I wasn't sure if it was stress, me getting older or perhaps something more serious going on, but for the last few months, I've been suffering from migraines on a recurrent basis. The straw that broke the camel's back came when I had to leave work in the middle of a large investigation because I just couldn't see straight. I had to see my doctor. I go in and he says that migraines can have several triggers. He can't find anything and recommend me to my eye doctor, gives me a script and tells me to come back in a week. Done. It seems like whether it's my dentist, doctor, or now eye doc, I always seem to bring up Alpha Thunder Tags to someone in the office.
I go ahead and make an appointment to rule out eye problems. I get to the office, check in and wait. As I'm waiting, I see the office staff all using tablets. There's not a desktop PC in the house. My name is called. I walk with the nurse who's using a tablet. She runs a few basic tests, records the info on the tablet. Doc comes in the room; you guessed it, uses a tablet. So while we're discussing which is better or worse, I ask the doc if he's ever considered that someone could steal his tablets. Since he doesn't work in the LP industry, he of course doesn't. Alas, another opportunity for me to talk about Alpha Thunder Tags.
Once I tell him what I actually do for a living, we talk for a bit about tablet theft. He's surprised to hear my point of view. He tells me that he even hired a tech firm to install the latest technology to keep his patient files confidential and impervious to outside hackers, but never really consider falling victim to a tablet theft. All that money spent to keep the data safe could easily be circumvented if a thief made off when a physical tablet.
Not only do you have to worry about a patient or a thief walking in stealing the tablet, but you also have to think about a dishonest employee. While no one wants to think they're employees would steal from them; unfortunately it happens. Often. The absolute best way to prevent tablet theft in your office is to utilize a physical security measure such as the Alpha Thunder Tag. It's a rather small investment that will provide an immediate return on investment in not only real dollars, but in protecting your practice and your patient.
Oh, by the way, it turns out, nothing was wrong with my eyes. I went back and saw my primary doc like he asked and after a few more tests, I found that my nasal cavities remain in a congested and filled state. One over-the- counter allergy drug later, and I no longer have migraines, I sleep better and my girlfriend says I don't snore anymore.
Imagine that.
For more information about Alpha Thunder Tags contact us or call 1.770.426.0547.
Pre-employment screening-3 WC Blog 192
Background Check Company-3
Employee background checks-3
Interviewing Skills Are Not Enough; Employee Background Checks Can
Prevent Poor Hiring Choices Part I
As a business owner, how do you decide who you should hire for a job? Do you base your decisions strictly on your ability to interview applicants? Are you a shrewd judge of character and can “just tell” if someone isn’t being honest with you during a job interview? Maybe you just know the right questions to ask in order to find that right person for the job. If you don’t have any Human Resources experience, I want to give you fair warning that you are walking a very risky path filled with potential pitfalls. First, if you are “winging it” or making your own questions without the proper experience in the hiring process, you could be setting yourself up for a lawsuit. Likewise, if your sole means of hiring someone is the interview and you are not conducting an employee background check, you may be exposing yourself and your company to unnecessary liability.
Employee background checks can be cursory inquiries, looking at an applicant’s driving history or conducting credit checks. It may also involve verifying work history, confirming dates of employment and positions held within a company. Often this is enough information for hiring applicants for entry level positions. Frequently high school students or college graduates for that matter won’t have a significant amount of work under their belt and so this may be ample information to make an informed decision before hiring someone.
On the other hand, more thorough pre-employment screening may be necessary for a position that requires a special skill set, or may bring someone into contact with children. For example, one of my children is attending college to become a teacher. As part of their agreement to be accepted into the teaching program, the students are required to be fingerprinted and undergo a background check. The school takes the safety of the children that may be taught by these future education graduates very seriously. What about your business? Who are your clients? Who are you possibly bringing into your workplace and exposing your employees to? “Gut feelings” and your intuition during an interview may not be enough to identify future superstars from super problems.
So how can a business owner, even the owner of a very small business seeking to expand to their first hired employee conduct thorough pre-employment screenings? First, hire a Background Check Company to help you determine what might be important to check on for the position you are seeking to fill. If the job will have an employee parking cars as a valet, it might be beneficial to have a driving record check included in a record inspection. Perhaps you own a plumbing business and you are seeking to expand and need a licensed plumber to work with you. How do you know your applicants are certified plumbers, simply because they said so on their application? A Background Check Company can validate certifications, schooling and training the applicant says they have graduated from or been certified in.
You may not have much experience in looking at job applications. I can tell you from experience, a lot of people misrepresent themselves or their backgrounds on applications. In my current position in a college, we advertise for open positions and in our job ads set specific background or experience we are looking for in an applicant. It never ceases to amaze me the number of times I see an answer to a question on an application that indicates a person has a certain amount of experience, but nowhere on the application or a resume can I find that set of skills. For example, we may ask, “Do you have experience working non-traditional hours?” The applicant says yes to the question, but everything on the application and resume indicate they have experience working only 8am-4pm Monday – Friday! Now, let me be clear, those are not non-traditional hours, so someone is trying to look good on an application but does not meet the job requirements.
A Background Check Company can conduct pre-employment screening for a company that ensures an applicant is being honest on an application and a good choice to hire. In part two of this series we will review certain things employers can and cannot ask applicants and how a Background Check Company might help save you some headaches and money.
Employee Background Checks are important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
As a business owner, how do you decide who you should hire for a job? Do you base your decisions strictly on your ability to interview applicants? Are you a shrewd judge of character and can “just tell” if someone isn’t being honest with you during a job interview? Maybe you just know the right questions to ask in order to find that right person for the job. If you don’t have any Human Resources experience, I want to give you fair warning that you are walking a very risky path filled with potential pitfalls. First, if you are “winging it” or making your own questions without the proper experience in the hiring process, you could be setting yourself up for a lawsuit. Likewise, if your sole means of hiring someone is the interview and you are not conducting an employee background check, you may be exposing yourself and your company to unnecessary liability.
Employee background checks can be cursory inquiries, looking at an applicant’s driving history or conducting credit checks. It may also involve verifying work history, confirming dates of employment and positions held within a company. Often this is enough information for hiring applicants for entry level positions. Frequently high school students or college graduates for that matter won’t have a significant amount of work under their belt and so this may be ample information to make an informed decision before hiring someone.
On the other hand, more thorough pre-employment screening may be necessary for a position that requires a special skill set, or may bring someone into contact with children. For example, one of my children is attending college to become a teacher. As part of their agreement to be accepted into the teaching program, the students are required to be fingerprinted and undergo a background check. The school takes the safety of the children that may be taught by these future education graduates very seriously. What about your business? Who are your clients? Who are you possibly bringing into your workplace and exposing your employees to? “Gut feelings” and your intuition during an interview may not be enough to identify future superstars from super problems.
So how can a business owner, even the owner of a very small business seeking to expand to their first hired employee conduct thorough pre-employment screenings? First, hire a Background Check Company to help you determine what might be important to check on for the position you are seeking to fill. If the job will have an employee parking cars as a valet, it might be beneficial to have a driving record check included in a record inspection. Perhaps you own a plumbing business and you are seeking to expand and need a licensed plumber to work with you. How do you know your applicants are certified plumbers, simply because they said so on their application? A Background Check Company can validate certifications, schooling and training the applicant says they have graduated from or been certified in.
You may not have much experience in looking at job applications. I can tell you from experience, a lot of people misrepresent themselves or their backgrounds on applications. In my current position in a college, we advertise for open positions and in our job ads set specific background or experience we are looking for in an applicant. It never ceases to amaze me the number of times I see an answer to a question on an application that indicates a person has a certain amount of experience, but nowhere on the application or a resume can I find that set of skills. For example, we may ask, “Do you have experience working non-traditional hours?” The applicant says yes to the question, but everything on the application and resume indicate they have experience working only 8am-4pm Monday – Friday! Now, let me be clear, those are not non-traditional hours, so someone is trying to look good on an application but does not meet the job requirements.
A Background Check Company can conduct pre-employment screening for a company that ensures an applicant is being honest on an application and a good choice to hire. In part two of this series we will review certain things employers can and cannot ask applicants and how a Background Check Company might help save you some headaches and money.
Employee Background Checks are important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
Stop Shoplifting-4 WC Blog 157
Checkpoint labels-3
“Witless” Protection Program; Trying To Stop Shoplifting And Dumb Criminals, True Loss Prevention Stories Part I
Over the course of my careers, I have had to stop shoplifting, arrest intoxicated persons, conduct traffic stops for traffic violations, etc. Looking back on my U.S. Air Force experiences and my Loss Prevention experiences, I have to wonder what some people were thinking (or not thinking as the case may be) when they committed their crimes. Some people commit criminal acts, and in return for testifying against others, they are exonerated or given plea deals, they may even be placed in a Witness Protection Program. I have never dealt with those people. I, on the other hand, have dealt with some who should have been placed in a “Witless Protection Program” because they just…well, let my examples speak for themselves.
In one store which I worked, our team frequently focused efforts to stop shoplifting in the jewelry department where we saw a high stock shortage percentage. One day I watched a teenage girl as she stopped at a jewelry counter and began looking at earrings on countertop displays. I observed her select and place a pair of earrings in her pants pocket and head for the doors. Our earrings did not have any Checkpoint labels on the backers so unfortunately, no alarm sounded when people would exit with stolen earrings. Well, that turned out to be the case this time. The young lady exited, no alarm sounded, but I knew she had the merchandise so I stopped her and returned with her to go to the security office. As we arrived in the office, my shoplifter had a sudden “asthma attack”. I might have taken it seriously had I not observed her sliding the earrings from her pocket and trying to hide them underneath her posterior as she slid down the wall to the floor. She was very dramatic, wheezing, breathing hard and holding her chest with her free hand. I informed my suspect that if she got a break during her asthma attack I would appreciate it if she could hand me the earrings she had taken out of her pocket and was sitting on. It didn’t take too long before the “asthma attack” was over. Earrings recovered and teenager turned over to mom.
It isn’t always easy to stop shoplifting of some merchandise because it is so small it can be hard to detect. Then there are situations when it is apparent someone has stolen merchandise, but the suspect is clueless. In another store where I was the Loss Prevention Manager I encountered a “Nitwit” thief who decided to steal a Maglight flashlight. If you aren’t familiar with these items they are the large, aluminum flashlights often carried by police officers. This particular flashlight is nearly one foot in length. I watched from the end of the aisle as the perpetrator removed the flashlight from the peghook and placed it down the front of his pants. It was so long it stuck out of the top of his waistband. These items were protected with Checkpoint labels and when I followed him to the front of the store, as he started through the Checkpoint antennas, the alarm did sound and I stopped him. Once we were back in the security office he tried to deny he had anything despite the alarm activation AND until I pointed out the part of the flashlight that I could see! Yes, another candidate for the “Witless Protection Program”.
During my time in the U.S. Air Force, I was a Law Enforcement Specialist. On one occasion when I was on patrol I received a call to respond to a location for an attempted suicide. When I arrived I pulled in front of a red, fastback Ford Mustang and noticed a young man was sitting on the curb in front of this unique, classic car looking rather sheepish. The driver who was standing beside the suspect told me the young man had decided to try to kill himself by jumping in front of his car. The driver turned the Airman over to my custody and left. As I took the slightly inebriated Airman into custody I explained to him that the next time he decided to try to commit suicide, it would be best not to do it in front of the Base Commander’s car! My prisoner would have been a perfect fit for the “Witless Protection Program”.
There are plenty of thieves and just plain dumb criminals out there. Some are shoplifters. For those who shoplift Checkpoint labels work and can stop shoplifting. Keep your “wits” about you and protect the merchandise in your store and keep profits up.
Need information on Checkpoint labels? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Over the course of my careers, I have had to stop shoplifting, arrest intoxicated persons, conduct traffic stops for traffic violations, etc. Looking back on my U.S. Air Force experiences and my Loss Prevention experiences, I have to wonder what some people were thinking (or not thinking as the case may be) when they committed their crimes. Some people commit criminal acts, and in return for testifying against others, they are exonerated or given plea deals, they may even be placed in a Witness Protection Program. I have never dealt with those people. I, on the other hand, have dealt with some who should have been placed in a “Witless Protection Program” because they just…well, let my examples speak for themselves.
In one store which I worked, our team frequently focused efforts to stop shoplifting in the jewelry department where we saw a high stock shortage percentage. One day I watched a teenage girl as she stopped at a jewelry counter and began looking at earrings on countertop displays. I observed her select and place a pair of earrings in her pants pocket and head for the doors. Our earrings did not have any Checkpoint labels on the backers so unfortunately, no alarm sounded when people would exit with stolen earrings. Well, that turned out to be the case this time. The young lady exited, no alarm sounded, but I knew she had the merchandise so I stopped her and returned with her to go to the security office. As we arrived in the office, my shoplifter had a sudden “asthma attack”. I might have taken it seriously had I not observed her sliding the earrings from her pocket and trying to hide them underneath her posterior as she slid down the wall to the floor. She was very dramatic, wheezing, breathing hard and holding her chest with her free hand. I informed my suspect that if she got a break during her asthma attack I would appreciate it if she could hand me the earrings she had taken out of her pocket and was sitting on. It didn’t take too long before the “asthma attack” was over. Earrings recovered and teenager turned over to mom.
It isn’t always easy to stop shoplifting of some merchandise because it is so small it can be hard to detect.Then there are situations when it is apparent someone has stolen merchandise, but the suspect is clueless. In another store where I was the Loss Prevention Manager I encountered a “Nitwit” thief who decided to steal a Maglight flashlight. If you aren’t familiar with these items they are the large, aluminum flashlights often carried by police officers. This particular flashlight is nearly one foot in length. I watched from the end of the aisle as the perpetrator removed the flashlight from the peghook and placed it down the front of his pants. It was so long it stuck out of the top of his waistband. These items were protected with Checkpoint labels and when I followed him to the front of the store, as he started through the Checkpoint antennas, the alarm did sound and I stopped him. Once we were back in the security office he tried to deny he had anything despite the alarm activation AND until I pointed out the part of the flashlight that I could see! Yes, another candidate for the “Witless Protection Program”.
During my time in the U.S. Air Force, I was a Law Enforcement Specialist. On one occasion when I was on patrol I received a call to respond to a location for an attempted suicide. When I arrived I pulled in front of a red, fastback Ford Mustang and noticed a young man was sitting on the curb in front of this unique, classic car looking rather sheepish. The driver who was standing beside the suspect told me the young man had decided to try to kill himself by jumping in front of his car. The driver turned the Airman over to my custody and left. As I took the slightly inebriated Airman into custody I explained to him that the next time he decided to try to commit suicide, it would be best not to do it in front of the Base Commander’s car! My prisoner would have been a perfect fit for the “Witless Protection Program”.
There are plenty of thieves and just plain dumb criminals out there. Some are shoplifters. For those who shoplift Checkpoint labels work and can stop shoplifting. Keep your “wits” about you and protect the merchandise in your store and keep profits up.
Need information on Checkpoint labels? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
