305. Physical inventory, massive shrinkage, personal safety concerns from one of my staff

Facing an inventory crisis with a shocking 30% shrinkage rate, I'm on a mission to uncover the truth behind the discrepancies and restore integrity within my business. With industry benchmarks at a mere 5%, the current situation screams of deeper issues at play. Whether it's theft, procedural errors, or internal collusion, something is seriously amiss, and I’m determined to address it head-on. From customers possibly walking out with unpaid goods to cash collections that are mysteriously missing, the time has come to confront these challenges and hold the responsible parties accountable.

Join me as I lay out my action plan to tackle these pressing issues and foster a culture of transparency and respect. The atmosphere of backstabbing and complicity among some staff members is unacceptable and will be eradicated. I've drawn out a robust plan with clear consequences for those involved and will be sharing updates as we progress. This pivotal moment demands a thorough reinvention of our work environment, promising a more trustworthy and efficient operation. Stay tuned as we navigate this transformative journey.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:32

Alright. Well, I'm re-recording the episode from last night because I realized I probably had some audio clips issues with it. So yesterday was Tuesday, or was it just your Tuesday? Anyhow, yesterday was, I think it was Tuesday. Yeah, went in, counted physical inventory with the manager on duty. Shocked was the least of it. Long story short.

Speaker 1: 1:00

Um, so for the, the industry benchmarks in anything retail, uh, five percent is a target shrinkage rate and that's what we're, that's what we aim for. Uh, once it gets above and beyond, like 15, it means that staff is complicit or allows, tolerates their staff involvement on some level. But there's something more going on than just customer stealing. Our shrinkage rate at a minimum is 30%. That's across big items, little items, expensive items, cheap items, and so there's a handful of things that are going on. Either people are just picking up product walking out the door, or they're buying it with, or people are staff are buying with a credit card, customers are buying with cash and then someone's collecting the cash, because I haven't had a cash pickup in over six months and there should be about 800 bucks or so a month and that hasn't happened in over six months. Or it could be that, um, people are just buying product and then the product is never getting logged into our books like a like. For example, someone a customer by someone says hey, I want to buy a can of protein powder. They put it on our clipboard, hey, I brought protein powder, and then it's just not getting logged into the system to charge the person for protein powder.

Speaker 1: 2:16

It'd be like a personnel issue, no matter what is going on. Something is going on and as an owner, I will not be disrespected, belittled, intimidated, talked down to or talked about disrespectfully by my staff. Not everyone's doing it, but it's happening and that environment of backstabbing, of complicitness, stops sooner than later and I need to get a few ducks in a row, but the tolerance for evil stops and the people that are engaged and complicit and co-conspirating will be held accountable. So there will be consequences and action, steps and follow-ups, and a stellar process last night was drawn out, mapped out out. It's not going to be something new, is going to be happening sooner than later. So I'll pause there. Updates to come. That's where we're at, that's where we're going. Let's rock and roll.