Deter employee theft and improve your bottom line with NCR Restaurant Guard
Employee theft is a bad situation for any business, and unfortunately, it’s a common one in the restaurant industry.
A study by the National Restaurant Association in the United States estimates that restaurants lose 4-5% in sales every year due to theft. There are several scams that employees use to steal from restaurants and this theft can directly impact your bottom line.
The good news is that the convergence of cloud-based, mobile and big data is enabling QSRs to leverage technology solutions to deter employee theft and track employee performance. NCR, a global leader in restaurant technology, launched the first restaurant-focused employee theft solution in 2008. NCR Restaurant Guard deters theft by monitoring and analysing employee transactions made on the point-of-sale.
NCR Restaurant Guard recognises common scams, such as transfers, voids after close, comps after close and discount after receipt prints. Anything outside the norm triggers user-friendly, real-time alerts with actionable details of the suspicious transaction and any history of similar behavior by the same employee. These alerts can be received and viewed on a computer or through the Restaurant Guard mobile app. The system provides managers with all the tools and insight needed to identify and mitigate losses due to theft proactively, while strengthening internal controls. In real-time, management teams can stamp out fraudulent activity and minimize the impact of theft or prevent theft altogether.
In 2013, a team of academics studied the impact that NCR Restaurant Guard had before and after the technology was installed at 392 restaurants. The study, “Cleaning House: The Impact of Information Technology Monitoring on Employee Theft and Productivity,” found that the revenue per restaurant increased by an average of $2,982 a week, or about 7 percent after NCR Restaurant Guard was implemented. The impact came not from firing workers engaged in the theft, but from getting those employees to change their behaviour. Knowing that they were being monitored, the employees stopped their unethical behaviour and refocused on upselling items to guests.
Reducing employee theft is just one component of NCR Restaurant Guard. It also can help QSRs measure employee productivity and performance to track the best and worst employees. Information on who the highest and lowest performing cashiers are can help managers create more effective training and motivation for the staff, as well as create healthy workplace competition.
QSRs are only starting to scratch the surface using data analytics and mobile tools to extend their management reach. These tools enable owners and management teams to have real-time access to anything data related by leveraging technology solutions, like NCR’s, that are flexible, scalable and harness the power of cloud-computing and automation.
