Seven ways to cut employee theft in your newsagency

When was the last time you reviewed theft management practices in your newsagency? It is something which should be done at least every six months.

Oh, and I don’t mean a soft review, I mean a serious review of business processes, a serious assessment of the employee theft risk you face, from the sales counter through the shop floor and into the back office.

Employee theft can kill a newsagency. It can sneak up and before you know it you are tens of thousands of dollars down, often more.  Hundreds of thousands of dollars even.  yes, I have seen this happen.

Sometimes it is not only businesses which are broken, marriages, too, suffer.  The loss and trauma can be avoided or at least reduced.

Every week I hear of another employee theft situation. Through my software company I am often involved in gathering evidence for police prosecutors.

Here are seven steps which, if followed, will reduce the opportunity of employee theft in your newsagency.

1. Use stock control for popular theft items: cigarettes, physical phone cards, confectionery, drinks, transports tickets (if you sell print tickets). You should use stock control for the whole business but if you don’t at the very least use it for these items. Change who checks the stock, do it yourself regularly.
2. Use your software. Good newsagency software has theft tracking tools. Make it your business to know what they are. Use them. Don;t discuss these with your employees.
3. Track sales by employees. Get your employees to enter their employee code for every sale. Make them accountable for their sales.
4. Respect cash. You should be able to balance your cash at the end of every shift to within $5 easily. If this is not happening get to the bottom of it fast. Remove cash from the draw one or twice a day, at different times.  If you don’t balance every day, start.
5. Stop department sales. Get rid of the ability to sell items by using a department key and entering the sale amount. This shows you are slack with data and makes theft easier.  Only by scanning every single thing you sell can you have the control over data which is essential.
6. Change things. Change who works with whom, when they work and the tasks they undertake. Make these changes with as late a notice as possible. Include in these changes taking people who have shift by themselves off the roster every so often.
7. Be suspicious. Eliminate calculators, mobile phones and notepads at the counter. Be suspicious of employees who resist these moves. Sometimes it is the most trusted employee who steals.

You could also consider talking to your local police. They may have advice which is particularly relevant to your local area.

The more serious and consistent you are in managing the risk of employee theft in your retail business the more likely you are to reduce its impact on your business. The difficulty is that you will never know for sure.

I appreciate that it is difficult being tough in many retail environments, especially family centric businesses. Every newsagency is at risk, whether a family business or not. Treating employee theft as a genuine and high risk is essential if you are to mitigate the risk and protect your business asset.

This list reflects years of experience dealing with employee theft in newsagencies. Don’t be one of those newsagents who says to me I read your advice and thought it would never happen to me.

If you need help, call me. 0418 321 338.