Chapter 15
144 Designing and implementing Prevention Programs
5. Familiarize staff with corporate and loss control goals and objectives.
Reinforce your message with a similar one from the CEO.
6. Assess the status of any collective loss control efforts already in place.
7. Establish priorities for countermeasures. Attack your biggest problems first; address secondary concerns later.
8. Identify individual, collective, and leadership tasks that support loss con- trol efforts. Regardless of the organization's size, every department must get involved. Those individuals in leadership positions must understand their roles and responsibilities. Don't assign a responsibility to someone unable to carry it out because of a lack of time, expertise, or ability.
HOW TO PREPARE A LOSS CONTROL PLAN
Using an annual/quarterly calendar and a list of individual and leader tasks, the plan can be designed in six basic steps. A sample Loss Control Plan is in- cluded in Appendix 10.
Step 1: Select Priority Countermeasures to be Implemented
As mentioned in previous chapters, selected countermeasures should be the most cost-effective available and should be aimed at those risks deemed the most likely and costly. After reviewing the three previous years' incident reports of the company, it may become apparent that shoplifting is increasing and a combination of awareness training, store detectives, and EAS and mer- chandise tags may solve major loss problems. This decision may also be bas- ed on the fact that the review also indicated only one burglary incident the same period. Therefore, the purchase of new safes can be delayed.
Step 2: Identify all Collective, Individual, and Leader Tasks Associated with Planned Loss Control Efforts
Each employee involved with the loss prevention effort should be identified and their tasks described, including
• Collective tasks of both loss prevention and non-loss prevention employees associated with priority countermeasures
• individual tasks associated with the collective tasks
• Leader tasks (implementation and follow-up) associated with the collective tasks
These task lists only need to be prepared once, although they will be up- dated periodically. Copy the lists and distribute them to each member of the loss control team. Input from company employees at all levels should be ac- tively sought when designating specific tasks.
Sample Protection Program 145 Step 3: Identity Collective, Individual, and Leader
Tasks to Be Trained and Evaluated Before and During Loss Control Efforts
No individual should be assigned a task or responsibility without first being properly trained. The planners of collective training must sort through all the individual, leader, and collective tasks to determine tasks that need training (based on the best estimate of the current training status derived from obser- vation and reports) and tasks that need evaluation. It is impossible to gather enough evaluators to observe all the tasks being trained. Therefore, those tasks that require special attention should be selected, such as proper tech- niques to use when counting cash for deposit or changing prices on merchan- dise. If the director of loss control or the training coordinator is sufficiently aware of training needs, that individual can personally identify these tasks.
Otherwise, their identification can be delegated to capable subordinate leaders. A copy of the task list can be used as a worksheet to record the iden- tified or delegated tasks. This step doesn't need to be overly complex, but it is absolutely critical to the success of the overall plan.
The second part of Step 3 is to decide whether the selected tasks are to be trained and evaluated before or during the collective exercise. The follow- ing procedure may prove useful in reaching this decision:
1. List the tasks to be trained prior to implementing specific countermea- sures, including tasks that are required to implement priority counter- measures.
2. List the tasks that may be trained after total program implementation.
Good candidates for this list are tasks that require that specific counter- measures be in place before training can occur, such as monitoring a CCTV system.
Step 4: Check Resources and Support Availability
There are a great deal of resources and support required to implement and manage an effective protection program. Sources for needed services and assets must be identified and contacted. In addition to budget dollars, exam- ples of resources required include the following:
Time—Sufficient time must be allocated for training, implementation, and management of loss control operations. Be realistic.
Manpower—The avoidance of building up large staffs is paramount. A streamlined work force should be the goal of any security organization, but there must be enough quality manpower available to effectively con- trol losses.
146 Designing and Implementing Prevention Programs
Authority—All the planning in the world will prove fruitless if the employees charged with the responsibility of protecting corporate assets are not taken seriously or have no real authority to accomplish stated goals. Support and backing of security efforts must originate at the very top of any retail company. By the same token, loss prevention employees are cautioned to keep their overall importance to the company in perspec- tive. Loss control is but one of several means to increased profits.
Just as a variety of resources is required to effectively control losses, so is support and cooperation required by groups or individuals inside and out- side of the organization. Examples of groups or individuals that can provide needed support of security efforts include the following:
Legal counsel—During planning phases, it is important to confer with the company legal counsel on certain matters where action or inaction on the part of company employees could pose a civil liability. It is also important to report any incidents to the company attorney that may develop into a lawsuit against the company.
Finance/accounting—Individuals in finance and accounting can be very helpful in putting together budget forecasts, assisting in evaluating ven- dor bids, and assisting in fraud investigations by spotting or explaining financial documents and paper trails.
Human resources personnel—Human resources employees can provide invaluable support by recruiting and selecting top-quality security appli- cants, providing expertise in matters involving the employment life cycle (such as policies and procedures), and supporting investigations of employee theft or fraud.
Planning and construction—Store design and layout play an important role in discouraging and detecting theft. Individuals involved in this type of work can assist in the set up of special observation areas or can pre- wire surveillance setups. Also, store designers can include psychological barriers when plotting fixture layouts.
Buyers or merchants—Buyers and planners have a vested interest in the flow of merchandise from the vendor to the point of sale. They can pro- vide information on the recorded location of particular items or on incoming high-loss merchandise, such as leather jackets or designer jog- ging suits.
Distribution center—Distribution center employees can assist in investi- gations of missing merchandise.
Outside firms—Outside firms, such as consultants, investigators, and guards can all assist in a total protection program without adding to the permanent staff.
Sample Protection Program 147 Government agencies—Police, fire, and government agencies should be contacted and plans established for their support of routine or emergency loss control activities, such as bomb threats, major fires, earthquakes, etc.
Step 5: Prepare the Training and Implementation Schedule
The training and implementation (T&I) schedule illustrates, for all parties involved, the tasks that are to be performed and when they are to be per- formed. Supervisors at all levels should participate in creating this schedule, especially if lower level supervisors have been authorized to select individual and lower level collective tasks and training scenarios. If subordinate depart- ments require time for training or evaluation prior to implementing specific countermeasures, an appropriate time frame must be made available.
The T&I schedule has several uses. Subordinate leaders use it to plan training and operations for which they are responsible. Senior leaders and evaluators use it as a basic reference in preparing to evaluate and make adjustments to performance. Supporting departments use it when planning their schedules and budgets.
To prepare a realistic T&I schedule that efficiently uses time and other resources, the security specialist must have a clear mental picture of the daily, real-world conditions under which the loss control effort operates.
Manpower shortages, high-crime areas, and the skill of local managers are examples of conditions that vary from location to location and can signifi- cantly impact the results of a protection program. These varying and chang- ing business conditions must be planned for. Forecasted results and time frames should be optimistic, yet realistic.
Consider the following points when preparing the T&I schedule:
Use time efficiently. Training and operations should be scheduled to allow for the simultaneous accomplishment of more than one task, if pos- sible. It is also important to attempt to place the right individuals in the right positions. A certain employee may have considerable skill or knowl- edge in a particular area, but may not have the personality or the desire to become a good leader.
Resource availability should not drive the entire program. If certain ser- vices or equipment are absolutely required to reduce shrinkage, the needed resources should be proposed and vigorously lobbied. If desired systems, manpower, and training needs can't be secured in the indicated quality or quantity, this must be planned for.
A critique should be scheduled after each phase of training or implemen- tation. These critiques can be used to discuss the successful and unsuc- cessful performance of all participants and equipment. This will help
148 Designing and Implementing Prevention Programs
ensure that employees remember the correct things they did and will help identify incorrect procedures. The critiques will also provide ideas for future training and how it should be conducted. Evaluators and employ- ees taking part in the programs should be included in any critiques. The extent of the critique depends on available staff and time.
Realism in training is key to a successful profit protection program.
Actual conditions should be simulated whenever possible and a moderate degree of stress should be introduced to determine if specific personnel or programs will prove effective over the long-term.
When estimating the time required for training or implementation, lead- ers who will be conducting the training or supervision should be con- sulted. These estimates will guide the determination of time require- ments. The actual schedule must remain flexible.
Evaluators and observers will use the schedule to be at the proper loca- tion to evaluate assigned tasks or training.
Step 6: Write the Actual Loss Control Plan
Each retail security manager will have a preferred style (or the company will dictate the style) to be used when documenting the annual loss prevention plan. Regardless of the style used, the plan should state, at the minimum, the objectives of the program, the tasks to be performed and the equipment to be used, the individuals to carry out these tasks, the support and resources required to accomplish the stated objectives, and the time needed to accom- plish the plan. It may be advisable to design the plan so that it can be imple- mented in phases (e.g., training, evaluation, implementation, operation, réévaluation, operation).