Regardless of your stature as a loss prevention professional, you’ve likely heard the line, “It’s not personal, it’s business” at one point or another. Claude Verville, a 35-year industry veteran, admits to having heard this phrase many times over throughout his career.
In his column from the May-June 2016 issue, Verville shares anecdotes and lessons learned from his early days as a vice president of loss prevention and safety. Even when you suspect decisions made at the executive level have indeed been motivated by personal opinions and biases, he advises, do not react negatively when you learn about them.
Verville acknowledges that loss prevention professionals can have an especially tough time when it comes to feeling disparaged by other departments in an organization. From the article:
“I also believe my personal growth over the years evolved well past what I will call the ‘justification syndrome.’ Let’s be honest and keep it real here for a moment. At some point throughout our careers, we have all felt the burden of being viewed as strictly a sales support group and possibly by some companies as merely a necessary evil, where we constantly felt the pressure to deliver strong business results in order to justify the need to keep us around. I’ve even heard of some companies that use as harsh a term as “sales prevention” when describing their AP/LP departments. I mean, no one has ever second-guessed the necessity of having a merchandising department, IT, legal, finance, or store operations. Heck, even the need to staff an internal audit team is never in question. But LP/AP has always fallen deep in the batting order for many companies—that is until they establish themselves and are fully integrated with the entire enterprise strategy along with consistently delivering strong and favorable results.”
It’s hard not to feel sensitive when your team’s credibility and value is being questioned. However, a change in attitude and approach may be all that is needed. Check out “It’s Never Personal; It’s Business” to read the full column. You can also visit the Table of Contents for the May-June 2016 issue or register for a free subscription to the magazine.