- A loss prevention program is like a chain. Each link
in the chain represents your policies, controls, equipment systems, and
everyone in the organization.
- Your program, in this case, your chain, is only as
strong as your weakest link.
- The weakest link in that chain is always, without exception - people!
All of the pre-employment screening,
training, fancy systems with the bells and whistles, the shrinkage committees,
shipping and receiving policies and procedures, vendor controls, cash controls
are only as good as the people we employ, train, supervise and inspect on a
regular basis.
The predominant contributors to retail
losses, according to the National Retail Security Survey Final
Report, 2010,states "employee
theft…is the single most significant source of inventory shrinkage."
Retailers
Attribute 45% of All Inventory Losses to Employee Theft!
First let’s take a quick look at the
word “shrinkage”. It’s become a politically acceptable term for the
consequences of poor management. In my
experience as both an investigator and manager in the retail environment I was
taught that there were acceptable levels of shrinkage and that the term covers
the full spectrum of:
o
Employee
Theft o
Customer
Theft o
Vendor
Fraud &Theft
o
Administrative
& Paperwork Errors
We have even gone as far as to
breakout cash losses separately from “shrinkage” when we all know that the
majority of our cash losses are the result of employee theft.
In future blogs I will share with you
some of my thoughts and experience (including some mistakes) preventing and
detecting Employee Theft.
Bob Cadigan
