Submitted by Lance Storm
Director of Loss Prevention, Styles for Less

April 24, 2012

Reducing shrink is not about writing the best shrink reduction programs, or writing the best policies or employing the best ORC investigators. It's not really about how well you do at inventory time as a derivative of sales, which is essentially just the end product of all your efforts. It's not about constructing the best LP Program around, or employing the best interviewers. Sure, those are all good traits of a successful LP department, but they don't guarantee success. Success comes when you are able to change culture. If you believe you can change the culture within an entire organization, then you can move mountains.

Changing culture isn't easy, and it takes a tremendous amount of creativity and patience, but it is the essential driving force of any successfully executed plan. Creativity is hard to learn, unless you pour your absolute heart and soul into whatever it is that you want to achieve. If you live by the mantra, "Anything worth doing, is done with Passion and Happiness," creativity will flow and culture will change. Reducing shrink, you'll find, isn't the only success you will gain.