For every business, the issue of employee theft is a threat to the growth of the company. Finding an honest and dedicated staff is a challenge for most quick service & fast-casual restaurants, and it still is hard to identify whether or not an employee tends to steal from you.
The good news is that there is a way to control your employees by using a POS or point of sales system. You can check here; (https://yanot.ng/10-questions-to-ask-before-buying-a-new-point-of-sales-system/) to guide you in choosing a POS that suits your business needs.
Point of sales software increases security and cuts down on such thefts. Let us look at four ways to do this.
There are many different kinds of employee theft – Voiding tables, stealing food, abusing discounts, or giving perks to friends and family. These cases can get traced back to the point-of-sale (POS), where employees are trusted to handle transactions, but some will manipulate the numbers for their selfish gain.
The first step is to;
1. Set Different Security levels
A common type of theft in a restaurant is fraudulent refunds and voids. In this case, employees issue sham refunds and void tables and then pocket the money.
What to do
To prevent employee theft, your POS Software solution can get programmed to control what each employee can or cannot do depending on their position. i.e. a front cashier should only be allowed to accept payment from customers and shouldn’t be able to perform voids and refunds. When a void transaction or refund needs doing, the attention of a supervisor or floor manager should get called to it. Also, your system can get configured to look at the total number of voids and refunds performed each day/week. This way, you can keep tabs on unusual-looking transactions or staff/managers with a high level of void activities.
2. Implement Surveillance Cameras Integrated to Your POS:
Studies show that the highest loss occurs when employees steal small amounts over a long period, so rapid detection is the best defense in this case.
What to do
Deploying surveillance cameras and integrating them with your restaurant software can alert you to suspicious transactions and activities. Every POS transaction gets captured on video, and owners and managers can review suspicious movements to see what is happening. It increases your POS security by making it easy to identify which employees are responsible for incidents of theft. Furthermore, when employees are aware that they are getting watched and that suspicious patterns/interactions are getting recorded, they will be less likely to dip into the till in the first place.
On the other hand, in cases of food theft, these may occur after hours, with employees taking leftovers or other products out the back door. Video surveillance and POS data can still help uncover it.
Because the POS Software tracks all of your sales, this integration can help you more easily pinpoint inventory losses. By regularly comparing your sales transactions to your physical inventory, you can gauge how long it takes to go through your supplies and how many servings and sales it should generate. If the numbers do not add up, check the video to see what has occurred.
3. Manage Employee Access:
While most restaurants use PIN codes to control which staff members can access the POS system, it doesn’t prevent employees from clocking in their co-workers in and out when they are not present.
What to do
An alternative measure is to use other login information like fingerprints(Biometric technology) or magnetic swipe cards. This alternative would enable you to track every employee transaction and activity on the pos system, thereby heightening your POS security by giving you the documentation necessary to hold employees and managers accountable for their actions.
4. Conduct Background Investigations on Prospective Employees:
You can start by contacting their referees and previous employers, asking them whether the individual was involved in any act of theft during their time there.
Additionally, run a criminal background check as their previous employers may have overlooked their records. So, as you interview your prospective employee, you know of their criminal record (or the lack of one), and there is no vagueness.
5. Keep a Close Eye on Your Reports:
Employees who know you keep watch on your business like a hawk are less likely to steal. Conduct audits regularly, and ensure your employees know you do them.
ICG software offers you various reports. These reports can also come in tabular and graph forms. An example of the employee reports to review regularly includes time and attendance reports and those that list employee pay-outs and discounts.
