Orientations are a great way to introduce your new hires to the company’s mission, policies and procedures. It’s the time to set the standard for what is expected. If you don’t include loss prevention training in your new hire orientations, you are missing out on a great way to ensure all of your employees know the company’s established guidelines.
It could be argued that this is a tactic to scare the idea of stealing out of their new employees. I see it more as letting them know where the company stands on different issues, and how they should conduct themselves. You should cover all procedures with the new employees and have them sign off that they understand the rules. This will provide documentation that may be needed later for coaching purposes. If you have loss prevention personnel, orientations also allow you the chance to give a face to the department, and not just have the team see them as the scary people that are always watching everyone from behind the curtain.
Don’t just make it all about employee theft, or the meeting will be awkward. After all, not all of them are bad guys. You are also introducing yourself to people that turn out to be great workers, and even future management. You want to cover other types of losses as well, such as shoplifting and operational and paperwork errors. Keep in mind, they will be a great resource to you later if they are properly trained.
During the orientation, keep your eyes open to any potential red flags displayed by the attendees. Believe it or not, some people can’t help themselves from asking questions that give away their shady intentions. What I find the most amusing is the people that obviously have experience with the wrong side of the law, and can’t stop themselves from telling you all about it. They know way too much about theft and shoplifting, and try to teach you about what happens after you get arrested, and what you can and can’t do to people that steal.
I remember one orientation in particular that a new employee was acting strange during the entire process. After I talked about some of our investigative resources with the new employees in the meeting room, I brought the group into the loss prevention office, and showed them the cameras and monitors (not all of the cameras). During this orientation, one employee in particular caught my attention. While I was talking about employee theft and how it affects the company, one person in particular put their head down on the desk and was avoiding eye contact with me. Then when we continued the loss prevention training orientation and went into the office to see the cameras, that same person’s attention span suddenly grew immensely. They immediately walked in front of everyone in the group and were studying the cameras like there was going to be a test on their placement.
Not every loss prevention workshop yields this many red flags, but it’s always a good idea to pay attention to your employee’s behaviors. As it turned out, the new employee that was showing all the signs wound up being the subject of my next employee theft investigation.
For more information contact us: (loss prevention training) or call 1.770.426.0547
Orientations are a great way to introduce your new hires to the company’s mission, policies and procedures. It’s the time to set the standard for what is expected. If you don’t include loss prevention training in your new hire orientations, you are missing out on a great way to ensure all of your employees know the company’s established guidelines.
It could be argued that this is a tactic to scare the idea of stealing out of their new employees. I see it more as letting them know where the company stands on different issues, and how they should conduct themselves. You should cover all procedures with the new employees and have them sign off that they understand the rules. This will provide documentation that may be needed later for coaching purposes. If you have loss prevention personnel, orientations also allow you the chance to give a face to the department, and not just have the team see them as the scary people that are always watching everyone from behind the curtain.
Don’t just make it all about employee theft, or the meeting will be awkward. After all, not all of them are bad guys. You are also introducing yourself to people that turn out to be great workers, and even future management. You want to cover other types of losses as well, such as shoplifting and operational and paperwork errors. Keep in mind, they will be a great resource to you later if they are properly trained.
During the orientation, keep your eyes open to any potential red flags displayed by the attendees. Believe it or not, some people can’t help themselves from asking questions that give away their shady intentions. What I find the most amusing is the people that obviously have experience with the wrong side of the law, and can’t stop themselves from telling you all about it. They know way too much about theft and shoplifting, and try to teach you about what happens after you get arrested, and what you can and can’t do to people that steal.
I remember one orientation in particular that a new employee was acting strange during the entire process. After I talked about some of our investigative resources with the new employees in the meeting room, I brought the group into the loss prevention office, and showed them the cameras and monitors (not all of the cameras). During this orientation, one employee in particular caught my attention. While I was talking about employee theft and how it affects the company, one person in particular put their head down on the desk and was avoiding eye contact with me. Then when we continued the loss prevention training orientation and went into the office to see the cameras, that same person’s attention span suddenly grew immensely. They immediately walked in front of everyone in the group and were studying the cameras like there was going to be a test on their placement.
Not every loss prevention workshop yields this many red flags, but it’s always a good idea to pay attention to your employee’s behaviors. As it turned out, the new employee that was showing all the signs wound up being the subject of my next employee theft investigation.
For more information contact us: (loss prevention training) or call 1.770.426.0547
