To cope with employee and customer theft, many retailers are upping their investment in surveillance systems and technology. Digital security systems, remote and live viewing, and point of sale monitoring of trends and patterns may help to deter and prosecute individual and organized retail theft by consumers.

However, there is a much simpler solution for employee theft. Don’t hire thieves.

Too many retailers have an “any warm body will do” approach to hiring. When you look at how much employee theft can cost (particularly when it is organized), it becomes obvious that a different hiring procedure for retail is needed:

According to an annual survey conducted by the University of Florida with a funding grant from ADT Security Services, U.S. retailers lost $40.5 billion to theft last year.

The survey measures retail shrinkage defined as a combination of employee theft, shoplifting, vendor fraud and administrative error and found that employee and internal theft account for the largest portions of retail theft followed by loses from shoplifting.

“The dollar loss to retailers from theft is staggering,” said Jeffrey Bean, vice president ADT retail sales and operations. “Retailers are looking for more sophisticated and integrated security technology solutions to help limit losses, lower costs and keep prices down.”

Conducted annually since 1991, the survey included responses from 150 corporate retail chains and shows that employee theft accounted for $19 billion in losses or 47 percent of the total.

Shoplifting accounted for about $13 billion or 32 percent of the total this year.

Opinion surveys and integrity assessments for retail positions are relatively inexpensive and are used as part of the hiring process.

Here are some of the assessments that we recommend to address theft and safety issues for hourly retail, as well as for store managers and assistant managers.

• Select Associate Pre-Employment System – Identifies candidates with vital integrity characteristics, stable work-related personality characteristics, and productive work behaviors.


• Orion – Comprehensive opinion survey provide accurate, valid and illuminating insight, free from adverse impact, into the job related attitudes your applicants will bring with them to the workplace – from work ethic to theft and safety.


• E-Net Hire Workplace Attitudes – Analyzes up to 16 positive (dependability, attention to detail, customer service etc.) and negative behaviors (theft/honesty, substance abuse, violence, diversity, etc.).

Why hire a thief in the first place?

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