Detecting employee Essay Example

just a few drinks and sandwiches. However, any inventory that is not accounted for in sales contributes to the cafeteria's losses. According to my former supervisor, the financial records indicate that the cafeteria suffered losses of around 250,000 dollars in the previous year. He noted that these losses are typical of the challenges that many businesses face every day, including staff pilferage and inadequate management which can lead to business failure.

According to Wells (91), investigations into the bankruptcy of a Discount Department Store revealed that while any employee could be stealing, it was managers who tended to be the culprits. On February 14th, 2003, my supervisor was terminated after discrepancies in cash and missing funds totaling thousands of dollars were discovered in the safe, among other allegations. In the food industry, employee theft goes beyond cash and is a leading cause of bankruptcy for companies in the United States, which often lack adequate antifraud training (Wells 89, 92). One instance I witnessed involved the former manager of Douglass Caf�; though he was affable and showed great concern for the wellbeing of the caf�, he nonetheless engaged in thievery.

During my time as a student manager, I was responsible for tasks such as cash transmittals, inventory and filing income statements for my supervisor. Despite working closely with him, I didn't notice any concerning behavior until he was terminated for severe allegations. He not only took money from the safe but also forged the signatures of other student managers on cash transmittals. Figure 1 illustrates the areas where an organization may lack proper supervision, resulting in losses. It shows that over fifty percent of cash discrepancies are

attributed to small business managers or CEOs, while the remaining forty-five percent is due to employee theft or shoplifting.

Figure 2 reveals the estimated percentage of losses between 1998 and 2001, with varying income statements, cash flow, and industry sizes leading to varying figures for each industry. Although the Douglass Caf� is much smaller than Rite Aid or Discount Stores, it suffers from a higher percentage of losses. The losses for all three industries were very high starting in 1998, but they decreased between 1999 and 2001 thanks to new technological improvements and strategies to combat employee theft, shoplifting, and cash flow management (Jennie, Blaine 60). The following section discusses four methods that have helped Rite Aid and other companies reduce their losses.

It is evident that the classification of employee theft can come in various forms. Although cash is the primary target due to its susceptibility, inventory theft is also a valid concern. In 1999, Rite Aid encountered substantial losses, with inventory shrinkage amounting to over $32.3 billion. Thanks to Loss Prevention Solutions director, Reed Hayes, and the National Retail Security Survey, Rite Aid executed the electronic article surveillance or EAS to address this issue. EAS allows for precise tracking of inventory from the computer to the register, ensuring an accurate count of items sold daily.

CA Technologies offers the StoreVision method, which is utilized by retailers like Giant. This approach enables data to be transmitted from a cash register or a camera to a PC in the loss prevention office, where it can be examined within 5 to 30 minutes. According to Muzzi, implementing this system has resulted in around a 12 percent rise

in sales for companies. While EAS is prevalent in department stores, it may not be the best solution for Douglass Cafe due to its complex components, such as the product tags and wiring system, as well as the software needed to organize sales data on a PC.

However, for a dining establishment such as Douglass Caf�, it would be difficult to tag all of the products. To address this issue, the StoreVision system (shown in Figure 3) utilizes cameras throughout the store to account for purchased items without the need for tags. Transactions are reviewed in minutes and the system works as long as cashiers ring up the exact item purchased. Implementing security video surveillance, as seen in supermarkets where revenue increased by 10 percent, allows for greater accuracy and effectiveness in cash management, preventing managers and supervisors from tampering with cash or engaging in illegal transactions such as voids and refund discounts. Seideman also notes another essential tool for cash-based businesses along with surveillance cameras (118).

Crate & Barrel installed a digital safe in their stores to precisely track their transactions. The safe possesses various functions such as communication, information collection, and instant combination alteration (119). An image in Figure 4 exhibits a cashier counting a till while storing all cash in the digital safe. The existence of the surveillance camera and the digital steel safe produce a closely monitored workplace for managers to oversee. In the food industry, where inventory changes often, conducting an inventory-turnover analysis periodically can be useful in boosting revenues (Reynolds 54).

The turnover analysis focuses on efficient management practices for food operations to increase profitability. Reynolds recommends treating inventory as

an asset and avoiding excess or shortage, which can lead to theft. This analysis helps determine if food is being used properly or taken home by employees (Reynolds 56). The approach is similar to Rite Aid's inventory analysis, where everything is accounted for periodically through the use of technology to count sales.

Using either of the methods can assist a company in identifying acts of staff theft.