What Does Employee Theft Look Like?


Employee theft- 4                                                                                               WC Blog 591
Stop Shoplifting-3


What Does Employee Theft Look Like?

     Just the other day I was listening to my daughter tell me about a new store manager that has been hired for their retail building. As she was talking to me I realized she was telling me about a problem I am aware of but had never considered it in terms of a type of employee theft. The new store manager is addressing the issue right out of the starting gate and I must say I am impressed. The issue that has plagued this particular store is that of changing employee availabilities. Employees in retail should be hired with the expectation that they will work varying shifts, nights, weekends and holidays. A new person may be hired with the understanding there is a specific day or time of day once or twice a week they cannot work. This could be for school, childcare or a second job but that limitation should not be for weekends off or no night or evenings at all. The sad thing is I have seen it all too often, a candidate is hired, starts the job and within a few weeks or months they are changing their availability. This was the problem my daughter’s store was contending with and it was stripping the management team of night and weekend coverage. The store manager’s had been approving these requests. This issue had a snowball effect and had the unintended consequence, in my opinion, of making it more difficult for the store to stop shoplifting.

     Training to reduce employee theft of any type is a must for any retailer interested in maintaining a profitable store. Theft comes in many forms, as you can see above. Being able to identify and deal with those problems before they get out of control is important. Loss Prevention Systems Inc. has specialized training available to store managers. This training will provide managers with the necessary skills to significantly reduce their exposure to dishonest employee activity and shoplifting. These skill sets lead to reduced shortage and more profit.

     In what sense was permitting workers to change availabilities a form of employee theft you may ask? It was not (and is not if you are contending with it yourself) overt like passing merchandise to a friend. It is not the same as stealing cash from the register and pocketing it. It is stealing from the management team the ability to adequately cover the store with enough people. It is stealing from other employees by requiring them to work the less desirable shifts and the weekends while the employee who is permitted to restrict their availability gets the preferred time slots. It is stealing from the morale of the entire team as people get short-tempered and snippy with each other and customers. 

      How does it become more difficult to stop shoplifting when availabilities are permitted to be restricted? The same people are constantly placed on the weekend schedules and when one or two of those employees call out for a shift there may be no one to replace them. That reduces floor coverage and while I have limited experience with it I have seen a pronounced impact in my daughter’s store. She has closed the store with herself and one other employee on more than one occasion. She has told me of problems with finding multiple tags from clothing on the floor after suspected shoplifters have left the store. With too few people, the staff cannot adequately provide sufficient customer service to deter the thieves. There are not enough people so one can stay near the doors in case of a clothing alarm activation. Limited availability does impact merchandise shortage due to shoplifting.

     So what has this new store manager started in his first week in the store? He has told the entire team that for the first six months of employment no availability changes are permitted. Requests for availability modifications have been met with employment terminations for two people so far, as I understand it. I say bravo to the manager for getting a major problem under control.

     Even if you don’t want to consider allowing availability changes to be a form of theft, other things like time card fraud and price manipulation are. Training to reduce employee theft can help managers navigate the sometimes murky waters of what is and what is not theft. It can also enlighten you to methods your employees are stealing from you and you did not know it. Likewise, training to identify and stop shoplifting will also add to the store’s bottom line. Let Loss Prevention Systems Inc. be the portal to all of training your management team will need to lead a fair and profitable team.
For more information about employee theft contact us or call 1.770.426.0547

Just the other day I was listening to my daughter tell me about a new store manager that has been hired for their retail building. As she was talking to me I realized she was telling me about a problem I am aware of but had never considered it in terms of a type of employee theft. The new store manager is addressing the issue right out of the starting gate and I must say I am impressed. The issue that has plagued this particular store is that of changing employee availabilities. Employees in retail should be hired with the expectation that they will work varying shifts, nights, weekends and holidays. A new person may be hired with the understanding there is a specific day or time of day once or twice a week they cannot work. This could be for school, childcare or a second job but that limitation should not be for weekends off or no night or evenings at all. The sad thing is I have seen it all too often, a candidate is hired, starts the job and within a few weeks or months they are changing their availability. This was the problem my daughter’s store was contending with and it was stripping the management team of night and weekend coverage. The store manager’s had been approving these requests. This issue had a snowball effect and had the unintended consequence, in my opinion, of making it more difficult for the store to stop shoplifting.
     

Training to reduce employee theft of any type is a must for any retailer interested in maintaining a profitable store. Theft comes in many forms, as you can see above. Being able to identify and deal with those problems before they get out of control is important. Loss Prevention Systems Inc. has specialized training available to store managers. This training will provide managers with the necessary skills to significantly reduce their exposure to dishonest employee activity and shoplifting. These skill sets lead to reduced shortage and more profit.
     

In what sense was permitting workers to change availabilities a form of employee theft you may ask? It was not (and is not if you are contending with it yourself) overt like passing merchandise to a friend. It is not the same as stealing cash from the register and pocketing it. It is stealing from the management team the ability to adequately cover the store with enough people. It is stealing from other employees by requiring them to work the less desirable shifts and the weekends while the employee who is permitted to restrict their availability gets the preferred time slots. It is stealing from the morale of the entire team as people get short-tempered and snippy with each other and customers. 
     

How does it become more difficult to stop shoplifting when availabilities are permitted to be restricted? The same people are constantly placed on the weekend schedules and when one or two of those employees call out for a shift there may be no one to replace them. That reduces floor coverage and while I have limited experience with it I have seen a pronounced impact in my daughter’s store. She has closed the store with herself and one other employee on more than one occasion. She has told me of problems with finding multiple tags from clothing on the floor after suspected shoplifters have left the store. With too few people, the staff cannot adequately provide sufficient customer service to deter the thieves. There are not enough people so one can stay near the doors in case of a clothing alarm activation. Limited availability does impact merchandise shortage due to shoplifting.
     

So what has this new store manager started in his first week in the store? He has told the entire team that for the first six months of employment no availability changes are permitted. Requests for availability modifications have been met with employment terminations for two people so far, as I understand it. I say bravo to the manager for getting a major problem under control.
     

Even if you don’t want to consider allowing availability changes to be a form of theft, other things like time card fraud and price manipulation are. Training to reduce employee theft can help managers navigate the sometimes murky waters of what is and what is not theft. It can also enlighten you to methods your employees are stealing from you and you did not know it. Likewise, training to identify and stop shoplifting will also add to the store’s bottom line. Let Loss Prevention Systems Inc. be the portal to all of training your management team will need to lead a fair and profitable team.

 

For more information about employee theft, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547