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Shoplifting remains one of the biggest threats to retail stores. To prevent customer theft in their retail store, retailers train their staff about common theft traits and train them to identify shoplifters.
But what if employees who are supposed to control customer theft themselves steal from their retailers?
The idea of an employee swiping hundreds of dollars from the cash drawer into their pocket or sliding a few products into their backpack while leaving the store can be devastating to any retailer.
Unfortunately, the truth is employee theft is a bigger threat to retailers today than customer theft. Fortunately, there are ways to prevent employees from stealing in the first place and cut down on such situations.
Hire Carefully
The first step towards eliminating the possibility of employee theft would definitely be employing honest and reliable staff. To ensure this, you need to run a pre-employment check to research the background of employees and weed out any rotten apple upfront.
Insiders tips:
While hiring, in addition to asking applicants to specify on their application form if they have a criminal history or drug/alcohol addictions, you should also question them on the same matter while interviewing.
Be fair by running the same process on each applicant.
Consider inappropriate behavioral patterns instead of looking for bad acts separately.
Hire a professional firm to conduct a background check to save your time and effort.
Install efficient POS software and inventory management system
An advanced POS system can play a key role in preventing internal theft. You can integrate specialised POS systems into your business that provide you detailed reports on day-to-day sales and point of sale transactions. Through these reports, you can easily discover discrepancies in operations and patterns of loss. Effective inventory management will also help in identifying exactly what has been missing from the inventory.
Train to prevent accidental loss
Some employee mistakes can look like a case of employee theft. For example, the employee may enter the wrong inventory count or offer the wrong discount coupon to a customer. These small slipups can simply add up to business losses.
Make sure employees are aware of the company policies on returns, refunds and promotional discounts so that they can avoid such operational mistakes.
Integrate the buddy system
Theft is more likely to happen when an employee is alone at the point of sale or in the store. So, it is advisable to deploy at least two employees for the store opening and closing procedures. Always have the trash taken out by two employees instead of one, to limit possibility. Assign a manager or a supervisor to carefully watch processing of voids and refunds.
Keep shuffling employees paired together in order to avoid having two close friends working together, which increases the likelihood of theft.
Install surveillance cameras
Surveillance systems are used to not just record theft and identify thieves after an incidence has occurred, but they also help deter employees. Employees are less likely to steal from areas that are equipped with cameras.
Make sure to install high definition cameras at the register, in the storerooms, loading areas, warehouse and at all entrances.
Insider's tips:
Limit access to surveillance cameras only to a very few and the most reliable of staff.
Review recordings daily to spot inappropriate patterns or determine issues that are likely to create theft opportunities.
Create a secret reporting system
Set up a confidential system through which employees can report about their co-worker's suspicious behaviour. You can offer rewards for passing useful information that can help prevent internal theft. This will help to not only identify suspicious employees but also discourage the suspects from stealing in the first place.
The Takeaway
Internal theft doesn't just cost a business money, but it also takes a toll on the company's integrity and reputation. By implementing these techniques, you can reduce employee theft in your store while mitigating a great deal of loss.
Lastly, happy and satisfied employees prove to be honest and loyal to its company. So, it is important to connect with your employees and find out what difficulties and stress they are going through at the job, which might induce them to steal. Resolve their issues to create a strong relationship with your employees, which further strengthens the company-employee trust.
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