Knowledge Center: Jeff Stein - Loss Prevention: Wearing Multiple Hats
By Jeff Stein, LPI, president of Executive LP Services, LLC and owner/operator of MonitorClosely.com Franchise
Years ago, Loss Prevention (AKA the Security Department) had one major responsibility and that was to apprehend shoplifters and employees. You were reviewed based upon how many apprehensions you had. A secondary responsibility was to respond to alarms, mostly false alarms. In other words, the Security Department (better known today as Loss Prevention and Asset Protection) were known as Cops and Robbers. We were there to catch the bad guys. Today’s LP executives need to wear so many more hats than the cop role that we once did.
What hat to wear today? Loss Prevention, Store Detective, Security, Cop, Investigator, Human Resources, Data Analyst, Operations, Marketing, Finance, IT, Recruiter, Alarm Specialist, Camera Specialist, Trainer, Negotiator, and lets not leave out Interrogator. Being a subject matter expert (SME) in all of these areas is hard to do, but the more of an expert you are in each area, the better you and your department will be. It’s also helpful to surround yourself with great people who have expertise that complements your strong suits.
There are several tools, resources, and tricks of the trade that can help in several of these areas. For example, there are several great recruiters (Downing-Downing, Retail Placement Solutions, Jennings Executive Recruiting, LLC, etc.) out there and LP specific e-recruiting websites (www.lp-securityjobs.com) to help you with your recruiting needs. Industry publications like LossPrevention and LPinformation provide information on new techniques and best practices, and the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) offer research and training on a variety of key areas.
There are, of course, a bunch of alarm and camera companies that can automate your systems and provide you with state of the art equipment to make you look like a hero. There’s also very useful business intelligence software available, from exception reporting and returns management solutions to Infoglide Software’s proven identity resolution technology (AKA entity resolution and analysis technology), which increases the effectiveness of those solutions. Even Congress is stepping up to see how they might help with the problems of organized retail crime (ORC) and e-fencing, a brand new issue that didn’t even exist ten years ago.
As retail Loss Prevention continues to evolve, it’s important to always seek new information and innovations that can keep you one step ahead of the ‘Robbers.’
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December 13th, 2007 at 1:13 am
Very insightful breakdown of the evolution of Loss Prevention!