A study released in December, 2008 shows that many companies are seeing an increase in workplace crime, and specifically, theft related crime. Of course, this just serves to further support what we have already been saying all along. Those of us working in the field don’t really need studies to tell us that there has been a definite increase in ( Read more... )

According to the most recent NRF Loss Prevention Survey, businesses lost $41.6 billion in 2006 to theft and fraud. That’s about 1.61% of sales lost to theft-related shrink. Many experts are reporting that employee theft is increasing by 15% per year on average. The NRF survey also found that $19.5 billion, or 47% of these losses, were due to ( Read more... )

Every successful business sets goals. In fact, most businesses have many goals, both short term and long term. Sometimes, though, small and medium sized businesses may overlook one very important goal: The shrink goal. To reduce shrink, you need to know your current shrink level, have a plan to reduce it, and have something (a goal) by which you ( Read more... )

Simply put, if you have certain expectations of security within your organization, from a cash handling program to merchandise protection standards, you must audit these procedures regularly, or they will lose much of their effectiveness. Why? Because your employees will perceive them only as important as you do.

If you place high importance on a ( Read more... )

The front door to your business is the most important door. It’s where your customers enter and exit. It is also where the thieves will enter, and at least most of the time, exit. Most businesses do a fairly good job of locking their back doors. But we can’t lock the front door, or else we have no customers. So, what is the answer? There are ( Read more... )

Without customers, no business can survive, let alone grow. When it comes to loss prevention, it is sometimes difficult to maintain a focus on customer service. This is due to a couple of things. First, loss prevention tends to deal with the dishonest types more, and so we tend to be more suspicious of everyone’s motives. Secondly, loss prevention ( Read more... )

There are really three parts to this. When I say “Open the door”, I mean that loss prevention must be accessible to the employees and managers that we support. The first step in opening the door is building relationships and credibility through communication. As an LP professional, you can’t sit in your office or camera room all day and expect that ( Read more... )

If a Loss Prevention Program is to be successful, it must be integrated into every level of the business. Everyone, from the part time employee to the CEO, must OWN Shrink, and work toward the common goal, to reduce it. That sounds simple, but it is much more complicated than you might imagine.

Integration means that everything includes loss ( Read more... )

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