Employee theft – 4 WC Blog 797
Employee Theft Reduction Training – 3
Employee Theft Reduction Training Can Help Avoid Blunders
How do you stop employee theft and shoplifting? Well, when you are a Loss Prevention Manager for a major retail store you may hire Loss Prevention Officers. Unfortunately we don’t always have the ability to see how well an employee is going to work out. I for one have made my share of poor hiring decisions. Sometimes people look great on paper and may even excel at interviewing but boy can they make life miserable when they get hired. One such hire for me seemed like he would be competent according to his resume and application. I did see one place on his resume which caused me some minor concern but other than that the interview went well, our background check company cleared him (but to what extent he was investigated I don’t know) and we brought him onboard. I had an employee theft case I started investigating and asked this employee if he knew how to tie into a CCTV camera cable for a covert camera. He told me he did and he was anxious to help. I gave him the okay, made sure he and the other associate knew what the plan was and I went home. There may have been a better outcome had I tested his knowledge before leaving for the day because his training was lacking. I’ll finish my story shortly but it brings up two questions I have for store managers.
What kind of employee theft reduction training do you have for your managers and do you incorporate employee background checks as part of your strategy to reduce employee theft? The two questions are not mutually exclusive. Pre-employment screening can be a tool for reducing the chances of hiring dishonest employees. The right screening company will allow you to choose what you want to have investigated. In the case of my employee if I had been given options I would have asked for that question from the resume to be investigated. Why did he have this gap or oddity on his resume? Did he actually have the experience he said he had? You can keep from making a similar mistake and ensure your employees are who they present themselves to be by using the right pre-employment screening company. Theft reduction training for non-Loss Prevention personnel is also much different than the training for Loss Prevention Associates. Theft reduction training for store managers and employees will not include running covert cameras, or conducting surveillance on shoplifters. It should include being able to identify suspicious behaviors, how to use electronic article surveillance technology to deter theft and the impact of customer service on theft prevention. Employee theft reduction for managers is or should be conducted by a business with experienced Loss Prevention trainers. Have them do the training and you won’t need to ask the follow-up questions I should have asked my employee.
So what was it I failed to do and what was the result? Well, I took my employee’s word for what he told me, that he knew how to splice into a CCTV cable to run a separate line. The purpose was so that I could conduct surveillance in an area of the stockroom where suspected employee theft was taking place. The idea was fantastic, the execution horrible. I received a call from my store manager telling me my Associate had cut the ALARM cable to the building and he wanted to know what I was going to do about it. I had to go back to the store, see what my employee had done and then contact the alarm company. I also had to contact MY District Loss Prevention Manager and explain what had transpired. As I recall I also had to stay overnight in the building since the alarms were not working properly…did I mention my employees tried to splice the alarm wire back together? The alarm technician came out the next day and repaired the screw-up.
I wound up setting the covert camera myself and I did finally catch the dishonest employee but at quite a cost. I also eventually fired the Associate. After this I always made sure I spent a great deal of time training one of my Associates before allowing them to help me with an employee theft investigation. For you employee theft reduction training can be much easier than it was for me. Use a background check company so you don’t have as many workers stealing from you and hire a company specializing in Loss Prevention training to do your training for you. Trust me the results will be so much better than what I went through.
Get more information on employee theft reduction training, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
How do you stop employee theft and shoplifting? Well, when you are a Loss Prevention Manager for a major retail store you may hire Loss Prevention Officers. Unfortunately we don’t always have the ability to see how well an employee is going to work out. I for one have made my share of poor hiring decisions. Sometimes people look great on paper and may even excel at interviewing but boy can they make life miserable when they get hired. One such hire for me seemed like he would be competent according to his resume and application. I did see one place on his resume which caused me some minor concern but other than that the interview went well, our background check company cleared him (but to what extent he was investigated I don’t know) and we brought him onboard. I had an employee theft case I started investigating and asked this employee if he knew how to tie into a CCTV camera cable for a covert camera. He told me he did and he was anxious to help. I gave him the okay, made sure he and the other associate knew what the plan was and I went home. There may have been a better outcome had I tested his knowledge before leaving for the day because his training was lacking. I’ll finish my story shortly but it brings up two questions I have for store managers.
What kind of employee theft reduction training do you have for your managers and do you incorporate employee background checks as part of your strategy to reduce employee theft? The two questions are not mutually exclusive. Pre-employment screening can be a tool for reducing the chances of hiring dishonest employees. The right screening company will allow you to choose what you want to have investigated. In the case of my employee if I had been given options I would have asked for that question from the resume to be investigated. Why did he have this gap or oddity on his resume? Did he actually have the experience he said he had? You can keep from making a similar mistake and ensure your employees are who they present themselves to be by using the right pre-employment screening company. Theft reduction training for non-Loss Prevention personnel is also much different than the training for Loss Prevention Associates. Theft reduction training for store managers and employees will not include running covert cameras, or conducting surveillance on shoplifters. It should include being able to identify suspicious behaviors, how to use electronic article surveillance technology to deter theft and the impact of customer service on theft prevention. Employee theft reduction for managers is or should be conducted by a business with experienced Loss Prevention trainers. Have them do the training and you won’t need to ask the follow-up questions I should have asked my employee.
So what was it I failed to do and what was the result? Well, I took my employee’s word for what he told me, that he knew how to splice into a CCTV cable to run a separate line. The purpose was so that I could conduct surveillance in an area of the stockroom where suspected employee theft was taking place. The idea was fantastic, the execution horrible. I received a call from my store manager telling me my Associate had cut the ALARM cable to the building and he wanted to know what I was going to do about it. I had to go back to the store, see what my employee had done and then contact the alarm company. I also had to contact MY District Loss Prevention Manager and explain what had transpired. As I recall I also had to stay overnight in the building since the alarms were not working properly…did I mention my employees tried to splice the alarm wire back together? The alarm technician came out the next day and repaired the screw-up.
I wound up setting the covert camera myself and I did finally catch the dishonest employee but at quite a cost. I also eventually fired the Associate. After this I always made sure I spent a great deal of time training one of my Associates before allowing them to help me with an employee theft investigation. For you employee theft reduction training can be much easier than it was for me. Use a background check company so you don’t have as many workers stealing from you and hire a company specializing in Loss Prevention training to do your training for you. Trust me the results will be so much better than what I went through.
Get more information on employee theft reduction training, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547
Sensormatic Safers – 4
Prevent Shoplifting -3 wc Blog 814
Prevent Shoplifting With Sensormatic Safers And You Will Reduce Other Crimes Affecting Your Customers
Sensormatic Safers are super at protecting your merchandise from theft. In a sense they can even help make a store safer from criminals who are attracted to stores where shoplifting runs rampant. Where one type of crime is out of control you will often find that other crime and fraud is taking place. In some instances it is your customers who are the victims of those predators. Prevent shoplifting and you can make an impact on other crime. Retail anti-theft devices from Sensormatic can make merchandise that is popular with thieves hard to steal. As shoplifting is reduced the shoplifters look for other stores to steal from and other criminal activity tends to decline as well. Sadly Sensormatic Safers and similar devices cannot directly help your customers who are victims of fraud predators or criminal activity directed at them personally.
A perfect example of this took place not long ago in the store where I work. An older customer came in and said they needed to purchase an unusual number of re-loadable giftcards. I wasn’t too surprised at first since we do cater to a lot of small businesses and sometimes we receive unusual requests. I was thinking that perhaps the patron was going to put $20 on each and give them as incentives to their employees. It turned out the customer wanted $500 on each card. This got my attention and I immediately called for the store manager to assist with the purchase, it smelled of fraud to me and I was afraid the customer was the victim. Both the manager and I asked the customer several times if they were sure who they were giving the giftcards to. It was explained that this is frequently a method used to defraud older citizens. The concern was heightened as the patron pulled out cash to pay for this transaction. The customer insisted everything was legitimate and they had contacted their attorney. My manager and I finished the transaction and as soon as the customer left my manager contacted his manager. Well, about an hour later the customer returned and apparently did get in contact with their attorney and was told this was a scam. My manager was able to put a stop on the giftcards and the customer would get their money back some time in the near future.
This was a big save but not every one of your customers can avoid being the victim of fraud or theft. As I mentioned, Sensormatic Safers and electronic article surveillance prevent shoplifting they don’t prevent return fraud, crimes against persons or property crimes against your patrons. I have investigated property crimes when customers have had purses and wallets stolen from their shopping carts. I have had to help those victims trace their steps, contact their banks and speak to police. I have assisted a customer when their car was broken into and valuables were stolen. Review of video, looking for suspects it was interesting from an investigator’s perspective it was disappointing that the incident took place on our property and for the loss the victim experienced.
I have had panhandlers and shady characters hang around the store and harass people trying to walk in and out of the building. No, it may not have been illegal but it was intimidating and concerning. Most people don’t want a stranger approaching them in a parking lot because you can never be sure what their intention or motive is. In some cases a person is trying to be nice and starts to reach into a purse or wallet and it is snatched from them and the criminal flees.
These personal and property crimes will happen anywhere. They happened at the stores where I worked and we controlled our shoplifting. The problem is the growth of this activity when store managers and owners don’t make an effort to prevent shoplifting. Don’t allow your store to become a repository for all types of crime. Your customers need to feel safe otherwise they will shop somewhere else. Using Sensormatic Safers and tags to protect your merchandise will be a good starting place to begin cleaning up other crime. It will make your store more profitable by lowering shrink and helping to increase sales through a growth in customer traffic.
Get more information on how to prevent shoplifting, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
Sensormatic Safers are super at protecting your merchandise from theft. In a sense they can even help make a store safer from criminals who are attracted to stores where shoplifting runs rampant. Where one type of crime is out of control you will often find that other crime and fraud is taking place. In some instances it is your customers who are the victims of those predators. Prevent shoplifting and you can make an impact on other crime. Retail anti-theft devices from Sensormatic can make merchandise that is popular with thieves hard to steal. As shoplifting is reduced the shoplifters look for other stores to steal from and other criminal activity tends to decline as well.
A perfect example of this took place not long ago in the store where I work. An older customer came in and said they needed to purchase an unusual number of re-loadable giftcards. I wasn’t too surprised at first since we do cater to a lot of small businesses and sometimes we receive unusual requests. I was thinking that perhaps the patron was going to put $20 on each and give them as incentives to their employees. It turned out the customer wanted $500 on each card. This got my attention and I immediately called for the store manager to assist with the purchase, it smelled of fraud to me and I was afraid the customer was the victim. Both the manager and I asked the customer several times if they were sure who they were giving the giftcards to. It was explained that this is frequently a method used to defraud older citizens. The concern was heightened as the patron pulled out cash to pay for this transaction. The customer insisted everything was legitimate and they had contacted their attorney. My manager and I finished the transaction and as soon as the customer left my manager contacted his manager. Well, about an hour later the customer returned and apparently did get in contact with their attorney and was told this was a scam. My manager was able to put a stop on the giftcards and the customer would get their money back some time in the near future.
This was a big save but not every one of your customers can avoid being the victim of fraud or theft. As I mentioned, Sensormatic Safers and electronic article surveillance prevent shoplifting they don’t prevent return fraud, crimes against persons or property crimes against your patrons. I have investigated property crimes when customers have had purses and wallets stolen from their shopping carts. I have had to help those victims trace their steps, contact their banks and speak to police. I have assisted a customer when their car was broken into and valuables were stolen. Review of video, looking for suspects it was interesting from an investigator’s perspective it was disappointing that the incident took place on our property and for the loss the victim experienced.
I have had panhandlers and shady characters hang around the store and harass people trying to walk in and out of the building. No, it may not have been illegal but it was intimidating and concerning. Most people don’t want a stranger approaching them in a parking lot because you can never be sure what their intention or motive is. In some cases a person is trying to be nice and starts to reach into a purse or wallet and it is snatched from them and the criminal flees.
These personal and property crimes will happen anywhere. They happened at the stores where I worked and we controlled our shoplifting. The problem is the growth of this activity when store managers and owners don’t make an effort to prevent shoplifting. Don’t allow your store to become a repository for all types of crime. Your customers need to feel safe otherwise they will shop somewhere else. Using Sensormatic Safers and tags to protect your merchandise will be a good starting place to begin cleaning up other crime. It will make your store more profitable by lowering shrink and helping to increase sales through a growth in customer traffic.
Get more information on how to prevent shoplifting, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
Sensormatic Tags – 3 WC Blog 805
Clothing Security -3
Prevent Fitting Room Failures With Sensormatic Tags
If you sell clothing you have fitting rooms and if you have fitting rooms it can be tough to prevent theft especially if your store does not use Sensormatic tags on clothing. As is often the case this thought came to me as I was on a shopping excursion. This time I was with one of my sons who was purchasing clothes for a job interview. It just so happened that he wanted my assistance in selecting appropriate attire (yeah, dad can still be useful from time to time especially when mom isn’t home). We went to a department store and looked at suits, shirts, sports jackets and ties. The funny thing is I had worked for this particular business, though not this store, when I started out in my Loss Prevention career. I know the protection we used to use for merchandise including fitting room controls. As we looked at the apparel I was somewhat taken aback at the lack of clothing security tags on merchandise. $35.00 slacks on the low end, suits in the hundreds of dollars, even the sports coat he settled on was on sale from $110.00 to $85.00. Hmmm…I was surprised but times change and I could not see any use of anti-theft devices. We selected several pair of pants, and the sports coat and he went to the fitting room. No one was present to check what he was carrying into the rooms. I found another item I wanted him to try on and took it to him and to be honest I was shocked at the condition of the fitting room stalls. All were empty of people but there were empty hangers, and loose clothing in every one of them. I even saw a large plastic shopping bag from another store in one room. I could not help but wonder how much theft had taken place and when the last fitting room inspection had taken place.
Fitting rooms are notorious for being a favorite location for shoplifters. Due to payroll constraints many stores have stopped assigning workers as fitting room attendants. Other stores have opted for a hybrid whereby the sales associate assigned to a department also controls fitting rooms. This may be done by keeping fitting room doors locked or by placing a point of sale near the fitting room entrance. There are drawbacks to each of these strategies. Locking doors requires a sales associate to be available with a key when a customer wants to try something on. Delay that shopper and you anger them and potentially lose sales. Putting a cashier near a fitting room entrance may give the appearance of control but if that cashier is busy they won’t be able to control activity in or out of a fitting room. Using Sensormatic tags is the only sensible solution to preventing theft of clothing in a fitting room.
Hopefully every store owner and manager takes clothing security as seriously as I do. I understand that stores and especially small stores have limited budgets. It is rarely practical for these stores to staff a fitting room especially when some major retailers have had to move away from that model. Sensormatic tags can take care of many of the problems posed by fitting room theft. Thieves want rewards with minimal risk. Tags present risk because they will set off the towers at the front doors. When shoplifters attempt to force tags off of garments it damages the merchandise rendering them useless to the would-be crook. Stores may not be able to put an employee at the fitting room but they can afford to purchase a Loss Prevention System that can be almost as effective. One reminder though, even if you opt to buy a Sensormatic system and tags you can’t totally neglect your fitting rooms. Regular inspections for empty hangers, old clothing and re-shop merchandise must be made. Cluttered fitting rooms tend to attract criminals.
Clothing security can be difficult when it comes to fitting rooms. Patrons want to try on clothes but unfettered access to fitting rooms can lead to financial loss for store owners. Protect your merchandise with Sensormatic anti-theft systems and let your customers enjoy trying on merchandise while you relax in the knowledge your inventory is safe and secure.
Get more information on Sensormatic tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
If you sell clothing you have fitting rooms and if you have fitting rooms it can be tough to prevent theft especially if your store does not use Sensormatic tags on clothing. As is often the case this thought came to me as I was on a shopping excursion. This time I was with one of my sons who was purchasing clothes for a job interview. It just so happened that he wanted my assistance in selecting appropriate attire (yeah, dad can still be useful from time to time especially when mom isn’t home). We went to a department store and looked at suits, shirts, sports jackets and ties. The funny thing is I had worked for this particular business, though not this store, when I started out in my Loss Prevention career. I know the protection we used to use for merchandise including fitting room controls. As we looked at the apparel I was somewhat taken aback at the lack of clothing security tags on merchandise. $35.00 slacks on the low end, suits in the hundreds of dollars, even the sports coat he settled on was on sale from $110.00 to $85.00. Hmmm…I was surprised but times change and I could not see any use of anti-theft devices. We selected several pair of pants, and the sports coat and he went to the fitting room. No one was present to check what he was carrying into the rooms. I found another item I wanted him to try on and took it to him and to be honest I was shocked at the condition of the fitting room stalls. All were empty of people but there were empty hangers, and loose clothing in every one of them. I even saw a large plastic shopping bag from another store in one room. I could not help but wonder how much theft had taken place and when the last fitting room inspection had taken place.
Fitting rooms are notorious for being a favorite location for shoplifters. Due to payroll constraints many stores have stopped assigning workers as fitting room attendants. Other stores have opted for a hybrid whereby the sales associate assigned to a department also controls fitting rooms. This may be done by keeping fitting room doors locked or by placing a point of sale near the fitting room entrance. There are drawbacks to each of these strategies. Locking doors requires a sales associate to be available with a key when a customer wants to try something on. Delay that shopper and you anger them and potentially lose sales. Putting a cashier near a fitting room entrance may give the appearance of control but if that cashier is busy they won’t be able to control activity in or out of a fitting room. Using Sensormatic tags is the only sensible solution to preventing theft of clothing in a fitting room.
Hopefully every store owner and manager takes clothing security as seriously as I do. I understand that stores and especially small stores have limited budgets. It is rarely practical for these stores to staff a fitting room especially when some major retailers have had to move away from that model. Sensormatic tags can take care of many of the problems posed by fitting room theft. Thieves want rewards with minimal risk. Tags present risk because they will set off the towers at the front doors. When shoplifters attempt to force tags off of garments it damages the merchandise rendering them useless to the would-be crook. Stores may not be able to put an employee at the fitting room but they can afford to purchase a Loss Prevention System that can be almost as effective. One reminder though, even if you opt to buy a Sensormatic system and tags you can’t totally neglect your fitting rooms. Regular inspections for empty hangers, old clothing and re-shop merchandise must be made. Cluttered fitting rooms tend to attract criminals.
Clothing security can be difficult when it comes to fitting rooms. Patrons want to try on clothes but unfettered access to fitting rooms can lead to financial loss for store owners. Protect your merchandise with Sensormatic anti-theft systems and let your customers enjoy trying on merchandise while you relax in the knowledge your inventory is safe and secure.
Get more information on Sensormatic tags, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
