I am not necessarily opposed to) but then no security measure is added to prevent shoplifting, by using Alpha Keepers or even soft electronic article surveillance tags. I have seen high priced items removed from “security grids” that direct what items get retail anti-theft devices placed on them. For example, I am aware of a company that sells laminators. No, not really a high sales item but there was a time when a certain price point of the item required them to be protected with a security device and now they are no longer protected. Certain ink jet cartridges in one store are stored in Alpha Keepers while other brands are not protected. News flash! Shoplifters are not necessarily concerned with the brand or price points sometimes they just want the merchandise in order to trade it for whatever cash they can get or for drugs.
I want to briefly clarify for readers who may not be familiar with them, what Alpha Keepers are. Keepers are clear, solid, plastic boxes with hinged, locking lids that allows merchants to display merchandise on the salesfloor while protecting the merchandise from theft. The boxes require special detachment keys in order to open them adding an additional level of security. The boxes are also built with electronic article surveillance technology (EAS) that makes the Keepers detectable by EAS towers when stores have them installed. This makes sure that if a shoplifter tries to carry secured merchandise out of the store tower alarms and lights activate and warn store employees that an attempted theft is taking place. Employees respond to the doors and recover merchandise and prevent shoplifting or get the patron to purchase the item.
The beauty of retail anti-theft devices is that it allows retailers to take merchandise from the showcases and place them in the reach of the customer. This gives customers the ability to handle merchandise, read package information and carry it around the store while they continue to shop. Likewise, the Keepers give flexibility to store owners and managers to not tie an employee down to the showcases waiting to help customers or standing at the showcase taking out merchandise and putting it back while the customer browses merchandise. So YES, remove merchandise from showcases, make it accessible and sales will inevitably climb. People will buy products when they don’t have to wait for assistance.
My irritation is NOT at the removal of product from security lock-ups, my irritation is when merchandise is put on the floor and not secured with retail anti-theft devices. Furthermore, DON’T have a policy of securing product with anti-theft devices and then removing the devices or not placing them on new shipments anymore. Is the policy in place because there is no longer evidence that the merchandise is being stolen…WELL DUH! The merchandise not being stolen because the protections did what they were designed to do, prevent shoplifting! Is the decision based on the lack of sales of a product? That has nothing to do with the security device or the ability of customers to access them, it may be due to product placement, price point, lack of customer service or simply the item is not in demand. As long as it is being carried in the store all merchandise should be protected.
Removing merchandise from lock-up cases can certainly improve sales. Placing merchandise on the floor without protecting it is an invitation to increased theft and shortage. Make products available to your customers but use Alpha Keepers and retail anti-theft devices on all the things you sell to prevent shoplifting.
For more information about Alpha Keepers, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
I have been fighting to lose a lot of weight over the last two years and some odd months. I was looking at pictures of myself at our eldest son’s graduation and I had enough of it. I didn’t like the way I looked and made a decision I was going to lose weight and it wasn’t going to be one of those fad diets. I would use common sense eating approaches and exercise more. I didn’t totally cut out all of the foods I like but I did drastically cut back on sweets and regular sodas/pop/coke, whatever you want to call them. At this point I have lost about 40 pounds. I have almost reached my goal but here is the catch, I can’t fall back into old habits. I can’t go back to second helpings of dinners that I truly enjoy. I can’t go back to regular soft drinks and it takes discipline to stay out of our library breakroom when co-workers bring in donuts or treats for everyone. Now before you ask what this has to do with employee theft reduction training, hear me out. Disciplining myself to reduce weight is not much different than the discipline an employer requires to educate themselves and enforce policies to stop employee theft.
It is terribly difficult to identify employee theft by Loss Prevention Professions. It can be nearly an impossible task for a retail store owner or manager to identify it let alone have the knowledge to put a stop to it. I have seen cases where dishonest employees have gotten away with thousands of dollars in merchandise and even more in cash theft. If they are good at doing it an employee can steal from an employer for years without the employer having a clue it is happening. The problem often facing store management is that they don’t have the ability to keep a Loss Prevention staff of any size on the payroll. So, if there is no Loss Prevention and I have pointed out the difficulty for a novice to tell when an employee is stealing from them, what are the alternatives? The alternative is employee theft reduction training for store owners and managers. With the proper instruction it is possible for management teams to learn the steps they can take to minimize the chance of hiring thieves in the first place. They may also learn to identify the signs that may indicate employee theft is taking place. It is also possible to take steps to reduce the opportunities for theft to happen.
While employee theft reduction training will give employers the tools they need to impact employee theft in the store it takes discipline to stay on track. Just like starting a weight loss program it is energizing at first. You go through the seminar and learn new things to set you on the road to your goal and you begin to implement changes. You start to use employee background checks in your hiring process. You teach your managers to look for the signs that an employee may be unintentionally transmitting that could indicate they are in a position where they may start stealing. The dieter changes what he/she eats and starts to monitor calories and fat grams. Things start to improve for the retailer and cash shortages seem to disappear or shortage percentages go down. The dieter loses a couple of pounds. Then before you know it the old habits creep in and excuses are made. It is the holiday season and you HAVE to get staffed so there isn’t time for employee background checks. Yes, you decided to hire your employee’s best friend on her word that she would be a great worker. It is the holiday season and your Uncle Joe would be hurt if you didn’t eat two helpings of his famous fried turkey. It is only a couple of cookies and you can lose the weight after the first of the year. Do you see where I’m going? Training and knowledge and making changes are fantastic. Being disciplined to resist returning to old habits is hard.
Running a vibrant, profitable store requires managers to understand the damage dishonest workers can do to a business. Those without Loss Prevention must also learn how to identify and prevent it by taking employee theft reduction training for the management teams. They must also start using employee background checks to help avoid hiring the thieves in the first place. Finally, once positive changes are made there must be a commitment that managers will not fall back into old routines. Make a change today and watch profits grow tomorrow.
Get more information on employee theft reduction training, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
I went shopping with my wife last night. Well, really we were waiting to pick up my daughter from her job and had time to kill so we went to the clothing retail store next to her store and began browsing. We had a gift to look for but that turned to naught so we went to the nightwear section and she looked through the racks for a particular item she wanted in her size. Well she found the style and color of a pair of pajama pants she liked but she wasn’t positive they would fit properly. I told her we could buy them and if they fit and she liked them she could keep them. If not, as long as we had the receipt we could return them. I certainly didn’t need to tell her this as she has a significant amount of retail experience, but as the husband and the one with the Loss Prevention experience, I felt I needed to reassure her that she would not be committing any retail fraud by trying them on at home. I also told her this because I was tired and ready to go. This experience reminded me that there are those who engage in wardrobing and do commit return fraud. A store like this could benefit from using Alpha Shark Tags on their clothing.
Since I mentioned Alpha Shark Tags I need to describe what they are and how they prevent return fraud. Shark Tags or wardrobing tags as they are sometimes called are different than electronic article surveillance tags. These tags are designed in a bright red and are placed in a highly visible location on clothes. They are not created to prevent theft so they never get de-activated or removed at the store. These devices are removed by the customer when they get home and the customer decides they want to keep the merchandise. The tags have to be cut off and once that is done they can’t be replaced. It also means the store won’t accept the item back for return. This means that there is no more buying clothes, wearing them a couple of times to look like the person has a new outfit, then returning the item with the clothing tags and receipts and getting a full refund…a type of fraud known as wardrobing. The bright color of the Shark tags ensures that if the item is worn in public with the tag still on it other people are going to know the intent is that the item is being “borrowed” and will embarrass the person wearing the garment. I should also mention that Alpha Shark tags do not interfere with the ability to try on clothes at home and if the item doesn’t fit or if it is a gift and the recipient doesn’t like the gift, as long as the tag is intact, the garment can be returned.
As a Loss Prevention Manager I did see multiple questionable returns of clothing as well as obvious attempts at return fraud. The problem was determining what was clearly fraudulent and what was not. The second part of that problem was working with the Manager on Duty to determine if we were going to take an item back and what form of reimbursement would we give. Merchandise that has clothing tags on them and a receipt, even if there were some stains, could be hard to refuse. Everything has the appearance of following the company return policies, minor stains or odors notwithstanding, so to refuse the return is hard. It is a little easier if stains are large or the merchandise is damaged but again if the tags are in place it can be tough because some managers don’t want a confrontation. Clear clothing return fraud is when the tags on the clothes don’t match the product. An example is when a perpetrator has a low end brand of jeans and attaches a store price tag and barcode from a high-end, name brand pair of jeans and takes them to the store to get the higher dollar amount back. If an employee is paying attention this fraud can be caught and the return easily denied. Wardrobing Tags prevent the harder returns because they can’t be reattached so the clothes can’t be worn and refunded.
Don’t be the victim of return fraud, it hurts profits because often the merchandise that is brought back has to be reduced in price or marked out of stock. Wardrobing tags help keep profits up and prices for customers down when they don’t have to pay for the losses through mark-ups on clothing. Oh, and that shopping trip…my wife didn’t buy anything.
Need information on Wardrobing Tags? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
