Employee Theft Reduction Training Equips Managers But Requires Dedicated Follow Up

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.

 

 

Shop, Take Home And Try On; Wardrobing Tags Can Protect A Retailer From Fraud And Make It Easy For Customers To Try On Clothes At Home And Return Them

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.

 

EMPLOYEE BACKGROUND CHECKS DISCOVER THE ALARMING TRUTH ABOUT WHO YOU TRUST WITH YOUR COMPANYS ASSETS!

People lie, employee background checks don’t. As part of the pre-employment screening process, background checks should be mandatory in every company. As a Loss Prevention professional, I have seen the value of these checks first hand. In everyday life, we are careful with our wallets, purses, vehicles, and other personal belongings. You would not trust a stranger to hold your wallet just because they say they are “honest and trustworthy” right? Well, why would you trust an employee to have access to everything inside your company? Digging further than just face value should be a part of every retailer’s pre-employment screening process. One employee who is not honest could significantly drain profits right underneath your feet. I see this often with my own eyes while closing out high dollar employee theft investigations in my stores. 

While working Loss Prevention for a retailer, there was an employee who everybody perceived as hard working, friendly, and trustworthy. The employee had a great personality and could speak well about his business. He was well liked by everyone, including my Loss Prevention team. One Monday morning, I received a call from my Operations Manager that we were missing 2 high dollar appliances from the warehouse. I first made sure he checked several possible locations where the merchandise could have been misplaced. But he was correct. Two appliances came in three trucks ago, and we were missing two items. I started reviewing several days of video and running reports to complete an investigation on where these appliances went. I come across some suspicious activity on CCTV where the item looks like it goes out the door to a customer in a red truck. I pull transactions and found that there were no customer pickups or purchases for that item on that day. I now know that the employee we trusted, had deceived us. I continued to investigate the second missing item. I went through several days of video and found that the same employee again pushed an item out the door, to the SAME red truck. No purchases or customer pickups for that specific item that day. I now was 100 percent certain we had a thief working in our building. I then started investigating more and found several more videos on non-paid items leaving the building. Once I had the theft investigation complete, I went to Human Resources to look at his folder. I was shocked at what I found. The employee did not have any type of pre-employment screening! I didn’t understand why we would not have completed one. Human Resources explained to me that they didn’t do any pre-employment screening on the people they hired during the holidays, mass hires, or certain positions in the store. I decided to request one to be completed, due to the investigation I was working on. The well liked employee who has been robbing us blind was a convicted criminal with several prior thefts. If we were conducting employee background checks on everyone we hired, we would have caught this!

I completed an interview on the employee right before we prosecuted him. He admitted to stealing close to $38,000 from us in the short two years he worked there. Although we were happy to prosecute and get a thief out of our building, it shows how much money can walk out of your store in a short period of time. This was just from one person. What about all of the other friendly people we hired during the holidays, our mass hire, or the employees who are working in non-required positions? Employee background checks are inexpensive and provide peace of mind about the type of person you are hiring. This can ensure that you are not hiring a person who is dangerous, untrustworthy, or just not a suitable fit for your business. A simple pre-employment screening, will help you keep the individuals who could potentially harm your business away!

For more information about Employee Background Checks, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.