Loss Prevention Community

Safety Programs getting a back seat?

2012-01-27T06:24:00.000-08:00

Many retailers tend to view accident costs as a "cost of doing business" and accept higher insurance rates and payouts. These costs can be one of the top 5 controllable expenses for a retailer and yet many lack the knowledge or commitment to maintaining an effective safety program to reduce them. Yes, some large companies "get it" and have implemented programs to combat these costs. Some of us remember the government having to get involved with one large retailer to force safety standards on it after numerous deaths in the stores due to falling merchandise.

Maintaining a visible safety program that is part of the buildings "DNA" is good for cost control as well as productivity increases and employee morale. It is not hard to imagine how an employee would feel about their employer if the processes are unsafe and accidents are taken without any concern for the employee's safety. Would that employee want to work harder in that environment?

All safety programs start with a commitment by upper management in the building. You can have the best defined program in the industry, but if local management does not support it, it will have minimal value. Once you have the commitment, adding on inspections audits, safety committees, daily awareness and engaging everyone in safety are the next steps. Best in class programs include incentive awards to help engage the employees. These need to be offered frequently and may include a large prize at the end of the year like an affordable car. For a large DC with thousands of employees, giving one car away is a minimal expense compared to out of control accidents costs.

The Loss Prevention Academy feels there is a need for training in this area for loss prevention professionals, small business owners and safety professionals. We are putting the final touches on SAFETY for RETAIL and hope to have the 10 hour course on the site soon. As with out other courses, out training includes voice over, interactions and quizzes with final testing.

You can check out our courses at www.LossPreventionAcademy.com.

Steve

LPDT, LLC offers the only E-Learning training for Retail Loss Prevention at www.LossPreventionAcademy.com. In addition,we offer a FREE job and resume posting board for Loss Prevention at www.LPjobsFREE.com. Check out our awareness posters for shortage and safety at www.LPPosters.com. You can follow us on Twitter under LPACADEMYcom and Facebook under Loss Prevention Academy.

Do Private Diversion Programs make sense?

2012-01-14T06:24:00.000-08:00

Diversion programs have been around for many years. Public agencies that support the court systems have utilized them in non violent cases, think shoplifting. The concept is simple and makes sense in many ways. The community and the accused often benefit from allowing the person to complete a formal course in lieu of prosecution. In most cases, the record of the accused does not reflect the arrest allowing no impact to future employment and the court system is not burdened with these types of cases. The goal is to impact the future behavior of an individual without the use of the courts.

For some, diversion programs "feel" like a freebie and the offender is not held accountable for their actions. In reality, first time offenders rarely feel any consequences for their actions in these types of cases.

A new trend is appearing where retailers have the option at the time of arrest to offer a private diversion program to the accused in lieu of calling the police. Are we just moving the offer to the time of detention or are we extorting the person to agree to a program to stay out of jail? As with most issues, there are two sides to each argument. Folks in favor of these programs will tell you the program would not be offered if the person was violent, had previous arrests, on probation or involved ORC activity. Their goal is to offer the program to what appears to be the "first time offender". In addition, taking the case load off the prosecutor for these types of cases just makes sense due to limited resources. Keep in mind, consequences for first time offenders is usually minimal. The other argument is that you are giving people a "pass" and could be viewed as extorting them for money to stay out of jail. The decision process gets distorted with handcuffs on.

Some issues to consider:

Can we trust an hourly LP Detective to explain the program or just use it as a threat?

Are we using these programs for double civil recovery? The course is not free.

Will the States jump in with mandated "opt out" guidelines if they agree?

Is this an alternative based on reality we need to consider?

What are your thoughts?

Enjoy the week,

Steve

LPDT, LLC offers the only E-Learning training for Retail Loss Prevention at www.LossPreventionAcademy.com. In addition,we offer a FREE job and resume posting board for Loss Prevention at www.LPjobsFREE.com. Check out our awareness posters for shortage and safety at www.LPPosters.com. You can follow us on Twitter under LPACADEMYcom and Facebook under Loss Prevention Academy.

Blending Awareness with Operational Excellence

2012-01-01T07:30:00.000-08:00

Our goal with this blog is to blend industry informational articles, guest blog posts and also announce what we are doing with the Loss Prevention Academy. Within the Academy we have developed modern day communication themed awareness posters for shortage and safety control. Our feelings are that if the 17 to 22 year old employee will not read the communication then why post it. To achieve that goal our posters are designed with the communication of today like "texting" posting on their wall etc.

Along with awareness posters, driving operational excellence within retail is always a challenge. That is why we developed the concept of blending awareness with a calendar that can be custom designed with your operational due dates. Hold shrink meeting on the 3rd. Safety meeting on the 22nd. Process D&D on Wednesdays. Because the calendar can be custom tailored, any expectations can be listed each day, week or month.

By using the calendar, you establish your monthly awareness campaign once a year and ship it to the stores once a year. This will save on shipping costs. In addition, the "we never received that month's poster" issue goes away.

Costs? Base costs are about 3.00 per month. That brings your costs per awareness poster down to a very low level. Final costs depends on the level of customization you need and quantities ordered. We can use your artwork, logo, company colors........just define what you are looking for

We are excited and already have two orders in the works. Blending an effective awareness campaign with a tool to help drive operational compliance just makes sense, especially when you see the costs.

View our posters and calendar example at www.LPPosters.com. From there, use the site to reach out and let us know how we can help.

Have a great week and happy New Years from the Loss Prevention Academy and LP Posters...

LPDT, LLC offers the only E-Learning training for Retail Loss Prevention at www.LossPreventionAcademy.com. In addition,we offer a FREE job and resume posting board for Loss Prevention at www.LPjobsFREE.com. Check out our awareness posters for shortage and safety at www.LPPosters.com. You can follow us on Twitter under LPACADEMYcom and Facebook under Loss Prevention Academy.

Loss Prevention in 2012

2011-12-14T06:16:00.000-08:00

Well, 2011 is almost history as we are 11 days away from the end of the holiday shopping season. Retail sales headlines have been mixed from positive sales comps to flat over LY. If there is one number that is trending higher is online sales. It is obvious customers are using their tablets and computers more instead of heading to the mall.

For many retailers the hard work of the year does not end in December. Managing merchandise returns and preparing for inventory come to mind. Many retailers complete their inventories in January, thus adding onto the work load of the season.

So what does 2012 look like? Here are my thoughts...

* The U.S. will avoid a recession, but sales will continue to be challenging.
* Consumers will continue to favor "bargain" type stores. They are looking for value.
* Housing will continue to trend down. The number of homes going into foreclosure is still too high.
* Taxes are going to increase. Sorry, we owe too much.
* ORC will increase and become more of a focus for all.
* More advertising will move from print to online.
* If the unemployment rate drops below 8%, Obama will get re-elected.
* New store concepts will open.
* Shortage numbers will stay flat, not decrease. Need sales increases to drive the percent down.
* Europe will figure out their mess. Sorry to extend their work schedules and retirement ages.

As for the stock market, it could be the bargain of the decade. Earnings for the S and P 500 are expected at 110.00 per share. That puts the forward P/E at 11.00. With some good news in the World and a move up in the P/E ratio to 15, the stock market could move up to 1,500 giving investors a 25% return. The wealth affect drives sales.

So those are my thoughts....hoping for a better 2012.

Steve

LPDT, LLC offers the only E-Learning training for Retail Loss Prevention at www.LossPreventionAcademy.com. In addition,we offer a FREE job and resume posting board for Loss Prevention at www.LPjobsFREE.com. Check out our awareness posters for shortage and safety at www.LPPosters.com. You can follow us on Twitter under LPACADEMYcom and Facebook under Loss Prevention Academy.

Saving the Sacred Cow

2011-11-29T15:09:00.000-08:00

We are pleased to have a guest blog article written by John Lee. Recently, John was Vice President of Operations for U.S. Security and previously the Director of LP for Publix Supermarkets. John was instrumental in developing the concept of out-sourcing undercover detectives while at Publix.

Saving the Sacred Cow

Let’s go back to the good old days. Way back. The year is 2007. It’s the end of September. Ah, the good old days. Smell the green in the air? That’s right, green. My personal IRA was flying high. I was making as much in my 401(k) as I was on my W-2. My company’s stock (and my restricted options) was worth more then than it is today. Ah, the good old days.

Okay, wake up! It’s not September 2007; it’s November 2011. There’s been no recovery of the stock market. In fact, your investments, your home equity, your savings are all in the tank. The national debt stands at an unimaginable level. The PIIGS of Europe, excluding Ireland, seem relentless in the effort to hold on to a cruise-ship-like life styles and this will surely wreck what’s left of our economy. Meanwhile, across the sea, The Arab Spring has turned to winter. Our hopes of success in Afghanistan, and the entire region for that matter, remains just hope. Opponents of business are everywhere. The world is crumbling before your eyes.

Wake up again! Your 2012 second-round budget revisions are due. The company hasn’t done very well and there is a lot of pressure to become a leaner organization. You know, 6 Sigma style, TQM, leaner and meaner, do more with less. Translation: The boss wants cuts. Now it has come down to reducing more staff or start dropping programs. You get to pick. It’s all up to you.

So what’s your Sacred Cow? You know, the last thing you’d want to ever see fall to the chopping block of budget cuts? Is it your audit program or your investigations, or your store detectives, or your training programs, or is it your staff of managers? So, let’s be honest with each other. There is no Sacred Cow. This is business Darwin style; survival of the fittest. It’s all up to you.

Why not outsource? Before you say, “Never!” let me remind you, “Never say never.” Love or hate it outsourcing is here to stay because it works and it can save you money. Actually, outsourcing when done correctly can produce huge cost savings to your budget, savings your CEO can’t ignore and will not overlook. I know you know you already outsource. You’re comfortable outsourcing a lot of different functions that involve products and services. You outsource the function but you still manage the process. So get over your stubbornness to consider doing something you thought you’d never do. You have to have an open mind. Your resume says you’re creative and innovative, solution-oriented, goal driven and all the rest. So be it. And when it comes down to the challenge or doing more with less don’t misunderstand this cliché to mean you can do less with less. There is no Sacred Cow. Not just because it’s important to you but because your future is dependent on you building on your past success. You really can’t cut anything and win. So, what are you going to do? It’s all up to you.

Thanks John for taking the time to write this blog article.

Enjoy the week,

Steve

LPDT, LLC offers the only E-Learning training for Retail Loss Prevention at www.LossPreventionAcademy.com. In addition,we offer a FREE job and resume posting board for Loss Prevention at www.LPjobsFREE.com. Check out our awareness posters for shortage and safety at www.LPPosters.com. You can follow us on Twitter under LPACADEMYcom and Facebook under Loss Prevention Academy.

2011, Retail and Thanksgiving

2011-11-20T06:10:00.000-08:00

Well, it is the week of Thanksgiving and 2011 has been a challenging year for many retailers. Sears continues to post poor results and "dollar" stores continue to attract the bargain shoppers looking to work within their new budgets. As a whole though, retail sales have been steady as we work ourselves out of this recession. Unemployment continues to be high at 9% and the effects of Europe's financial mess plagues the news daily. Housing prices continue to fall causing more loans to go negative. This could result in additional "walk aways" as families abandon their homes instead of paying on upside down mortgages.

Enough negative comments....the recession has pushed more people to take control of their finances and establish their own businesses instead of relying on a corporation. The internet continues to adjust business models thus reducing the pricing to the consumer. People who could not afford a home 4 years ago are now being offered low rates and reduced prices.

So with that said, here are some interesting facts about Thanksgiving. Enjoy

* The pilgrims arrived in1620 and only half survived.
* The alcohol beverage of choice was beer.
* First feast included 90 Indians.
* Like Woodstock the feast lasted 3 days.
* In 1941 Congress declared the day an official holiday.
* Scientist estimate that turkeys have been around for over 10 million years.
* Corn is associated with Thanksgiving but, it has only been around for 7,000 years.
* Largest recorded turkey weighed 86 pounds.

As a final comment, the term Black Friday has taken a new meaning, Black Weekend. More and more retailers are stretching those sales into Thursday. Sorry for those that have to leave the house to open the doors after a thanksgiving meal. No one said retail was easy.
Steve

We are missing "doing the right thing"...

2011-11-15T06:21:00.000-08:00

We have had recent events in the news lately that go beyond appropriate behavior and in one case, insult our intelligence as citizens of this nation. The end effect is a lack of respect for others, an "elite" attitude and definitely a demonstration of a lack of "doing the right thing"...

How is it possible for a member of Congress to think that trading stocks with private, non-disclosed information to their benefit is appropriate conduct? Do they feel their superior status in our government allows them this privilege and benefit when "everyday" citizens are being locked up for this behavior? Are they ok with hiding behind no laws apply without applying common sense that it just does not seem right to do it. And, when asked if they would consider passing some legislation banning this conduct, they all look away. It is no wonder the support for our government is at a all time low and people fail to engage at voting time. I suggest they modify the code of conduct for these positions; would they read it?

Showering with children is a "male" athletic activity? I realize these statements were made by his attorney, but seriously they must have been supported by his client or he would have been able to speak those words. As opposed to insulting our intelligence, maybe a better alternative would be to admit guilt and accept the consequences to your conduct. It seems the trend lately has been to hide or ignore the conduct as a means to not impact the larger goal, church and football.

Hopefully, by making these acts public with drive change. Until that happens, people should just consider doing the right thing.

Enjoy your week,

Steve

LPDT, LLC offers the only E-Learning training for Retail Loss Prevention at www.LossPreventionAcademy.com. In addition,we offer a FREE job and resume posting board for Loss Prevention at www.LPjobsFREE.com. Check out our awareness posters for shortage and safety at www.LPPosters.com. You can follow us on Twitter under LPACADEMYcom and Facebook under Loss Prevention Academy.

The Art of Building the Bank

2011-11-02T06:41:00.000-07:00

We are pleased to have a guest post today written by Libby Libhart, President of Loss Busters.com. Libby has extensive experience in loss control within the fast food industry. His work experience includes Senior Director of Security and Safety at McDonald's U.S. Enjoy his article.

The art of building a bank...

It has nothing to do with concrete blocks and mortar. Cranes and bulldozers are not involved, and it has no reference to the facility where you make your deposits or take out a loan. The first time you encounter it, you may think you’re ahead of the game. What it may all mean is the foundation for a scam to steal hard earned cash from the register. Building a bank, also known as “padding the register” is part of a theft scheme and you may never know it without a keen sense and knowledge of how it’s done and the skills to do something about it.

The Dishonest Cashier - The scheme starts with a strategic plan by a cashier. Armed with the knowledge of the cash register operation, audit processes, and supervisory skills of the management team, a dishonest cashier can steal cash and not have a shortage on the register. The cash thefts are cleverly disguised and hidden from routine cash drawer countdowns.

The Scheme - At opportunistic times while ringing the sales transaction, or sometime after, the dishonest cashier will manipulate the sale by various methods to cancel or reduce the sale. The cash components that are generally fraudulently manipulated are no sales, voids, price reductions, refunds, promotions, etc. During a legitimate sale, the cashier rings a no sale, but accepts the payment from the customer and places the cash in the register creating an overage in the amount of the sale. The overage that is created by building the bank is then stolen making the cash drawer even making the theft at first glance – undetectable. Other theft schemes that occur during a sales transaction are ringing in a discounted price, fictitious employee meal, or promotion code but charging the customer the higher amount.

Building the Bank - The theft schemes can be expanded to legitimate sales transactions after the sale has been completed. Sometime after the sale, the dishonest cashier voids the transaction or generates an unauthorized refund, again creating a cash overage. If the cashier has possession of manager override codes or swipe cards, thefts will increase dramatically with unauthorized use. The cashier continues the scam throughout the shift, each time leaving the cash in the register, thus building the bank or padding the register. The cash is left in the register until such time that it can be removed safely, without detection. It is important to keep track of the accumulated overage of cash in the register and the cashier does so with their own accounting methods. For example a nickel may be placed aside to represent a $5 overage, a dime - $10; or other items may be used to reference overages in the forms of paper clips, salt/pepper/condiment packs, straws, tooth picks, etc. They build the bank and keep track of the overages in lieu of stealing the cash each time they manipulate the sale because of the higher chance of getting caught.

Addressing the Issues - Addressing this type of theft begins with cash management policies and procedures understood by each cashier and supervisor. Comprehensive cash management controls also include random cash register audits, single cash drawer accountability, and review of cashier performance not only in cash overages and shortages, but the cash components as well in POS exception reports. A strong progressive disciplinary action program should address poor cashier performance.

Building the bank is a common theft scheme, particularly in locations with drive-thru windows where cashiers are working in isolation. Cashier thefts, however, can be easily accomplished at any register and in the office by dishonest supervisors after cash drawers have been turned in, so be alert for that as well.

Be clear on expectations of cashiers and managers following the rules of your cash management program and follow up for compliance. It will deter them from taking your money to their bank.

For more information on cash management, download a free whitepaper “Cash Shortage Control at the POS”.

http://www.lossbusters.com/downloads/Cash%20Shortage%20Control%20at%20the%20POS.pdf

Loss Prevention thoughts before the Holidays

2011-10-27T06:47:00.000-07:00

Well, it is official.
The holiday season is now upon us. Costco has had their holiday set up now for about 3 weeks. Our local hardware store is embracing the Halloween look and Holiday theme at the same time. Large Santas are floating around causing havoc with the alarm motion detectors.

The sound of jingle bells being played over and over again always brings out the joy when you work in a store during the holidays. Customers can turn into "unique human beings" as they push and shove for the latest discounted item. We all have seen the pictures of elderly being trampled when the doors open on black Friday. Who came up with the term black Friday anyway?? Must have been a veteran retail manager.

So, what does LP need to focus on as the season gets closer?

* Did they change the alarm hours due to extended store hours?
* Did they order the additional uniform guard service and post orders created?
* Have they scheduled additional armored car pick ups if needed?
* Are cash pull times increased to minimize the impact of a robbery?
* Did maintenance extend the parking lot lights?
* Any new holiday products that are shoplift friendly they need to be protected?
* Cameras and DVRs all in good working order?
* Increased protection of product left in receiving? There are temp. employees everywhere.
* Detective schedules written to reflect peak traffic flow?

And lastly, spend time with family now since 6 day, 12 hour work weeks are the norm soon.

Enjoy the balance of the week,

Steve

LPDT, LLC offers the only E-Learning training for Retail Loss Prevention at www.LossPreventionAcademy.com. In addition,we offer a FREE job and resume posting board for Loss Prevention at www.LPjobsFREE.com. Check out our awareness posters for shortage and safety at www.LPPosters.com. You can follow us on Twitter under LPACADEMYcom and Facebook under Loss Prevention Academy.

Adding more Awareness Posters for Shrink and Safety

2011-10-19T06:47:00.000-07:00

It was only 7 weeks ago we went live with the Loss Prevention Academy and within it, LPPosters.com. We are the first company to put awareness posters on the internet for shortage control and are very pleased with our initial interest. We shipped our first posters last week and have bids out to 4 other companies. Many companies are starting to develop their awareness campaigns for 2012 now.

Based on the initial response, we have started designing 6 additional posters to offer the LP Community. If all goes well, the posters will be on the site by end of the month. We are looking a credit card policies, how to detect counterfeit money, shortage highway, back injuries, shrink starts in the DCs and forklift safety.

In addition to offering these posters on the internet, we are able to design custom posters based on a specific demand. The cost is minimal when the customer wants to "massage" the wording or place their logo on the poster. For these changes, the cost is only 40.00 per poster. If a customer wants to start from scratch and design a custom poster with new pics etc., the cost is only 250.00 per poster.

We also wanted to establish pricing per poster so customers can see what their cost would be. The price per poster is determined by the number of posters ordered. Once the press is set up, running 500 posters is cheaper than setting up the press to run 50. Based on printing costs, here is what it looks like..

11 x 17 poster

1-250 the price is 5.99 per poster
250-500 the price is 4.99 per poster
Over 500, the price is 3.99 per poster

Of course different sized posters are available.

We already have thoughts for the next 6 posters. We feel one for discount violations and for your 800 hotline is needed.

Keeping the message of shortage control is a challenge and must be designed to get the attention of the 17-22 year old employee of today. Hope our modern day themed posters helps in that area.

If you have suggestions for other poster topics, let us know.

Enjoy the week,

Steve

Building a ROI for Store Detectives

2011-10-12T06:15:00.000-07:00

For most retailers, the budget process for 2012 has already begun. As with most years, the question continues to be asked as to whether a ROI can be developed for store detectives. At an estimated cost of $35,000.00 per year, per detective is a retailer getting a return for that outlay? In addition to payroll costs are worker's compensation and litigation costs.

The industry standard is one shoplifter every 13 hours with an average case value of 35.00 per apprehension. That puts a yearly recovery, per detective at $5,500.00. Hmmm, spend 35K to recover 5.5K ???

The correct method to evaluate ROI is to measure costs not on the actual amount recovered but, the true value of each case to that company. It is reported that a shoplifter steals 44 times before they are apprehended. If you catch a shoplifter in the middle of this number, you are preventing future thefts, assuming they stop or at least move to another chain. The value of future thefts must be calculated into the recovery amount. One company uses a "flat" number of $1,000.00 for each case, others will drill the numbers down based on average case value etc. When you factor in "future" dollars recovered, your LP Detectives can pay for themselves.

What about civil recovery dollars?

Often I hear the statement that having store detectives that apprehend shoplifters should pay for themselves in merchandise recoveries and civil recovery dollars. For some stores, low average price points equates to smaller case values and civil recovery dollars can go up and down based on many factors. If you apprehend someone for shoplifting and they are transient, the odds of a demand letter getting to them is almost zero. With all of that said, any dollars recovered will off-set the costs to some degree.

Can a retailer be the only one on the block not catching shoplifters?

The "street" knows who catches shoplifters and who does not. Being the only retailer in the mall or strip center that does not catch shoplifters is widely know and subject to theft focus.

Enjoy the week,

Steve

LPDT, LLC offers the only E-Learning training for Retail Loss Prevention at www.LossPreventionAcademy.com. In addition,we offer a FREE job and resume posting board for Loss Prevention at www.LPjobsFREE.com. Check out our awareness posters for shortage and safety at www.LPPosters.com. You can follow us on Twitter under LPACADEMYcom and Facebook under Loss Prevention Academy.

"Block and Tackle" vs. Technology

2011-10-01T17:24:00.000-07:00

Facial recognition, RFID, data mining tools, video analytics are all exciting tools being tested and used in the LP industry. Some are very costly to implement and are sold via an ROI that supports other goals in addition to shortage control. RFID can be used to reduce shrink and as a means for instant updating of counts in a store. Accurate inventory counts allows replenishment to work at it's highest level.

How do these compare to more "traditional" tools for shortage control?

"Block and Tackle" programs like establishing operational standards and auditing to them, employee training, shoplift prevention tools, awareness programs for associates and managers and incentive programs including cash awards are great examples.

Is it either or, or does one replace the other, or?

During my career I worked for an office supply company. Those were exciting times as this was the birth of the internet and all the supporting companies were being created to capitalize on it. The company followed a very simple shortage mission statement. If you establish and maintain tight operational controls, theft would not impact your shortage number in a large way. Every store was audited every month. The audits included coaching and training to the operational standards. Yes, employee theft and shoplifting, especially ink-jet cartridges were there, but our results were often below .50.

We never had all the tools of technology during those days. Not even EAS was installed until I left after 12 years and yet we were successful in achieving our number.

In my opinion, "block and tackle" works the best. Focus on the basics everyday through your employees and managers and use technology when it can be combined with another goal.

Enjoy the week,

Steve

If you are missing our monthly newsletter, go to www.LossPreventionAcademy.com and sign up. It is free of course and we promise, only one email per month and your information would never be sold.

LPDT, LLC offers the only E-Learning training for Retail Loss Prevention at www.LossPreventionAcademy.com. In addition,we offer a FREE job and resume posting board for Loss Prevention at www.LPjobsFREE.com. Check out our awareness posters for shortage and safety at www.LPPosters.com. You can follow us on Twitter under LPACADEMYcom and Facebook under Loss Prevention Academy.

Keeping the shortage message alive...

2011-09-26T06:54:00.000-07:00

One of the challenges with controlling shortage and safety is how to "keep the message alive" with hourly employees and store management. Many companies have orientation that includes these issues, but they often fade with the daily challenges of managing a retail store. Delivering the fundamentals is easy, keeping the importance of the issues on the table so it "sticks" through out the year is an important goal.

This area of awareness can be a challenge for many LP Professionals due to the creativity it requires. Often, awareness programs are driven by the corporate office, but still need to be implemented and kept alive with enthusiasm and discipline.

Daily huddle meetings where a specific topic is discussed is always the best approach. Two way communication insures the audience receives the message. This is always an excellent time to add praise and acknowledge employees for actions over the past day or week.

Shortage and safety bingo is an excellent way to add an easy game to increase involvement in these areas. It is simple to manage and with incentives on the table, increases employee involvement.

Newsletters can be another avenue to communicate to employees. Best practices are to limit the edition to one page and keep it colorful so it attracts the employees to read the material.

Awareness posters have been used for many years. These can be specific to a topic and "feed" the message to the employee on a regular basis. These have to be colorful, simple to read and aimed at the employee of today with modern styles of communication. Some ask the employees to sign the poster to show the message was received. You can see our posters at www.LPPosters.com.

And lastly, although I have not used them in my career, some companies are using technology to deliver the message and document retention. Employees are asked to call an 800 number and asked a series of questions. This delivers a consistent message and validation of understanding is documented.

Enjoy the week,

Steve

LPDT, LLC offers the only E-Learning training for Retail Loss Prevention at www.LossPreventionAcademy.com. In addition,we offer a FREE job and resume posting board for Loss Prevention at www.LPjobsFREE.com. Check out our awareness posters for shortage and safety at www.LPPosters.com. You can follow us on Twitter under LPACADEMYcom and Facebook under Loss Prevention Academy.

5 Lessons from over the Years...

2011-09-14T07:18:00.000-07:00

I have worked with and for some great people during my career. From those people you come in contact with you take away good concepts to apply to your management style and on the opposite side, hopefully identify the negative ones to avoid. Below are 5 key Lessons I have learned over the years:

* One of my first supervisors told me that managing people was not difficult, he stressed that you just treat people the way you want to be treated and you will be fine. Not real complicated.

* Customer service goes beyond making the customer satisfied, it is how you make them feel during the process. I'm amazed how many retailers do not get this concept. Getting a customer in the door can be challenging enough, they then treat them poorly and wonder why their customer count is lower than LY.

* Insure the job matches the person's skill set. If you put someone in a job they are not ready for and they fail, you own it as much as they do. Manage for their success and growth.

* Most people are uncomfortable with direct feedback. When giving, you owe it to them, one on one, to give them honest and direct feedback on developmental issues. Some of my best lessons came from getting "hit between the eyes" hard with feedback. King Rogers was the Vice President of Loss Prevention for Target stores. In his office he explained to me the difference in management styles. One style you dictate the path on how something gets accomplished; the other is you set the goal and let the person dictate their own action steps on how to get it accomplished. I think I was about 24 years old at the time and it stuck hard during my career. Thank you for taking the time... Always end the conversation on a positive note. Make them feel good about the conversation and your belief that they can change.

* And lastly, be open and honest with your team. It is not a sign of weakness as a manager if you are always honest and communicate openly to the group. "Holding your cards closely" works for the military but, not in retail Loss Prevention. Your team will respect you more if you respond that the information is confidential and you are unable to discuss it, if it is true when needed.

Enjoy the balance of the week,

Steve

LPDT, LLC offers the only E-Learning training for Retail Loss Prevention at www.LossPreventionAcademy.com. In addition,we offer a FREE job and resume posting board for Loss Prevention at www.LPjobsFREE.com. Check out our awareness posters for shortage and safety at www.LPPosters.com. You can follow us on Twitter under LPACADEMYcom and Facebook under Loss Prevention Academy.

Free Loss Prevention Course from the LossPreventionAcademy

2011-09-06T22:42:00.000-07:00

My goal is to balance postings here...some about the loss prevention industry and my experience over the years along with updates on our business for Loss Prevention. With everything going on the last 18 months makes me want to post more about the business, but not everyone wants to see that on a regular basis. We have had some major changes the last month so it was time to chat about them.

We launched our first newsletter. Exciting to reach out to so many LP Professionals and Vendors on what is going on here. Our commitment is only one email per month. We all get enough emails already and hopefully the newsletter with our daily news articles posted on www.LPjobsFREE.com keeps everyone informed on what is going on.

We launched LP for Employees this month. Awesome 2 hour training course aimed at the hourly retail employee position. The course is viewed as if someone was on a tablet taking the course. We will be offering the course for free to ANYONE who signs up for our newsletter soon. If you already get the newsletter, "Like" our Facebook page (LossPreventionAcademy) and we will send you a free code. Stay tuned.

Our awareness posters for shortage and safety are getting some great interest. These are offered with modern day communication themes aimed at the 17 to 22 year old employee. You can see them at www.LPPosters.com.

Our "Master Course" will be live soon on the Academy. Over 20 hours of LP training for under 200.00. Stay tuned for go live.

We continue to build partnerships on the training course. We have signed deals for India, South America, Canada and various companies in the U.S. We are in discussions with companies in the U.K. and hope to offer our training there soon.

Hope that wasn't too painful. We are excited to "take training and recruiting to a higher level" through our business.

Thanks for stopping by our blog.

Steve

LPDT, LLC offers the only E-Learning training for Retail Loss Prevention at www.LossPreventionAcademy.com. In addition,we offer a FREE job and resume posting board for Loss Prevention at www.LPjobsFREE.com. Check out our awareness posters for shortage and safety at www.LPPosters.com. You can follow us on Twitter under LPACADEMYcom and Facebook under Loss Prevention Academy.

Disaster support...don't call that week

2011-08-29T06:04:00.000-07:00

Many of us have managed through natural disasters than can impact a store's physical security and sometimes, completely destroy the product inside. If water is involved, mold can quickly attach itself to the product and render the inventory to be completely destroyed. These disasters can impact whole districts and often across multiple States.

One of the first reactions of a retailer is to call a guard company for support after the disaster hits to "guard the building". If you are searching for support that week, you should stop your efforts unless you are willing to pay 10 times the going rate for coverage. That is assuming the police will even allow movement within the area that was hit. At 10 times the going rate, some companies will bus guards over into the area that was impacted. You may be asked to pay for mileage as well as hotel needs.

A better approach is to establish a relationship with a large guard company for your "normal" business needs. This will establish a long term relationship and get you to the head of the line for coverage. All guard companies support their long term customers first and then offer coverage with remaining resources. Often, there are no additional resources available to be offered.

Avoid being at the end of the line and make it a priority to establish a relationship before the disaster hits. It could avoid you from having to tell the CEO no company would support your needs. This priority is more important than constantly changing companies to save .25 on the bill rate.

Make this issue a top one for disaster preparedness.

Enjoy the week,

Steve

LPDT, LLC offers the only E-Learning training for Retail Loss Prevention at www.LossPreventionAcademy.com. In addition,we offer a FREE job and resume posting board for Loss Prevention at www.LPjobsFREE.com. Check out our awareness posters for shortage and safety at www.LPPosters.com. You can follow us on Twitter under LPACADEMYcom and Facebook under Loss Prevention Academy.

Criminal, Driving, Drug, Credit and now Social Media checks...

2011-08-21T07:13:00.000-07:00

In the "old days" when a person applied for a job, the HR representative would call the applicants last place of employment and verify their information. Did he or she work there during these times? Was he or she a good employee? Those days are over due to litigation for privacy violations and disseminating false information.

Many companies utilize basic criminal background checks for all levels of employees. The cost per check has dropped making it affordable to all levels with almost instant, timely results.

Many companies use drug testing and should be mandatory for positions that use machinery as well as those that handle cash in my opinion.

Other forms include driving records, education and credit however, these tend to be expensive and limited to higher levels within an organization.

So what is left? character, outside activities, affiliations, attitude??? Yes, and they are now available by reviewing one's social media record. Background checks are now starting to include reviews of a person's Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, My Space account. Is this a violation of one's expectation of privacy if a company views these accounts? Doubt if one could make that argument since the information is readily available for the public to view. If a person posts about stealing or getting drunk every night after work or expressing hatred toward their supervisor or stealing from their employer a reason to deny employment? I feel most would say yes if it could directly impact that position they are applying for.

Are we moving to "releases" required similar to background checks? Do you consent to us reviewing your social media accounts? Will employers be required to release a copy of their findings to the applicant?

Time will tell where this is headed from a legality perspective. As the old saying goes, think before you post and if I could damage your reputation or taint your image, avoid the desire to share with any potential employers.

Enjoy the week,

Steve

LPDT, LLC offers the only E-Learning training for Retail Loss Prevention at www.LossPreventionAcademy.com. In addition,we offer a FREE job and resume posting board for Loss Prevention at www.LPjobsFREE.com. Check out our awareness posters for shortage and safety at www.LPPosters.com. You can follow us on Twitter under LPACADEMYcom and Facebook under Loss Prevention Academy.

Loss Prevention Training for Managers is now live !!!

2011-08-16T04:16:00.000-07:00

We are pleased our second course for loss prevention training, Loss Prevention for Managers at www.LossPreventionAcademy.com is now live.

Loss Prevention for Managers is aimed at the Store, Asst. and Loss Prevention Manager positions. It is comprehensive and includes modules on shortage path, how to build an effective ROI, prevention methods, how shrink occurs in a DC, operational controls, how to build an awareness program and more.

These courses go beyond the E-Book format and include voice over, interactions, online quizzes/testing followed by the ability to print a certificate of completion immediately.

Our next course, LP for Employees will be live by 9/1. This will be a 2 hour course aimed at the hourly employee within a store. It will cover shoplifting and what an employee can do if they see someone stealing, employee theft, paperwork errors, safety and more.

Once LP for Employees goes live, we will be offering a "Masters" course that offers all three, LP for Employees, LP Detective and LP for Managers in one course at a price of 199.00. That will be over 20 hours of training for less than 200.00.

We are pleased our training courses are coming together and we can assist folks in finding jobs at www.LPjobsFREE.com. This site is the only one dedicated to Loss Prevention where a person can post a resume. Our job postings are free as well as all searches and applying.

Thanks for stopping by..

Enjoy your week,

Steve

LPDT, LLC offers the only online, e-learning courses for Retail Loss Prevention at www.LossPreventionAcademy.com. In addition,we offer a FREE job and resume posting board for Loss Prevention at www.LPjobsFREE.com. Check out our awareness posters for shortage and safety at www.LPPosters.com. You can follow us on Twitter under LPACADEMYcom and Facebook under Loss Prevention Academy.

Loss Prevention Academy is Live !!!

2011-08-09T17:14:00.000-07:00

We are pleased the the Loss Prevention Academy is finally live. You can see the site at www.LossPreventionAcademy.com. In addition to the site being live our next course, Loss Prevention for Managers went live as well. LP for Managers is a 10 hour course for the LP, Store and Asst. Mgr. position. This course covers areas like how to build an ROI, how shrink occurs in a DC, building an awareness culture and more.

All of our courses are online and provide an excellent format for training via E-Learning. With voice over, interactions and online quizzes followed by testing separates us from the E-Book format. Now this level of training is available where ever there is a computer and an internet connection.

Our next course will be Loss Prevention for Employees. This will be a 2 hour course that covers the basics of shortage control and safety for the hourly employee. This will be completed the 3rd week of August and be available through the Academy. To show people the quality of our training, we will be offering the course to anyone for a limited time fpr FREE.

When LP for Employees goes live, we will offer a "Masters Course". This course will consist of LP for Employees, LP Detective and LP for Managers at a reduced price. Comprehensive training offering over 20 hours of training for under 200.00. Stay tuned.

"We are taking Training for Loss Prevention to a Higher Level"

Please stop by and visit our new site.

Steve

Any hope for 2012?

2011-08-03T09:34:00.000-07:00

It looks like the stock market will be down another day and that makes it 9 in a row. Housing prices continue to tumble in many areas of the Country. We are 15 trillion dollars in debt as a Country (cough cough) Something tells me that number is artificial and could be higher than that. Daily news talks about reduced benefits for social security and medicare in the future. Unemployment at 9% !!! An article in the USA today discussed the delayed retirement plans of many due to home values dropping so far. The .15% return on their savings account will probably not make up any short fall. Is this stuff depressing or what?

Any hope for 2012?

As most serious investors know, the stock market is a forward thinking indicator. The movement of the market reflects the outlook of where the economy will be 6 to 12 months ahead. With that understanding, 2012 does not look real good at this point. Will Bernanke save us? Him cutting interest rates does not seem to be an option since they are at almost zero now. The government has been extending unemployment benefits and sponsoring work projects which continues to add to the debt line.

Any positives here? Well, many people are now given the option to purchase a home that they were priced out of a few years ago. New businesses are being started as people leave their previous career paths to explore new forms of income. New cars can be purchased at very low interest rates. Private equity groups are buying companies at reduced valuations with the thought to increase their return in future years. Some highly visible businesses were started in recessions like HP, Microsoft and Trader Joes. Earnings for the S and P 500 will hit an all time high this year and possibly get to 100.00 per share. Companies are holding record levels of cash. Maybe they can loan some to the government? Not sure that is a smart path since we already owe trillions.

We always work our way out of bad times. The question is whether we can do it within 2012? Does not look good at this point. Many retailers will be holding their cash, delay filling open positions and grind their vendors for discounts.

Enjoy the weekend,

Steve

LPDT, LLC offers the only E-Learning training for Retail Loss Prevention at www.LossPreventionAcademy.com. In addition,we offer a FREE job and resume posting board for Loss Prevention at www.LPjobsFREE.com. Check out our awareness posters for shortage and safety at www.LPPosters.com. You can follow us on Twitter under LPACADEMYcom and Facebook under Loss Prevention Academy.

Classroom...Online...Blended What works?

2011-07-26T07:01:00.000-07:00

Classroom or "live" training has been the standard of education for many years. This format allows an immediate interaction between the teacher and student to redefine concepts or answers questions as needed. It has it's faults as often quality of instructors and inconsistent delivery of the material comes into play. In the corporate world, instructor based training can be very expensive when you want to touch individuals in the field. Flights, meeting room costs, payroll etc. have to be factored into the decision to train or not. Recently on a flight I sat next to a professor from a local university. We were discussing E-Learning and she was dead set against the concept. When I asked why, her response was essentially that if she had to endure the classroom, everyone else should. Go figure that thought process.

The internet has introduced the concept of online, E-Learning to the classroom. E-Learning allows the course content to be delivered in a consistent manner wherever there is a computer and an internet connection. Yes, you miss the immediate opportunity to ask questions to an instructor, but support can be provided at a later time. E-Learning or distance learning eliminates the expenses involved in providing training in the field. We are anxiously awaiting the launch of Coursekit. Coursekit is a start up that is going to take E-Learning to a different level by providing online courses with social interaction including instructor support.

A different approach is what is called blended training. It is simply providing a "blend" of classroom and online courses to training. Every university is at this level now allowing the students access to instructors and the benefit of training via online based on their schedule.

What works?

It is hard to imagine the concept of pure classroom based training being the standard going forward. E-Learning allows you to touch individuals who are remote from a campus and provide the material at reduced costs to the trainee. The standard 4 year degree might be replaced with a 3 year degree, 2 years in a classroom and 1 year online.

Enjoy the week,

Steve

LPDT, LLC offers the only E-Learning training for Retail Loss Prevention at www.LossPreventionAcademy.com. In addition,we offer a FREE job and resume posting board for Loss Prevention at www.LPjobsFREE.com. Check out our awareness posters for shortage and safety at www.LPPosters.com. You can follow us on Twitter under LPACADEMYcom and Facebook under Loss Prevention Academy.

Kickbacks...

2011-07-19T18:06:00.000-07:00

As we are putting the final touches on LP for Managers, one area of content that stands out involves "kickbacks" or pay offs based on agreements that are usually not in writing. Whenever there is money involved, you have the potential for relationship agreements that offer a vendor an opportunity and the decision maker can benefit for him or herself directly. These are called kickbacks or payoffs.

The example we use in the training is to imagine a vendor that sells cotton balls to hospitals. If a vendor can obtain a contract for 200 hospitals to supply them exclusively, what would that mean to the vendor and what is that vendor willing to offer to get the contract? Would the vendor offer a dollar amount to the decision maker directly per cotton ball to obtain the contract? How hard is it to detect these side agreements?

Buyers of merchandise, procurement departments and even store managers that have buying authority need to be watched for potential kick back situations. The temptation is huge, the payoff can be large and being detected is difficult at best.

The concept of kickbacks dates back many years and could be referred to as "greasing". Relationships are built around referrals and the concept that all should derive a benefit from a relationship. In these cases, the cost per cotton ball is usually inflated so the benefit is flowed to the decision maker at the cost to the company that is making the purchase. The buyers allegiance is distorted to his own benefit.

Often, the clues or signals are observing the purchaser spending outside their income level. A person that drives a 100K Mercedes and makes 50K per year would be a strong indicator. Buyers that go on expensive vacations based on their salary level could be another indicator. Many relationships are revealed when the agreement is cancelled and the vendor cries foul hoping to save the contract.

Strong checks and balances need to be implemented for decision makers and common sense needs to come into play to detect inappropriate relationships.

Enjoy the balance of the week,

Steve

LPDT, LLC offers the only E-Learning training for Retail Loss Prevention at www.LossPreventionAcademy.com. In addition,we offer a FREE job and resume posting board for Loss Prevention at www.LPjobsFREE.com. Check out our awareness posters for shortage and safety at www.LPPosters.com. You can follow us on Twitter under LPACADEMYcom and Facebook under Loss Prevention Academy.

Civil Demand Associates (Guest Article)

2011-07-11T13:28:00.000-07:00

One of the pioneers of Civil Recovery for retail was
Civil Demand Associates. Frank Luciano, the current
President of the company, has been a long term partner for myself in this area over the years. We appreciate his comments on his business as a guest to our blog.

The subject of Civil Recovery as it pertains to asset protection isn’t a new concept in the retail industry as many states have possessed recovery statutes for the last 30 years. The retail industry as a whole has tested the waters with these recovery statutes and, in most cases, has pushed for changes which would assist the retailer in avoiding various pitfalls that would occur when one apprehends a shoplifter and attempts to recover compensation for losses incurred.

If you were to pool a group of loss prevention practitioners, asking them to address deficiencies in the recovery laws, the responses would most likely revolve around two major areas of concern: the lack of parental liability for juvenile offenders and the inability to pursue civil recovery of prosecuted offenders.

One cannot discuss the issue of parental liability without addressing its moral and societal implications. Common law dictates that every minor is responsible for their own torts (civil wrongs with compensatory ramifications). Without legislation which would place legal liability on the responsible guardian for their child’s action, the law infers that not only must an action be brought upon the minor, but any due compensation awarded will also lie with the minor.

While the majority of civil recovery statutes allow for parental liability in the context of civil recovery, there are still 10 states that omit such liability. The omission of parental responsibility for their minor offender’s actions means that any civil action must be directed to the minor. Furthermore, any compensatory damages must be paid by that minor. From a public policy standpoint, any practices in this vein would be deemed unacceptable and might even contribute to decreased patronage of a retailer’s brand.

The majority of states which have instituted a clearly defined relationship in the face of such a challenge have done so for two reasons. From a public policy standpoint, it seems only fitting to shift fiscal responsibility to the parent or legal guardian. Holding parents financially responsible for their children’s actions can result in motivating the needed parental oversight that can have a positive effect on minor recidivism. Coupled with this principle is the compensatory nature of the civil law venue to make the victim whole. The criminal system remains rehabilitative in nature in that it lacks the full compensatory function that the civil system can provide.

Conversely, it is this same systemic separation which is seemingly ignored when the statute outlines the mutual exclusivity of civil recovery versus criminal prosecution. Most of our contemporaries in the civil recovery industry refer to a handful of states as “either-or” states. These are typically states whose legislation outlines a strict prohibition for making a civil demand if any criminal matter has been initiated. As with parental liability, the majority of civil recovery laws allow a retailer to pursue a civil demand while criminal prosecution is taking place. There are, however, 5 states which either expressly prohibits a retailer from pursuing the civil recovery of prosecuted offenders, or there is a de facto prohibition from civil recovery due to impediments placed by the civil recovery statute in trying to pursue a civil demand as it pertains to a prosecuted offender.

Retailers are essentially forced to choose between making a civil demand and referring a case for prosecution. Although such a stipulation may have been included as a means of elevating the potential burden of a case being filed in both the civil and criminal forums, the legislature has inadvertently placed a very unusual responsibility in the hands of the punitive side of the legal system.

Typically, the criminal system will provide a remedy for the victim to recover any actual damages incurred while the civil system will allow for that retailer to claim security and apprehension losses. This is the remedy upon which most states have relied and have thus maintained the traditional compensatory role of the civil system concurrent with the punitive role of the criminal system. The most costly cases in terms of personnel and investigation are also the same cases that retailers would like to see prosecuted.

Those recovery statutes which fall into the “either-or” category have essentially created a situation in which a retailer who chooses to arrest shoplifters and dishonest associates will have no recourse for reimbursement of their loss prevention expenditures (the spirit of civil demand).

Although retail theft cannot be completely stopped, our efforts to assuage it can allow retailers to extend the best pricing possible to their patrons. Issues, such as parental liability and “either-or statutes”, go hand-in-hand with reduced recidivism and economic prosperity. Shifting the responsibility to that of the parents (the very consumers who patronize those retailers) helps to greatly reduce recidivism. Reduced recidivism infers a decrease in overall security and apprehension costs and thus a reduced price to the consumer for sought-after goods. This principle, coupled with a simply-conveyed, globally-applied civil demand amount, will directly affect the cultivation of the same economic prosperity that the state professes to encourage.

Enjoy the week,

Steve

Improvements coming for LPjobsFREE.com

2011-07-04T14:47:00.000-07:00

Less than a year ago we went live with LPjobsFREE.com. Responses went from "finally" a free industry board to "what the heck are you doing"? We felt the Loss Prevention industry needed a free jobs board with characteristics of a Loss Prevention dashboard. In addition to free job and resume postings, we offer daily LP News, Vendor listings with over 1,600 vendors listed, Industry calendar of events and links to the Loss Prevention Academy that will go live in a week.

When we went live we responded to requests to have more options where resumes could be sent in response to job postings. Employers can receive resumes via their email, corporate site or another email account they include in the posting.

The response has been awesome for a place for LP Professionals to post their resume. This is the only dedicated site for LP where folks can post their resume and employers can search them for free. Hundreds of professionals have posted their resume already.

Our latest "upgrade" will be added within a week. When a job seekers completes a search on the site, their results will include those jobs via Indeed.com. Today, that would require a separate search to combine the results. Now, one search will obtain posted jobs and any jobs via Indeed.com. We are pleased to add this feature to make job searching easier and quicker with the most results you can obtain via one search from the site.

June was our highest traffic since we went live and July is starting out strong. We are pleased that it is being used by the industry and are optimistic our traffic will double in our second year.

Those are our updates.

Enjoy the week,

Steve

LPDT, LLC offers the only E-Learning training for Retail Loss Prevention at www.LossPreventionAcademy.com. In addition,we offer a FREE job and resume posting board for Loss Prevention at www.LPjobsFREE.com. Check out our awareness posters for shortage and safety at www.LPPosters.com. You can follow us on Twitter under LPACADEMYcom and Facebook under Loss Prevention Academy.

New E-Learning Course-LP for Managers coming

2011-06-29T06:26:00.000-07:00

We are excited about our new E-Learning course going live next week called LP for Managers. This course will be in addition to LP Detective and both will be presented on our new site www.LossPreventionAcademy.com. We are putting the final touches on both and if all goes well, launch next week.

Our goal for the LP-Academy is to develop "position based" training courses for Retail Loss Prevention that incorporate the E-Learning format. E-Learning goes beyond E-Book and includes voice over, interactions and online testing. The combination of these qualities increases the attention of the trainee and retention of the material.

LP for Managers is the next step from the LP Detective training and is a comprehensive course with modules like shortage path, how to build an ROI, developing a shortage culture within a store, how DCs can impact the shortage number and more. The course will be roughly 10 hours to complete and can be taken at the trainee's schedule.

By the end of July, our next course, LP for Employees will be added to the Academy. This will be a 2 hour course on the basics of loss prevention and safety for the hourly employee. This will be a great course for small business owners and larger companies that understand the importance of engaging all their employees in shortage and safety controls.

Exciting stuff...and our newsletter will go live in July with updates on our training, 100% FREE job and resume posting board along with our awareness posters at www.LPPosters.com.

Enjoy the balance of the week,

Steve

LPDT, LLC offers the only E-Learning training for Retail Loss Prevention at www.LossPreventionAcademy.com. In addition,we offer a FREE job and resume posting board for Loss Prevention at www.LPjobsFREE.com. Check out our awareness posters for shortage and safety at www.LPPosters.com. You can follow us on Twitter under LPACADEMYcom and Facebook under Loss Prevention Academy.