Employee Background Checks-3 WC Blog 630
Pre-Employment Screening-3
In-Depth Pre-Employment Screening May Have Stopped A Lawsuit
It happens; companies hire employees without conducting pre-employment screening and sometimes the results are disturbing if not outrageous. There are those who would argue that employee background checks don’t give people with criminal records an opportunity to turn their lives around. They say that those with criminal histories are limited in the job opportunities where they would be considered employable. While I understand this I also have seen serious, if not dangerous situations in the workplace when people with a criminal record are hired and have not been through a thorough vetting process.
In a recent story in wibc.com, “Lawsuits Against Goodwill Say They Failed to Stop Sex Offender”, by RTV 6, Jun. 20, 2018, they report that, “Five people have filed lawsuits in Hamilton County this week against Goodwill of Central and Southern Indiana alleging the organization failed to protect its workers from a registered sex offender.” The complaints against the stores are that an employee on the sex offender registry with a criminal record for child pornography and voyeurism was recording other employees unbeknownst to them in the bathroom of the store. A spokesperson for Goodwill said that as soon as the company learned of it was reported to police. But this is the issue, it was a reaction to a violation that might not have taken place had a more intensive pre-employment screening been conducted. One of the victims in the complaint is a teenage worker.
In case you are not familiar with what employee background checks are or how they work, I would like to spend a bit of time discussing them. A company that specializes in conducting checks, for example Loss Prevention Systems Inc. can research the history of a prospective job candidate on a number of levels. They can look up criminal histories, driving records, verify past employers and look at where a candidate says they have resided in the past. Perhaps an employer would like to restrict a position to someone with a certain college degree or level of college for example a Master’s in Business Finance. A pre-employment screening process can validate whether the applicant attained the educational requirements you have laid out. For the protection of employees and customers you may want to ensure a new hire is not on a sex offender registry. There are a lot of options and background check companies can help tailor the check criteria to best suit the needs of the particular employer. In the case of a retail store considerations include employees will be working directly with customers. They may be hired to work around money or in a work center with little direct oversight. Any of these could open up opportunities for different criminal activity.
In the case of the Goodwill store employee, IF the allegations prove to be true there were considerations that appear to have been overlooked. Goodwill is trying to give people with criminal records an opportunity to clean up their act and get a decent job. There are other businesses doing this as well and their intentions are good. The problem is that there still needs to be a closer look at what type of history the potential employee has. Is it something that would put others in danger? It is my contention that someone who has been placed on a sex offender registry should not be working around customers and I would further suggest that the employees who would be working around this person have a right to know who may be working with them. There may be no problem hiring someone to work in a retail business if they have a DUI conviction. An employer may even give consideration to someone who has been upfront about a record for petit larceny or burglary. If a business owner has indicated on a job ad or on the application that they will consider people with criminal records for hire and the convictions are only revealed as a result of employee background checks, great care should be taken before a decision to hire is made.
Wanting to give a person convicted of crimes the chance to turn their lives around is not a bad idea. But if you choose to do so you should make it clear your company will consider such persons with the expectation the person is honest about it on their application. A detailed pre-employment screening should be done for every candidate in the final running for a position not simply the person admitting to a criminal record. Remember that there are other people you must consider in your decision making and the reputation of your business as well. A poor hiring decision can lead to all sorts of unintended consequences. Hopefully Goodwill will make some changes in their background checks for the future.
Employee background checks are important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
It happens; companies hire employees without conducting pre-employment screening and sometimes the results are disturbing if not outrageous. There are those who would argue that employee background checks don’t give people with criminal records an opportunity to turn their lives around. They say that those with criminal histories are limited in the job opportunities where they would be considered employable. While I understand this I also have seen serious, if not dangerous situations in the workplace when people with a criminal record are hired and have not been through a thorough vetting process.
In a recent story in wibc.com, “Lawsuits Against Goodwill Say They Failed to Stop Sex Offender”, by RTV 6, Jun. 20, 2018, they report that, “Five people have filed lawsuits in Hamilton County this week against Goodwill of Central and Southern Indiana alleging the organization failed to protect its workers from a registered sex offender.” The complaints against the stores are that an employee on the sex offender registry with a criminal record for child pornography and voyeurism was recording other employees unbeknownst to them in the bathroom of the store. A spokesperson for Goodwill said that as soon as the company learned of it was reported to police. But this is the issue, it was a reaction to a violation that might not have taken place had a more intensive pre-employment screening been conducted. One of the victims in the complaint is a teenage worker.
In case you are not familiar with what employee background checks are or how they work, I would like to spend a bit of time discussing them. A company that specializes in conducting checks, for example Loss Prevention Systems Inc. can research the history of a prospective job candidate on a number of levels. They can look up criminal histories, driving records, verify past employers and look at where a candidate says they have resided in the past. Perhaps an employer would like to restrict a position to someone with a certain college degree or level of college for example a Master’s in Business Finance. A pre-employment screening process can validate whether the applicant attained the educational requirements you have laid out. For the protection of employees and customers you may want to ensure a new hire is not on a sex offender registry. There are a lot of options and background check companies can help tailor the check criteria to best suit the needs of the particular employer. In the case of a retail store considerations include employees will be working directly with customers. They may be hired to work around money or in a work center with little direct oversight. Any of these could open up opportunities for different criminal activity.
In the case of the Goodwill store employee, IF the allegations prove to be true there were considerations that appear to have been overlooked. Goodwill is trying to give people with criminal records an opportunity to clean up their act and get a decent job. There are other businesses doing this as well and their intentions are good. The problem is that there still needs to be a closer look at what type of history the potential employee has. Is it something that would put others in danger? It is my contention that someone who has been placed on a sex offender registry should not be working around customers and I would further suggest that the employees who would be working around this person have a right to know who may be working with them. There may be no problem hiring someone to work in a retail business if they have a DUI conviction. An employer may even give consideration to someone who has been upfront about a record for petit larceny or burglary. If a business owner has indicated on a job ad or on the application that they will consider people with criminal records for hire and the convictions are only revealed as a result of employee background checks, great care should be taken before a decision to hire is made.
Wanting to give a person convicted of crimes the chance to turn their lives around is not a bad idea. But if you choose to do so you should make it clear your company will consider such persons with the expectation the person is honest about it on their application. A detailed pre-employment screening should be done for every candidate in the final running for a position not simply the person admitting to a criminal record. Remember that there are other people you must consider in your decision making and the reputation of your business as well. A poor hiring decision can lead to all sorts of unintended consequences. Hopefully Goodwill will make some changes in their background checks for the future.
Employee background checks are important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
Sensormatic hard tag: need 2
people counting
clothing security: need 2
safer
clothing Security-4 WC Blog 692
Sensormatic tags-3
Clothing Security Can Be A Problem In The New ERA Of Online Ordering And Parking Lot Pick-Ups Part 1
Recently I am seeing more drive and pick-up parking spaces and I got to thinking about how it relates to clothing security and other theft protection efforts. It only seems to be recently that I saw the delivery parking places pop up in locations like WalMart, Target, and even a grocery store chain near where I live. In the store I work for we have been doing what are called Omni orders over the past year or so. All of these are designed to make a faster shopping experience for customers so they can make purchases online and pick them up without having to go into a store. Personally I see good and bad aspects to this strategy. One of my concerns involves the handling of Sensormatic tags and labels used to prevent shoplifting.
As I consider the process of Omni orders in our store I can see where there may be problems for other retailers. Our store does not sell any clothing we aren’t that type of retailer but having filled orders I am in a position to see the potential pitfalls for those stores that do sell clothing. When stores like the one I work at are using Sensormatic tags and labels on merchandise we are trying to prevent theft. We are deterring shoplifters and even employees who would try to steal when we put retail anti-theft devices on products. Crooks are well aware that tagged goods are going to set off those electronic article surveillance (EAS) towers we have at the front doors. Before we finish a transaction we have to use deactivation pads to detune EAS labels or we have to use a detachment tool to remove a hard tag or wrap. In those stores where I worked as a Loss Prevention Manager or Associate and softlines products were sold we had to remove the clothing security tags at the points of sale. If labels are not detuned it is a nuisance to customers as they walk out of a store. If a hard tag isn’t removed a whole new problem is created for the patron. Aside from the alarm it causes if no one responds the patron may simply leave. If the patron gets home and a tag is still on the merchandise the product can’t be worn and then you have to deal with a very angry customer when they come back. As a Loss Prevention Associate for a department store I would see this problem as shoppers would walk into our store from the mall. I remember being involved with a number of situations when a customer had a proper receipt from another store but that location failed to remove clothing security tags. The shopper was embarrassed and after verifying the receipt and product matched I would escort the customer back to that store and seek assistance in having a tag removed.
That brings me back to my concern with these new online orders being shipped from stores. The process for our company goes something like this. An alert pops on our mobile device. We are prompted on the items to pull and we go through the list picking the pieces. We then box the goods up for shipment and print the packing list and shipping label and ready it for delivery pick-up. We also have in-store pick-ups for online orders that are processed in a similar manner. When these orders involve hard tagged merchandise we have to ensure the tags are removed before they are shipped off or turned over to the customer. Now what happens when the store is one that sells shoes, shirts, jeans, dresses, etc. and protects items with clothing security tags? Having been involved in the shipping process I can see where it would be easy to overlook the critical step of removing anti-theft devices. Ship off an article of clothing with the security tag still attached and you are going to have one extremely agitated customer who can’t wear the product. This can create a horrible customer service fiasco.
In Part 2 I want to talk a bit more about the advantages and disadvantages of the online shopping experience. I want to be clear that I am in total favor of the use of Sensormatic tags and efforts to stop theft. I am also in favor of owners finding new ways to increase sales and being open to finding new ways to reach additional customers. I only want retailers to be careful in their strategies and not follow a trend for the sake of a trend but to look for the potential pitfalls a strategy may carry.
Need information on clothing security? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Recently I am seeing more drive and pick-up parking spaces and I got to thinking about how it relates to clothing security and other theft protection efforts. It only seems to be recently that I saw the delivery parking places pop up in locations like WalMart, Target, and even a grocery store chain near where I live. In the store I work for we have been doing what are called Omni orders over the past year or so. All of these are designed to make a faster shopping experience for customers so they can make purchases online and pick them up without having to go into a store. Personally I see good and bad aspects to this strategy. One of my concerns involves the handling of Sensormatic tags and labels used to prevent shoplifting.
As I consider the process of Omni orders in our store I can see where there may be problems for other retailers. Our store does not sell any clothing we aren’t that type of retailer but having filled orders I am in a position to see the potential pitfalls for those stores that do sell clothing. When stores like the one I work at are using Sensormatic tags and labels on merchandise we are trying to prevent theft. We are deterring shoplifters and even employees who would try to steal when we put retail anti-theft devices on products. Crooks are well aware that tagged goods are going to set off those electronic article surveillance (EAS) towers we have at the front doors. Before we finish a transaction we have to use deactivation pads to detune EAS labels or we have to use a detachment tool to remove a hard tag or wrap. In those stores where I worked as a Loss Prevention Manager or Associate and softlines products were sold we had to remove the clothing security tags at the points of sale. If labels are not detuned it is a nuisance to customers as they walk out of a store. If a hard tag isn’t removed a whole new problem is created for the patron. Aside from the alarm it causes if no one responds the patron may simply leave. If the patron gets home and a tag is still on the merchandise the product can’t be worn and then you have to deal with a very angry customer when they come back. As a Loss Prevention Associate for a department store I would see this problem as shoppers would walk into our store from the mall. I remember being involved with a number of situations when a customer had a proper receipt from another store but that location failed to remove clothing security tags. The shopper was embarrassed and after verifying the receipt and product matched I would escort the customer back to that store and seek assistance in having a tag removed.
That brings me back to my concern with these new online orders being shipped from stores. The process for our company goes something like this. An alert pops on our mobile device. We are prompted on the items to pull and we go through the list picking the pieces. We then box the goods up for shipment and print the packing list and shipping label and ready it for delivery pick-up. We also have in-store pick-ups for online orders that are processed in a similar manner. When these orders involve hard tagged merchandise we have to ensure the tags are removed before they are shipped off or turned over to the customer. Now what happens when the store is one that sells shoes, shirts, jeans, dresses, etc. and protects items with clothing security tags? Having been involved in the shipping process I can see where it would be easy to overlook the critical step of removing anti-theft devices. Ship off an article of clothing with the security tag still attached and you are going to have one extremely agitated customer who can’t wear the product. This can create a horrible customer service fiasco.
In Part 2 I want to talk a bit more about the advantages and disadvantages of the online shopping experience. I want to be clear that I am in total favor of the use of Sensormatic tags and efforts to stop theft. I am also in favor of owners finding new ways to increase sales and being open to finding new ways to reach additional customers. I only want retailers to be careful in their strategies and not follow a trend for the sake of a trend but to look for the potential pitfalls a strategy may carry.
Need information on clothing security? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Retail Traffic Counting – 3 WC Blog 697
Door Counting Sensor – 4
Proper Use Of Retail Traffic Counting Data Drives Sales
I had not thought about the importance of retail traffic counting or its relationship to conversion rates until recently in my retail job. Quite honestly I had never even heard of retail conversion rates as a measurement tool until three years ago. It happened that our store manager, with whom I have a great working relationship, was talking to the employees working one night about our conversion rate and I asked him more about it. He told me the company was adding it as a measurement (everything in large retail chains is measured these days) to the store reporting tools. Well I learned that the company was concerned about the amount of measured foot traffic versus the number of transactions. They had installed cameras at the doors and a door counting sensor to track this activity. As I thought about it I understood and realized it could be a very beneficial measurement if used properly. The key word here is properly. Unfortunately these types of measures can also be a nuisance when used on their own without keeping it in context of a larger sales picture.
By now you can probably figure out what a retail traffic counting system does but you may not know that if you have a Sensormatic electronic alarm system (EAS) tower you might be able to add a counter quickly and easily. The Sensormatic door counting sensor can be incorporated into many existing towers OR if you do not have an anti-theft system yet you can purchase one with the counting sensor installed. If you are not sure you need an anti-theft system I would like to ask you to visit the Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. website and learn more about the advantages of having a system and how it can save you thousands of dollars a year (hint: You might even want to take a look at their ROI Calculator, it is free to use and you will see how a Sensormatic system can pay for itself).
When used in a sensible manner data retrieved from a door counting sensor is useful in everything from planning to scheduling and even measuring the effectiveness of advertising and new product lines. Here are the perks of measuring door counts:
• When a store embarks upon a new advertising campaign the door counts will give a picture of how many more people have visited the store when compared to prior days. Increased foot traffic can be an indicator of a successful ad campaign.
• Retail sales receipts only give a partial picture of store activity. You can see how many transactions you had but you don’t know how many shoppers were in the store. The advantage of retail traffic counting is that you can compare the number of people that were physically in the store to sales transactions. The difference will be a good estimate of how many opportunities were missed for additional sales. Managers can strategize to pick up those missed sales.
• A traffic counter also pinpoints the activity by times of day. The advantage of knowing peak traffic in the store is a manager can allocate payroll more efficiently. Schedule more staff during those busy times so that customer service is optimized. Customers who would have walked out empty-handed may be persuaded to make the purchase they were on the fence about.
These are effective methods for using data that can help drive sales and manage payroll allocation.
What is a nuisance is when such data is used to penalize a store for not meeting an arbitrary goal. Not meeting that goal means risking bring the wrath of some faceless, higher corporate power down upon the collective head of the store management team. Well, that may be a slight exaggeration but the numbers do seem arbitrary and often scores are assigned as red, yellow and green. Score less than a green and a manager does begin to feel pressure. Stay under a green score too long and your store starts to be a focus store and after that a problem store. Having experienced the pressure of staying green rather than simply understanding numbers and working to use them to my advantage I know it can lead to an unnecessarily high stress situation.
To all of you store owners I say this, buy a Sensormatic security system WITH the door counting sensor. Enjoy the increased profits you will see with reduced theft from the EAS technology. Increase efficiency and improve sales with the proper analysis and planning gleaned from the data of a door counter. Don’t stress about it just get started with a call to Loss Prevention Systems, Inc.
Retail Traffic Counting is important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
I had not thought about the importance of retail traffic counting or its relationship to conversion rates until recently in my retail job. Quite honestly I had never even heard of retail conversion rates as a measurement tool until three years ago. It happened that our store manager, with whom I have a great working relationship, was talking to the employees working one night about our conversion rate and I asked him more about it. He told me the company was adding it as a measurement (everything in large retail chains is measured these days) to the store reporting tools. Well I learned that the company was concerned about the amount of measured foot traffic versus the number of transactions. They had installed cameras at the doors and a door counting sensor to track this activity. As I thought about it I understood and realized it could be a very beneficial measurement if used properly. The key word here is properly. Unfortunately these types of measures can also be a nuisance when used on their own without keeping it in context of a larger sales picture.
By now you can probably figure out what a retail traffic counting system does but you may not know that if you have a Sensormatic electronic alarm system (EAS) tower you might be able to add a counter quickly and easily. The Sensormatic door counting sensor can be incorporated into many existing towers OR if you do not have an anti-theft system yet you can purchase one with the counting sensor installed. If you are not sure you need an anti-theft system I would like to ask you to visit the Loss Prevention Systems, Inc. website and learn more about the advantages of having a system and how it can save you thousands of dollars a year (hint: You might even want to take a look at their ROI Calculator, it is free to use and you will see how a Sensormatic system can pay for itself).
When used in a sensible manner data retrieved from a door counting sensor is useful in everything from planning to scheduling and even measuring the effectiveness of advertising and new product lines. Here are the perks of measuring door counts:
• When a store embarks upon a new advertising campaign the door counts will give a picture of how many more people have visited the store when compared to prior days. Increased foot traffic can be an indicator of a successful ad campaign.
• Retail sales receipts only give a partial picture of store activity. You can see how many transactions you had but you don’t know how many shoppers were in the store. The advantage of retail traffic counting is that you can compare the number of people that were physically in the store to sales transactions. The difference will be a good estimate of how many opportunities were missed for additional sales. Managers can strategize to pick up those missed sales.
• A traffic counter also pinpoints the activity by times of day. The advantage of knowing peak traffic in the store is a manager can allocate payroll more efficiently. Schedule more staff during those busy times so that customer service is optimized. Customers who would have walked out empty-handed may be persuaded to make the purchase they were on the fence about.These are effective methods for using data that can help drive sales and manage payroll allocation.
What is a nuisance is when such data is used to penalize a store for not meeting an arbitrary goal. Not meeting that goal means risking bring the wrath of some faceless, higher corporate power down upon the collective head of the store management team. Well, that may be a slight exaggeration but the numbers do seem arbitrary and often scores are assigned as red, yellow and green. Score less than a green and a manager does begin to feel pressure. Stay under a green score too long and your store starts to be a focus store and after that a problem store. Having experienced the pressure of staying green rather than simply understanding numbers and working to use them to my advantage I know it can lead to an unnecessarily high stress situation.
To all of you store owners I say this, buy a Sensormatic security system WITH the door counting sensor. Enjoy the increased profits you will see with reduced theft from the EAS technology. Increase efficiency and improve sales with the proper analysis and planning gleaned from the data of a door counter. Don’t stress about it just get started with a call to Loss Prevention Systems, Inc.
Retail Traffic Counting is important and we can help you with it. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
