Madeline Borkin, Director Of Business Development
Wonderlic representatives recently attended the National Retail Federation’s Loss Prevention (“NRF-LP”) conference held at the LA Convention Center, June 15-17, 2009. Attendees were introduced to new Wonderlic Retail Solutions, which aid clients in identifying candidates with integrity based issues that impact emergency/crisis management, safety compliance, shrink, sales and profitability. The annual NRFLP conference draws loss prevention specialists from retail chains throughout the world to learn about new tools and techniques, creating initiatives that directly impact their profitability.
Issues of integrity were the hot topic with the current recession bringing out the worst in some people. An annual survey shared at the conference from the University of Florida states, “For the first time in six years, there’s been a real increase in the rate of retail theft. In 2007, the lowest rate of retail theft in the 18-year history of the survey was reported at a rate of 1.44 percent of overall retail sales. Last year, that rate rose to 1.52 percent of sales translating into losses of $36.5 billion.”
Richard Hollinger, a University of Florida criminologist, and director of the survey notes, “The numbers are from last year, and don’t reflect retail theft rates for the first part of this year when the recession was even worse. Employee theft comprises the largest portion of the losses, which totaled $15.9 billion or almost half of losses (44 percent). Shoplifting accounted for $12.7 billion (35 percent) of losses. Other losses included administrative error ($5.4 billion and 15 percent of shrinkage) and vendor fraud ($1.4 billion and 4 percent of shrinkage).”
Madeline Borkin, Director of Business Development for Wonderlic shared, “Based on current trends in the retail environment, the pre-employment assessments were of particular interest to attendees along with our Loss Prevention Survey. Employers can now administer a survey enterprise-wide to gauge compliance with organizational policies/procedures and identify individuals who are likely stealing from the organization. We’re looking forward to continuing some very productive conversations with many of the attendees, and seeing how we can help impact their productivity and profitability.”
About NRF
The National Retail Federation is the world's largest retail trade association, with membership that comprises all retail formats and channels of distribution including department, specialty, discount, catalog, Internet, independent stores, chain restaurants, drug stores and grocery stores as well as the industry's key trading partners of retail goods and services. Learn more…
