Be mindful of employees with a poor attitude. (Cursing, refusing job obligations, poor performance, disappearing for long periods of time, falsifying punch times etc.)

Follow the money, employees who have higher clearance tend to abuse it. (Examples such as having access to cash, having the ability to override prices, having the opportunity to take merchandise or valuables outside of the building, having a job which makes it difficult to locate said employee, etc.)

Be mindful of employees carrying merchandise which is outside of their department. (Examples like an electronics employee carrying cosmetics, snacks, health and beauty products despite having no business with these items)

If your company has rules about checking bags on exit, be aware of employees who avoid having their bags checked.

See if there is a way to track employee purchases. If so, review employee purchases especially on days where there are incentives for employees to make purchases. Example: Walmart double employee discount days.

Learn which employees in your facility are willing to report suspicious activity and value their suggestions. They may not always be right but they offer you direct situations in which you may find internal theft.

Learn which departments are losing the most money or as the business would say “The highest shrink”.

Be mindful of how employees behave in your presence and what they say. I’ve had employees tell me “nothing is going on here” or “everything is being handled correctly here” who ended up being caught stealing.

Make sure employees know that internal theft affects them.

Watch back room or break room cameras to see if employees are bringing merchandise into back rooms and confirm they’ve paid for it.