As Weis Markets approaches its 100-year anniversary, their loss prevention team continues to grow and evolve to meet the changing needs of the business. The professionals at Weis Markets believe that world-class LP programs are made up of world-class people. Their first priority is having the most qualified professionals in the industry. Weis believes investing in their associates is critical to their program’s continued success.
In November Weis Markets awarded LPCertified (LPC) and LPQualified (LPQ) scholarships to their team in partnership with the Loss Prevention Foundation and InstaKey Security Systems. These scholarships play an integral role in setting the standard for their team and emphasize the advancement of loss prevention as a career.
By seeking new ideas from progressive industry partners, such as InstaKey, and combining them with great people, Weis is rapidly moving their program forward. The Weis program will undoubtedly become a best-in-class program with their philosophy of building partnerships within the organization as well as encouragement and support from the Weis senior leadership team.
“Weis Markets is a remarkable place to work,” said Mike Limauro, vice president of loss prevention. “Every day presents an opportunity for us to be passionate and creative about what we do. In addition, the support from our senior leadership team and partnerships from all areas of the business enable us to be extremely productive in an environment that is truly enjoyable.
“I believe that in order to have a world-class company, you need to have world-class people,” continued Limauro. “With that said, we are fortunate to have some of the industry’s best. We also feel strongly about giving our team the tools they need to succeed. The LPC and LPQ certifications are another avenue to reward our associates and help them advance as business professionals at the same time.”
“We are excited to share LPQ and LPC scholarships with the Weis Markets team,” said Cita Doyle, director of sales and marketing for InstaKey. “As one of the initial LPF vendor sponsors, we have always supported its quest to develop and standardize industry-specific education. In addition to providing clientele scholarships, InstaKey has also distributed scholarships internally to its personnel. We feel that learning and understanding today’s loss prevention can only assist the vendor-client partnerships.”
One of the many benefits of professionally developed and academically accepted certification programs is that they assist senior leadership in ensuring their new hires and existing team members all have the same core base knowledge. That is one reason many loss prevention departments that initiate knowledge and skill assessments utilize the LPQ, LPC, as well as the CFI certification as a means of benchmarking core competencies.
Weis Markets is practicing what they preach by investing in their staff, as are many other retailers, including Rite Aid. “In order to promote career knowledge and advancement, our department endorses both the LPC and LPQ certification courses, and selects key personnel every year to receive scholarships,” said Sandy Chandler, LPC, CPP, regional director, loss prevention, Rite Aid Corporation.
“When seeking potential LP candidates for Rite Aid, I know that those with the LPC certification have made a personal investment in their self-development in an effort to expand their knowledge.”
What Others Are Saying about the LPC
“The LPC course studies were extremely well done and comprehensive in their scope. I am a very strong advocate of ongoing education and industry benchmarking. The LPC accomplishes both of these. In my over ten years in the LP field and nearly twenty-five years in the retail industry, I have not utilized or experienced a product of this caliber. If you are thinking about pursuing LPC for yourself and your career, you should.” – Chris McCray, CFI, LPC, LPQ, Director Field Asset Protection, Best Buy Stores North America, Multibrand AP Support/Central U.S.
“I learned a great deal in the LPC certification. The course content provided me crucial training that would have taken me many more years to obtain on my own. Thank you to the Loss Prevention Foundation for providing such a focused level of training for the loss prevention professional.” – Ken Parsons, LPC, District Loss Prevention Manager, Dick’s Sporting Goods