If it feels like your Loss Prevention initiatives are not priorities within your organization, consider it may be time to evolve the focus of how your LP team assesses and presents information in an effort to change the conversation.
In Loss Prevention, it’s far too easy to focus efforts on identifying internal or external theft in your retail, QSR or big box locations, but consider how short sighted doing so might be considering today’s prioritized expectations.
To be fair, everyone in the LP field, as with law enforcement, thrives on the take down! Seeing someone you’ve identified as a thief fall to the hand of justice. It can be intoxicating to any investigator. Consider though, many specialists in the LP field have yet to recognize the magnitude and true nature of how the area of Loss Prevention has evolved for reasons that elude them. It’s surely in no small part due to being too close to the day to day and failing to reassess on a regular basis. It’s like watching the pot boil, when you’re so definitively focused on a specific aspect, you lose sight of larger evolving circumstances.
Investigators from 5 or 10+ years ago are now called analysts, and the critical tools driving case closure rates can be linked to the effective use of Relational Databases and Exception Based Reporting systems.
Tracking case closure rates and loss amounts is a traditional model. While it can be impressive, consider any of today’s LP Teams not yet tracking and reporting on both case closure stats as well as projected “Loss Aversion” stats has plenty of opportunity to demonstrate the value they are bringing to their brand.
Along with enhancing the visibility into the impact your LP Team is providing to your organization, Loss Prevention teams must also expand their defined focus to demonstrate greater impact opportunities and how they are contributing to overall company performance.
Expanding the defined focus can also create an opportunity to partner with your operations teams instead of engaging in a long-standing tradition of butting heads with them. Simply, if you become their partner, they become your advocate.
Consider the same report presented from 2 separate LP Teams reflecting their impact.
While Team 1’s performance report outlines the # of cases identified, # of cases closed, amount of losses sustained. The overriding theme is ‘look what we uncovered this month”.
LP Team #1 Example Reporting:
Based on this report, LP Team 1 is doing a great job. Well done Team.
Separately, consider LP Team 2’s performance report includes a broader perspective of metrics which have a greater overall impact to company performance. It additionally includes a measure for “Averted Loss”, which represent losses that were reasonably prevented from occurring.
LP Team #2 Example Reporting:
Based on this report, LP Team 2 isn’t just doing a great job. They are instantly recognized as contributing to the overall performance of the organization and a critical asset to the company.
The overriding theme here is to: 1) Broaden the scope of focus beyond identifying internal or external theft to more accurately capture the overall loss reduction opportunities within your company. 2) Enhance your reporting to improve visibility & more accurately represent the broader impact your Loss Prevention Team is contributing to your organization.
Ryan Berkey
Manager – Safety, Security & Strategic Loss Prevention Initiatives
Domino’s Pizza LLC