Since my blog post yesterday about employee theft I have received more than fifty emails, twenty phone calls and plenty approaches at the Melbourne GNS Market Fair from newsagents wanting to know more and or wanting to share their stories.
Almost everyone I spoke with agrees that it appears more prevalent today than a year ago. There is no discrimination on business size, geographic location or any other factor.
Here are nine suggestions for cutting employee theft in your newsagency:
- Use your technology. Smart Newsagency Point of Sale technology provides tools for uncovering theft. Use these. But ensure that employees do not have access.
- Background check. Ask prospective employees for permission to do a background check. Those with something to hide will quickly “find” work elsewhere.
- Zero tolerance. Lay out your policy on theft on a sign in the back room or other part of the business. Make it clear that you have a zero tolerance policy on theft and be clear on the consequences of being caught.
- Pay above award. One reason employees say they steal is that the business does not respect them. Paying above average, even a small amount, can show that do you respect them as better than average.
- Spot check. Do a spot check of cash during the day. Do a check of the counter for cash hidden or notes of an amount being recorded so an employee knows what is ‘theirs’ in the register.
- Be open about the business. Let your employees know how much money the business is making. This is usually less than they think you are making. Making them more informed may help them realise that the business is not a ‘fair’ target.
- Change: the roster; empty the bins. The regular pattern of a retail store makes it easy for employees who are stealing to get away with it. Chase the process without announcement every so often and be prepared for the change to uncover theft.
- Vigilance: check your computer system; check the counter; balance every day. If an employee thinks they can get away with even petty theft they may. It is vitally important to be vigilant about business process and cash management. Balance the cash register every night. Query discrepancies. Make the operators responsible.
- Don’t steal yourself. If employees see the business manager or owner taking cash for coffee or other small personal expenses they will see this as a right for them. If you need cash for these purposes do it out of employee sight.
Yes, I know, I was not following my own advice. That is a lesson in itself.
Mark, can you advise on how to actually go about doing a background check? It is my understanding, through talking with friends who are police, that they are not able to provide criminal histories to anyone (apart from some government agencies) without a court order, and accessing a persons record without reason, ie not in connection with an active investigation or as part of a traffic stop for example, is a sackable offence.
Would you employ an agency for example, to research court records etc etc? I am in NSW, things may be different elsewhere.
Mark – you said in your first post that you had approached the police, but in the end, elected not to make it a police matter. Doesn’t this mean that the employee avoids even the possibility of a criminal record and is at liberty to move into a new job and repeat their performance on their next unsuspecting employer?
Megan
S/he had gotten away with it and just repaid what was taken. No punishment and record of what s/he has done. The worst is the lost of his/her job.
Megan has a good point here.
I’d go further. If potential thieves know you’ll crack down hard, they’ll be less inclined to take the risk and seek lower hanging fruit elsewhere.
Do you think not prosecuting might increase the risk of future theft?
Megan, I did take that into account. I also took into account the many cases I have seen where employees have not been prosecuted because “the cost is not justifiable”.
While my approach this time means the thief is out there and able look for another job, there is a 2+ year hole in the resume.
why, do a Google search for National Police records Check and you will find links. In Victoria, we can organise this through Victoria Police for $32.50.
I called Mark on Saturday about concerns with theft in my business. He helped me access data from my system. Yesterday he looked at the reports for me and came back with questions about shifts he was concerned about. Pretty soon it was clear that onle one person could be involved.
Today is d-day. I confront them. I doubt I would have done this had I not read about mark’s own experience here.
I have only been in the business for less than a year so the total loss to me is not that much. But I wonder what this person was doing before I bought the business.
Thanks Mark.
Employee theft happens, and to deny that your workers would not do that to you is living in denial. It may be only a choc bar, scatchie or magazine that gets taken home without being returned but it can be much worse. To limit this you need to keep constant checks on your business. The second you take your eyes off the ball then you open yourself up to theft. I may seem overly hard but over the past 20yrs it makes you almost cry at the amount of times so called “good employees” have stolen. You cannot stop it unless you do it all yourself but you can limit the temptations by doing what Mark has listed. The main excuse I seem to get when these people are caught is that they didn’t think I would notice or that they were doing it tuff financially, they could not care less that I had given them a job or that I was suffering.
Anon, thanks for your comments. As we discussed, discovering a problem and addressing it can be a weight off your shoulders. The key is to focus on the future.
Mark you mentioned in another blog about an audit log how is this done and what else can we do I think there may something going on I have made it. Point to let everyone know I check the daily balance at the end of the day but how can you check other things
Kellie I am deliberately not talking too publicly about the tools available in the software to track this. I’ll email you privately.
Thanks mark for the email