Training to reduce employee theft – 4 WC Blog 468
Employee Theft-3
Managers Need To Be Tuned In To Employee Theft
Does your store have a process for marking out or store-using merchandise for store needs? The store I currently work for does and so have the prior three stores I worked in as a Loss Prevention Associate or Manager. In my current store if there is a need for let’s say trash bags and we have run out, someone on the store management team can permit the item to be “store-used” and removed from store shelves. The employee marks the sku number in a book and later the manager removes it from store inventory. The item is to be marked in some manner as store property so there is no question it has been processed properly. If a manager hasn’t gone through training to reduce employee theft they may not realize when someone is taking advantage of a process. Employee theft can also take place when managers are too trusting and don’t question what or why an associate is doing something.
You may not have even realized there was a need for training to reduce employee theft or you may not have known there was training available. Loss Prevention Systems Inc. has programs available that will educate retail owners and managers on why employee theft is such a big concern and how it affects stores. The training demonstrates the various methods that employees use to steal from their employer whether it is cash or merchandise. Bill Bregar, owner and President of Loss Prevention Systems Inc., draws on his education, training and years of upper level Retail Loss Prevention Management experience to educate others. He can show you how losses are occurring in your store without you realizing it until it is time to conduct an annual inventory. Since most smaller or independent retail owners can’t afford a Loss Prevention team of their own, managers HAVE to know how employee theft takes place and how they can prevent it. This training does that!
The reason I am talking about store using merchandise and employee theft is because I encountered such an issue during my time as a Loss Prevention for a big box retail store. I was going through our store’s requisition log verifying nothing seemed unusual or outlandish. Initially the records for the month were looking in order. The employee who had done the requisition was listed, the date was written, the item description was logged in and an approving manager’s initials were in place. As I was nearing the end I found one store use that seemed odd. Our maintenance person had requisitioned an expensive multiplier tool. He was not working so I went to his work area which was locked and could not locate it. I asked the manager who approved it if there was a reason for the requisition. The manager said the maintenance person said he needed it so he gave the okay. I reminded the manager that the maintenance department had a procedure for ordering the supplies and tools they needed and that this was not a required item. The manager had not considered that there was a possibility there could be an employee theft issue. This was a manager who HAD undergone training to reduce employee theft. He had been trained as a store associate by me and when promoted went through a detailed manager training program.
Ultimately I confronted the employee and asked about the tool. He showed me a cheap version of a multi-tool and I told him that was not the one he had requisitioned. He then said he had it at home and that he always took his tools home at the end of the day. I to writing him up for failure to follow procedures and warned him to leave store merchandise at the store.
While the requisition and the employee’s intention to steal the item (in my mind at least) were at issue, the bigger problem was the manager not being alert to a potential theft issue. How many other things was the manager not tuned in to? Managers can prevent shortage and theft but they must know there are employees in the ranks who are willing to steal even if they are likeable people. Training to reduce employee theft can bring awareness to your team and make your business more profitable.
Need information on employee theft? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
Does your store have a process for marking out or store-using merchandise for store needs? The store I currently work for does and so have the prior three stores I worked in as a Loss Prevention Associate or Manager. In my current store if there is a need for let’s say trash bags and we have run out, someone on the store management team can permit the item to be “store-used” and removed from store shelves. The employee marks the sku number in a book and later the manager removes it from store inventory. The item is to be marked in some manner as store property so there is no question it has been processed properly. If a manager hasn’t gone through training to reduce employee theft they may not realize when someone is taking advantage of a process. Employee theft can also take place when managers are too trusting and don’t question what or why an associate is doing something.
You may not have even realized there was a need for training to reduce employee theft or you may not have known there was training available. Loss Prevention Systems Inc. has programs available that will educate retail owners and managers on why employee theft is such a big concern and how it affects stores. The training demonstrates the various methods that employees use to steal from their employer whether it is cash or merchandise. Bill Bregar, owner and President of Loss Prevention Systems Inc., draws on his education, training and years of upper level Retail Loss Prevention Management experience to educate others. He can show you how losses are occurring in your store without you realizing it until it is time to conduct an annual inventory. Since most smaller or independent retail owners can’t afford a Loss Prevention team of their own, managers HAVE to know how employee theft takes place and how they can prevent it. This training does that!
The reason I am talking about store using merchandise and employee theft is because I encountered such an issue during my time as a Loss Prevention for a big box retail store. I was going through our store’s requisition log verifying nothing seemed unusual or outlandish. Initially the records for the month were looking in order. The employee who had done the requisition was listed, the date was written, the item description was logged in and an approving manager’s initials were in place. As I was nearing the end I found one store use that seemed odd. Our maintenance person had requisitioned an expensive multiplier tool. He was not working so I went to his work area which was locked and could not locate it. I asked the manager who approved it if there was a reason for the requisition. The manager said the maintenance person said he needed it so he gave the okay. I reminded the manager that the maintenance department had a procedure for ordering the supplies and tools they needed and that this was not a required item. The manager had not considered that there was a possibility there could be an employee theft issue. This was a manager who HAD undergone training to reduce employee theft. He had been trained as a store associate by me and when promoted went through a detailed manager training program.
Ultimately I confronted the employee and asked about the tool. He showed me a cheap version of a multi-tool and I told him that was not the one he had requisitioned. He then said he had it at home and that he always took his tools home at the end of the day. I to writing him up for failure to follow procedures and warned him to leave store merchandise at the store.
While the requisition and the employee’s intention to steal the item (in my mind at least) were at issue, the bigger problem was the manager not being alert to a potential theft issue. How many other things was the manager not tuned in to? Managers can prevent shortage and theft but they must know there are employees in the ranks who are willing to steal even if they are likeable people. Training to reduce employee theft can bring awareness to your team and make your business more profitable.
Need information on employee theft? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
