"Personal Development: The battle to stay relevant"

Submitted by Brad Reeves
Manager of Field Asset Protection
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company



Through my years in the loss prevention industry I have seen many things come and go. Unfortunately at times it has been people; and good people. At other times it has been more ambiguous elements such as an entire organization reputation, credibility or influence. Why does this happen? Well, there are many moving parts to the answer, but one of those parts is: development, or should I say the lack there of.

I just gave a very brief review of things that I have seen go. Well something that definitely comes and will always be around the corner is change: Change is constant. So in the battle to stay relevant we must arm ourselves with the weapon of development. There are so many dynamics when it comes to the topic of development, but a few challenges I would pose would be:

· Does your organization have a commitment to development?
· Is the program well rounded, autonomous, a priority?
· Do you as an individual have a commitment to development?
·  What is the last thing you did to develop yourself?

Have you ever worked with someone that was a good guy but just kind of didn't get it? Perhaps this individual was a real warrior, day to day or old school. Our environment needs leaders. To be a leader one needs to be equipped with a unique set of skills. To get those skills we need development. Sure there is natural talent out there, but even the best talent needs work like enhancing, practice or learning new things.

Two examples of personal development would be technical skills and leadership skills. The first could be industry or company specific, such as CCTV, various store operations or specific company loss prevention operations. The latter includes a few of a lengthy list such as conflict management, motivation, communication, teamwork, and influence. The equation is simple: Development will help individuals become better employees; better employees create great organizations and great organizations equal excellent companies. Without development we cannot react to change. We cannot improve or do more with less or stay relevant in the war of business.

Times now more than ever require a more refined, enhanced and professional individual. The old days of simply clocking in and chasing shoplifters down the road have been long gone. The new days of maintaining P & L, determining ROI, shortage control, establishing a loss prevention organization with strength and influence are here. My question to the nay sayers out there is how many of you know how to do the old days and how many of you know how to do the new days?