Employee theft is the leading source of inventory shrinkage among most retail organizations. As businesses implement a variety of strategies to combat this problem, job applicants continue to admit to stealing from employers and finding ways around traditional loss prevention measures.
IntegriView® recently conducted an analysis of 27,951 randomly selected Applicant Review® assessments given to job applicants nationwide. Of these applicants, 21,692 (77.6%) were rated as “low risk” and 6,259 (22.4%) were rated as “high risk” for their admission of previous wrongdoings and attitudes regarding dishonest behavior. Within the “high risk” group, 15.9% of applicants admitted to stealing money and 14.0% admitted to taking merchandise without proper authorization or permission. When comparing the admissions of “high risk” and “low risk” job applicants, “high risk” individuals are two-to-three times more likely to steal than “low risk” applicants.
The “high risk” job applicants also admitted to previous thefts totaling $849,520 or $135.73 per applicant. It is generally estimated the correct dollar amount for stolen money and merchandise is ten times the admitted amount. Therefore, based upon admissions made on the IntegriView assessment, the average “high risk” job applicant was responsible for the theft of $1,357.28.
These statistics indicate that organizations would be wise to identify and screen job applicants before placing them in the workplace.
According to Certifinder, a leading provider of employment screening solutions for retailers, a comprehensive pre-employment screening program might include the following:
- Integrity Assessment
- Weighted Application Form
- Multiple Structured Interviews
- Identify Verification
- Criminal Conviction Check
- Driving History Check
- Credit Check
An effective pre-employment screening program will reduce the probability of hiring high risk job applicants and will result in lower incidents of employee theft.
About IntegriView
IntegriView is a leading developer of pre-employment assessments for retail, hospitality, staffing and corporate markets. Founded as CHC Forecast in 1983, IntegriView has more than 25 years of experience helping companies in the US and Canada reduce employee theft and dishonesty through effective pre-employment assessment solutions.
About Certifinder
Certifinder provides a full suite of employment screening solutions that are delivered by a dedicated team of people that understand your industry and care about your business. All of our solutions are best in class, available worldwide, and are specifically designed to reduce the time and cost associated with the employment screening process.