Training To Reduce Employee Theft – 3 WC Blog 834
Employee Theft -3
Training To Reduce Employee Theft May Show You Already Have Some Skills To Deter Theft
I am currently going through a leadership training course at the college where I work and I am struck by how similar some of the tools I used in an employee theft interview match with what we are discussing. I guess it comes down to how people respond to other people in an interaction. In Retail Loss Prevention many of us in management positions are trained on how to identify and investigate suspected theft cases. We also receive training on how to conduct interviews with the dishonest employee when we are ready to finalize our investigation and prosecute. The interviewer must have the ability to control how they speak and even be aware of body language signals of the suspect and their own body language. A keen Loss Prevention Manager can pick up on non-verbal cues during the interview process. These cues can help us discern if the suspect is trying to hide something from us or if they are being open and forthright.
Since many independent store owners will not have a Loss Prevention department they may encounter suspected employee theft but without the proper training they won’t have any idea how to be sure. Still worse, if they do confront the suspected employee but do not have the proper skills or information they could find themselves in a pickle with a smart crook. From all of my interviews I can tell you it was rare for someone to come out and freely admit to what they had done even when all the evidence was presented to them. It took training and preparation before I was ready to confront suspected dishonest workers. I even had to learn about how MY body language could affect an interview in additional to learning non-verbal cues from the interviewee. I am not suggesting store managers should become Loss Prevention Investigators at all. I am saying it is important to go through training to reduce employee theft by someone who has been in the Retail Loss Prevention Field and Investigations and has the experience to teach what you need to know.
Were you aware that your body posture can have an impact on others when you are talking with them? Cross your arms and you give a signal that can be interpreted that you are closed off or unapproachable. Sitting across from someone with legs uncrossed and arms relaxed signals you are approachable and can be talked to. These are signals that we are careful about how we use them in an investigation interview and can also be applied to leadership principles. Appear closed off in an interview and it makes it harder to establish trust with the worker you are trying to get an admission from for suspected employee theft (if you know for certain they were engaged in dishonest activity). Appear to be closed off to employees in a work situation and they will be afraid to speak to you or offer opinions and suggestions. It is also harder to lead people who don’t want to follow a leader they believe to be aloof or standoffish.
Training to reduce employee theft isn’t going to include those cues but you may learn tricks such as how an employee who used to be talkative and suddenly becomes introverted may be a candidate to engage in theft. Employees who avoid eye contact with you or are defensive when having conversations with you may be participants in theft or fraud. Just as active listening is an important skill for successful leaders it is also an important tool when trying to identify potential internal theft concerns. The employee who starts talking about money problems or the inability to pay bills may be prone to engaging in cash or merchandise theft. I started several investigations based on some low dollar cash register shortages and overhearing bits of conversations in the breakroom by using active listening.
Skills can often carry over from one area to another. You may already have leadership skills you did not know could be useful in the identification of or deterrence of criminal activity. Training to reduce employee theft will teach you how to minimize the opportunities for any staff member to steal. You might also find you have a knack for it because of those leadership skills you also possess.
For more information about training to reduce employee theft contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.
I am currently going through a leadership training course at the college where I work and I am struck by how similar some of the tools I used in an employee theft interview match with what we are discussing. I guess it comes down to how people respond to other people in an interaction. In Retail Loss Prevention many of us in management positions are trained on how to identify and investigate suspected theft cases. We also receive training on how to conduct interviews with the dishonest employee when we are ready to finalize our investigation and prosecute. The interviewer must have the ability to control how they speak and even be aware of body language signals of the suspect and their own body language. A keen Loss Prevention Manager can pick up on non-verbal cues during the interview process. These cues can help us discern if the suspect is trying to hide something from us or if they are being open and forthright.
Since many independent store owners will not have a Loss Prevention department they may encounter suspected employee theft but without the proper training they won’t have any idea how to be sure. Still worse, if they do confront the suspected employee but do not have the proper skills or information they could find themselves in a pickle with a smart crook. From all of my interviews I can tell you it was rare for someone to come out and freely admit to what they had done even when all the evidence was presented to them. It took training and preparation before I was ready to confront suspected dishonest workers. I even had to learn about how MY body language could affect an interview in additional to learning non-verbal cues from the interviewee. I am not suggesting store managers should become Loss Prevention Investigators at all. I am saying it is important to go through training to reduce employee theft by someone who has been in the Retail Loss Prevention Field and Investigations and has the experience to teach what you need to know.
Were you aware that your body posture can have an impact on others when you are talking with them? Cross your arms and you give a signal that can be interpreted that you are closed off or unapproachable. Sitting across from someone with legs uncrossed and arms relaxed signals you are approachable and can be talked to. These are signals that we are careful about how we use them in an investigation interview and can also be applied to leadership principles. Appear closed off in an interview and it makes it harder to establish trust with the worker you are trying to get an admission from for suspected employee theft (if you know for certain they were engaged in dishonest activity). Appear to be closed off to employees in a work situation and they will be afraid to speak to you or offer opinions and suggestions. It is also harder to lead people who don’t want to follow a leader they believe to be aloof or standoffish.
Training to reduce employee theft isn’t going to include those cues but you may learn tricks such as how an employee who used to be talkative and suddenly becomes introverted may be a candidate to engage in theft. Employees who avoid eye contact with you or are defensive when having conversations with you may be participants in theft or fraud. Just as active listening is an important skill for successful leaders it is also an important tool when trying to identify potential internal theft concerns. The employee who starts talking about money problems or the inability to pay bills may be prone to engaging in cash or merchandise theft. I started several investigations based on some low dollar cash register shortages and overhearing bits of conversations in the breakroom by using active listening.
Skills can often carry over from one area to another. You may already have leadership skills you did not know could be useful in the identification of or deterrence of criminal activity. Training to reduce employee theft will teach you how to minimize the opportunities for any staff member to steal. You might also find you have a knack for it because of those leadership skills you also possess.
For more information about training to reduce employee theft, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.
Blog 13c WAB
Pre-employment Screening, Interview Questions & Applicant Management Center Part 3 of 4
In part three of this blog, pre-employment screening, I am going to discuss job expectations and previous work history. The section about job expectation may only have four questions but that does not diminish its importance. You must not only assess what the candidate’s expectations are such as how employees are treated, their work environment, their job skills and knowledge, as it relates to the position but what you expect. What things are important to you? Arriving on time, overtime, ethics, theft of company property, cash, merchandise… and so on. I have found that you must address these things up front and also show that you are not afraid to discuss them and that you have knowledge of these areas.
Previous work history is also an area requiring depth. We want to find out about their work history and attitudes. Is everything the previous employer’s fault, do they talk favorably about most of their work there or is it just complaint after complaint? If you see this as a pattern about previous jobs what makes you think it will be any better at your company? Oh, you may be thinking to yourself ”I can do it better”. Chances are they did most things correctly and of course we have all had jobs where we were glad to be gone from that company. However, if this seems to be a pattern, then this is something to be concerned with. For quite a number of years I consulted for a large, multi-billion dollar company. Something that impressed me was that their entire management team down to virtually everyone understood that it was better to work short-handed than to have one employee that drug everyone else down or had poor performance.
Much of what I want you to look for is patterns. Are the same things following this candidate through their work history both positive and negative? If it is a pattern of positives such as solid performance, always willingly looking to do a job better than just to get by and striving to be the best, follows them in deeds and words, they may be a keeper. Someone with a pattern of it is everyone else’s fault or a lack of understanding in work rules may be one you want to pass on.
This is a lot to keep track of so you should consider an Applicant Management Center (AMC). Loss Prevention Systems’ Applicant Management Center allows your candidates to apply online from your web site (AMC is hosted on our servers). Your custom branded application is interactive. For example, if you have a question such as “Have you managed people before” and they answer yes, a follow up question that would automatically populate could be “Tell us about your management style…” But if they answered no to that question, the system could follow up with “If you have never managed people before what makes you feel qualified to do so for us?”
Our Job Applicant Management Center also tracks the applicant all the way through the process. It can be separated by store, hiring manager, recruiter…. Set reminders, send forms directly to applicants, accept their resume and any other documents you require. You can initiate a background investigation, DOT physical, drug testing and more through us with the click of a mouse.
Our drug testing and background investigations have a very fast turnaround. If you want more information on Loss prevention Systems’ Applicant Management Center, click here or contact us.
JOB EXPECTATIONS
• What is your interest in this position?
• What made you select this company as opposed to other employers?
• What knowledge do you have about working at the company and why is that appealing to you?
• What are your expectations of the company?
PREVIOUS WORK HISTORY
• Review each position listed on the application. Be sure to review: title, length of time at job, responsibilities, reason for leaving, salary.
• Which of your previous positions was your favorite? Why?
• Which of your previous positions did you like the least? Why?
• Describe the supervisor you like working for the most. Why?
• Describe the supervisor you liked least. Why?
• Have you had difficulty getting along with a former professor/supervisor/co-worker and how did you handle it?
• Have you ever spoken before a group of people? How large?
• Give me an example in a previous position where you delivered great customer service. What did you do?
• Give an example of a situation in which you provided a solution to an employer.
• Give an example of a time in which you worked under deadline pressure.
• What professional experience do you hope to gain from working at the Company?
• Are you looking for promotional opportunities? If so, what are they?
• How long were you planning on working at the company?
• Our sales positions require a combination of selling and non-selling duties. How do you feel about those responsibilities?
• What job-related skills have you developed?
• Did you work while going to school? In what positions?
• What did you learn from these work experiences?
• Have you ever quit a job? Why?
• How do you think a former supervisor would describe your work?
If you have any questions on Pre-employment screening, drug testing or background investigations, contact us or call toll free 1-770-426-0547.
In part three of this blog, pre-employment screening, I am going to discuss job expectations and previous work history. The section about job expectation may only have four questions but that does not diminish its importance. You must not only assess what the candidate’s expectations are such as how employees are treated, their work environment, their job skills and knowledge, as it relates to the position but what you expect. What things are important to you? Arriving on time, overtime, ethics, theft of company property, cash, merchandise… and so on. I have found that you must address these things up front and also show that you are not afraid to discuss them and that you have knowledge of these areas.
Previous work history is also an area requiring depth. We want to find out about their work history and attitudes. Is everything the previous employer’s fault, do they talk favorably about most of their work there or is it just complaint after complaint? If you see this as a pattern about previous jobs what makes you think it will be any better at your company? Oh, you may be thinking to yourself ”I can do it better”. Chances are they did most things correctly and of course we have all had jobs where we were glad to be gone from that company. However, if this seems to be a pattern, then this is something to be concerned with. For quite a number of years I consulted for a large, multi-billion dollar company. Something that impressed me was that their entire management team down to virtually everyone understood that it was better to work short-handed than to have one employee that drug everyone else down or had poor performance.
Much of what I want you to look for is patterns. Are the same things following this candidate through their work history both positive and negative? If it is a pattern of positives such as solid performance, always willingly looking to do a job better than just to get by and striving to be the best, follows them in deeds and words, they may be a keeper. Someone with a pattern of it is everyone else’s fault or a lack of understanding in work rules may be one you want to pass on.
This is a lot to keep track of so you should consider an Applicant Management Center (AMC). Loss Prevention Systems’ Applicant Management Center allows your candidates to apply online from your web site (AMC is hosted on our servers). Your custom branded application is interactive. For example, if you have a question such as “Have you managed people before” and they answer yes, a follow up question that would automatically populate could be “Tell us about your management style…” But if they answered no to that question, the system could follow up with “If you have never managed people before what makes you feel qualified to do so for us?”
Our Job Applicant Management Center also tracks the applicant all the way through the process. It can be separated by store, hiring manager, recruiter…. Set reminders, send forms directly to applicants, accept their resume and any other documents you require. You can initiate a background investigation, DOT physical, drug testing and more through us with the click of a mouse.
Our drug testing and background investigations have a very fast turnaround. If you want more information on Loss prevention Systems’ Applicant Management Center, click here or contact us.
JOB EXPECTATIONS
• What is your interest in this position?
• What made you select this company as opposed to other employers?
• What knowledge do you have about working at the company and why is that appealing to you?
• What are your expectations of the company?
PREVIOUS WORK HISTORY
• Review each position listed on the application. Be sure to review: title, length of time at job, responsibilities, reason for leaving, salary.
• Which of your previous positions was your favorite? Why?
• Which of your previous positions did you like the least? Why?
• Describe the supervisor you like working for the most. Why?
• Describe the supervisor you liked least. Why?
• Have you had difficulty getting along with a former professor/supervisor/co-worker and how did you handle it?
• Have you ever spoken before a group of people? How large?
• Give me an example in a previous position where you delivered great customer service. What did you do?• Give an example of a situation in which you provided a solution to an employer.
• Give an example of a time in which you worked under deadline pressure.• What professional experience do you hope to gain from working at the Company?
• Are you looking for promotional opportunities? If so, what are they?
• How long were you planning on working at the company?
• Our sales positions require a combination of selling and non-selling duties. How do you feel about those responsibilities?
• What job-related skills have you developed?
• Did you work while going to school? In what positions?
• What did you learn from these work experiences?
• Have you ever quit a job? Why?
• How do you think a former supervisor would describe your work?
If you have any questions on Pre-employment screening, drug testing or background investigations, contact us or call toll free 1-770-426-0547.
WC Blog 831
Stop Shoplifting – 3
Sensormatic Tags -3
Openness To Suggestions Can Stop Shoplifting, Improve Safety And/Or Operations
When I was a Loss Prevention Manager I balked at some things I or my team were required to do that I felt had minimal impact on efforts to stop shoplifting. By nature I don’t like to do things that I perceive as a waste of time at work. I did not care for audit lists created by headquarters that my team had to research every single day. I may have recognized that some of the items should be on the list for every store and the list may have been a company top theft list but I believed it could have been reduced. I would have been agreeable to a shortened list with a store specific Top 5 list added on. Unfortunately many times a program is rolled out or a decision is made and as a leader you have to implement it. This is not meant to say that every program rolled out was a bad one. When directed to use Sensormatic tags on specific items that are a company-wide theft item it makes sense to require all stores to use the same measure of protection. On the other hand managers, you have to have the skills to know how to disagree with a program or policy, challenge it and have reasons for your disagreement but still get your team on board to support it. It can be a tricky balancing act but a necessary one for low and mid-level managers.
As a store owner or store manager are you open to feedback from your employees? I don’t mean a scowl and nasty look with a response that you will take something under advisement. I mean are you willing to listen to suggestions and give thoughtful consideration to what someone is concerned about? For example, what if one of your employees reads that liquid detergent is becoming a target of thieves and suggests you protect your detergents with Sensormatic tags, will you give it serious consideration? Ignoring the concern may cost you a lot of money before you find out they were right. Maybe a suggestion can save your company money in preventing an accident or it just eliminates a time waster. It can be related to how to better stop shoplifting or it may be operational in nature. For example recently at my retail job I was filling an empty pallet with cases of paper. I had to take the cartons from stockroom shelves, one carton at a time. I was annoyed at the safety issue of lifting these heavy boxes while on a ladder, having to haul them down then refilling a pallet that the cases were being sold from. The productivity issue was that the cartons had to be removed from a pallet they were received on, toted UP the ladder and stored in the stockroom shelves. The process of refilling the pallet took me at least half an hour. I have to assume it took someone that long to store those cases of paper on the shelves. I voiced my concern to the Manager on Duty about the safety concern and the waste of an hour of payroll. The Manager took a picture of the shelves that still had paper on them and sent the picture to the Store Manager and the rest of the management team. That demonstrated he took my concern seriously and my suggestion that paper simply be left on pallets in the stockroom.
You might be surprised by the knowledge some of your employees possess. Maybe you have someone working for you who had Loss Prevention experience and could share suggestion on how to improve efforts to stop shoplifting. As a Freight/Stockroom Manager my job dropped when I learned after almost a year that one of my stockroom employees had once been a stockroom manager in our company! There were many times I could have called upon his experience to get projects done much more quickly had I known of his background beforehand. When I asked him why he hadn’t told me he said he didn’t think it was important. I did walk away from that experience resolved in the future to know more about the people who work for me and use their knowledge to help in the future.
Not every suggestion is going to be a good one. If an employee suggests tagging checklane candy with Sensormatic tags I would be skeptical. If they provide a suggestion to tag all of the cosmetics, because they are seeing a lot of empty shelf spaces that may be something to look into. In the end what I am saying is don’t waste energy, time and resources on tasks that don’t make sense. I also urge you to be open to suggestions offered by employees that can prevent accidents, save money or save time. You might be surprised at what they can offer.
Need more information on Sensormatic tags? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
When I was a Loss Prevention Manager I balked at some things I or my team were required to do that I felt had minimal impact on efforts to stop shoplifting. By nature I don’t like to do things that I perceive as a waste of time at work. I did not care for audit lists created by headquarters that my team had to research every single day. I may have recognized that some of the items should be on the list for every store and the list may have been a company top theft list but I believed it could have been reduced. I would have been agreeable to a shortened list with a store specific Top 5 list added on. Unfortunately many times a program is rolled out or a decision is made and as a leader you have to implement it. This is not meant to say that every program rolled out was a bad one. When directed to use Sensormatic tags on specific items that are a company-wide theft item it makes sense to require all stores to use the same measure of protection. On the other hand managers, you have to have the skills to know how to disagree with a program or policy, challenge it and have reasons for your disagreement but still get your team on board to support it. It can be a tricky balancing act but a necessary one for low and mid-level managers.
As a store owner or store manager are you open to feedback from your employees? I don’t mean a scowl and nasty look with a response that you will take something under advisement. I mean are you willing to listen to suggestions and give thoughtful consideration to what someone is concerned about? For example, what if one of your employees reads that liquid detergent is becoming a target of thieves and suggests you protect your detergents with Sensormatic tags, will you give it serious consideration? Ignoring the concern may cost you a lot of money before you find out they were right. Maybe a suggestion can save your company money in preventing an accident or it just eliminates a time waster. It can be related to how to better stop shoplifting or it may be operational in nature. For example recently at my retail job I was filling an empty pallet with cases of paper. I had to take the cartons from stockroom shelves, one carton at a time. I was annoyed at the safety issue of lifting these heavy boxes while on a ladder, having to haul them down then refilling a pallet that the cases were being sold from. The productivity issue was that the cartons had to be removed from a pallet they were received on, toted UP the ladder and stored in the stockroom shelves. The process of refilling the pallet took me at least half an hour. I have to assume it took someone that long to store those cases of paper on the shelves. I voiced my concern to the Manager on Duty about the safety concern and the waste of an hour of payroll. The Manager took a picture of the shelves that still had paper on them and sent the picture to the Store Manager and the rest of the management team. That demonstrated he took my concern seriously and my suggestion that paper simply be left on pallets in the stockroom.
You might be surprised by the knowledge some of your employees possess. Maybe you have someone working for you who had Loss Prevention experience and could share suggestion on how to improve efforts to stop shoplifting. As a Freight/Stockroom Manager my job dropped when I learned after almost a year that one of my stockroom employees had once been a stockroom manager in our company! There were many times I could have called upon his experience to get projects done much more quickly had I known of his background beforehand. When I asked him why he hadn’t told me he said he didn’t think it was important. I did walk away from that experience resolved in the future to know more about the people who work for me and use their knowledge to help in the future.
Not every suggestion is going to be a good one. If an employee suggests tagging checklane candy with Sensormatic tags I would be skeptical. If they provide a suggestion to tag all of the cosmetics, because they are seeing a lot of empty shelf spaces that may be something to look into. In the end what I am saying is don’t waste energy, time and resources on tasks that don’t make sense. I also urge you to be open to suggestions offered by employees that can prevent accidents, save money or save time. You might be surprised at what they can offer.
Need more information on Sensormatic tags? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
