Thursday marked a day to celebrate the many accomplishments of the Loss Prevention Foundation over the past year with the annual fall meeting. Hosted virtually from Charlotte and with board members, solution provider partners, and special guests joining the meeting from remote sites and home offices across the country, industry leaders gathered to review LPF’s achievements over the past year and were offered a snapshot of what we have in store for the future.
2020 Achievements
There have been several enhancements to the certification programs to include three new chapters added to the LPCertified course, updates and enhancements to the LPQ and LPC proctored exams, new and updated video animation additions to the LPQualified course, ongoing content updates and video animation additions to the LPCertified material, and plans in 2021 to further enhance and update the LPQualified course material. Two additional universities, Northwood University and the University of South Carolina, are now offering classes featuring the certifications as part of their curriculum.
Two new certificate courses have been added to the LPF menu in 2020, to include Essentials of Retail Asset Protection, an initiative developed in partnership with ASIS International, and Total Retail Loss (TRL), developed in partnership with Adrian Beck, Emeritus Professor at the University of Leicester.
Early in the year, the Loss Prevention Foundation (LPF) partnered with the criminal justice department of the University of Cincinnati to hold a very successful learning day, and thus far 28 webinars have been featured in 2020 to further advance professional development. Additional “LPF Virtual Learning Days” are on the calendar and/or coming soon.
To top it off, in August the LP Foundation also launched LP SYNC, a new interactive digital platform that allows both LPF members and guests to share information and hold discussions through a number of Communities specially designed for the loss prevention/asset protection community.
Following the encouraging business updates from the various Loss Prevention Foundation committees, long-standing LPF board members and highly respected industry leaders Tina Sellers, Mike Lamb, and Jason Coren offered testimonials on “Why is LP Certification Important to Me?”, sharing their personal perspectives on what it means to them to hold their LPC credentials, how it has helped them learn and grow as professionals, and their passion for bringing the certifications to their teams as part of career development.
We’re All in This Together
The meeting concluded with a special presentation with author and leadership expert Mike Robbins. “We’re All in This Together” offered his message on how the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the coronavirus has impacted how we live, work, and operate. With most people forced to work from home, teams are finding it challenging to connect, collaborate, and partner with one another. This inspirational discussion addressed the current challenges we face in both our personal and professional lives, how we should use this time as an opportunity to connect with one another in an authentic way, and how to continue to perform in the midst of this difficult and extraordinary time.
Despite the many challenges that we’ve all faced in 2020, it’s also reminded us that resilience and creativity are also the products of adversity. We can all look back and reflect on how these difficult times have helped us learn and grow, and how much we have to look forward to headed into 2021 with a healthy and productive Loss Prevention Foundation leading the way.
