As a risk and crisis consultant, Dr. Larry Barton knows how tumultuous the retail world is right now. From smash-and-grabs to shootings, the threats retail workers face are incredibly stressful, and can leave a lasting impact on their mental health. Here, LPM chats with Dr. Barton about the impact retail crime has on employees, and how retailers can provide resources that truly help.
LPM: Can you share a bit of background on your experience supporting retail employees’ mental health?
Dr. Larry Barton: I led crisis management worldwide for Motorola in the 1990’s and a number of our retailers and distributors saw cases of mental health decline, stress, and threats by co-workers escalate dramatically. As I had a deep background as a former professor of crisis management, I expanded my practice after Motorola to work directly with a number of retailers and now have some 30 years of supporting them establish or renew their programs. Those clients include retailers in the clothing, sporting goods, grocery, food, and pharma space. I’ve helped many change their Employee Assistance Program (EAP) providers after complaints of substandard performance and also directly intervened in well over 2,000 cases where an employee, vendor, or even an executive was at risk for self-harm or harm to others. The FBI Academy became aware of my work 16 years ago and I have been fortunate to serve as an instructor there on these issues, so I also train agents and behavioral experts on how to recognize early signs of distress.
LPM: How would you describe the mental toll on retail workers today?
Dr. Barton: Burnout seems to be very sector specific; we see it most acutely in large drug chains, the grocery sector, and then in salespeople who visit retailers—they’re often left out of the picture but they engage with store managers and associates frequently. I’m increasingly concerned about the beauty sector where we’ve also done a lot of work; the associates on the floor are often 90 percent women, working with little or no meaningful security and often little or no training on self-defense or mental health support programs. Don’t assume everyone has EAP access—and even if they do, many associates are not aware of their benefit programs.
LPM: Would you say that this mental toll has grown worse in recent years?
Dr. Barton: We can’t keep blaming COVID-19. Mental health stress is about today, now, in a world where social networking is omnipresent, abusive customers feel entitled to be verbal and hateful, and retailers are often timid to prosecute those who break the law. When they do, the courts typically fail to prosecute, so you have asset protection professionals, store managers, and hourly employees essentially feeling they are expected to be ambassadors on the floor but no one is watching their back. When you add in their home life, kids, and parents, that’s a lot for anyone, but what I always emphasize is that unlike so many other jobs, retail employees are typically on their feet for an eight-to-ten-hour shift with these dynamics. There aren’t many other customer-facing professions with these dynamics in play.
LPM: What sort of resources do you recommend retailers provide for employees’ mental health?
Dr. Barton: Pursue secret shopping of your Employee Assistance Program and see how they respond to a mental health challenge. Do they intervene, diagnose, and escalate? Should they do any of these things? How many visits are your associates allowed for in-person mental health support, if any? Have you created a culture where supervisors allow time for employees to attend child/school visits or for court hearings, or are employees berated for such? Do you have brief, high impact video awareness programs that discuss mental health and the fact that “it’s okay not to be okay”? I’ve created probably 200 such programs for retailers over the years, and some are using the same program a decade later. I don’t look at that as a loss—I’m thrilled because it shows these resources work. Over nine million retail employees have viewed our programs; I’m really proud of that.
LPM: Do you have any success stories you can share?
Dr. Barton: Consider a young mom who is struggling to keep her marriage intact despite her husband’s infidelity. She confides to HR that she has been the victim of physical and emotional abuse since she confronted her spouse about a year ago. She confides to HR that she has considered suicide. HR contacted us as we all agreed that EAP was likely over their head and we didn’t have hours or days to have an intervention discussion with this associate who had been pretty much a star for about nine years. I spoke with her about six times to gain equity with her; we discussed why she was important to her kids, her parents, and herself, and she agreed to a specific plan for counseling—and we were able to get her store leader to give her absolutely no push back (and pay!) for the many visits needed to work with a licensed psychologist. I’m delighted to say that two years later, she is now the store manager for that site, her marriage is thriving, and she sends holiday messages of thanks. Wow.
LPM: Do you have any advice for retail employees regarding protecting their mental health?
Dr. Barton: Don’t hesitate to speak with HR if you’re not comfortable talking with your supervisor. Recognize that about one in three of your coworkers is also experiencing a mental health challenge; you’re not alone. Watch some YouTube videos on relaxation and self-awareness tips. Call EAP and know they must keep your conversations confidential by law unless you discuss suicide or potential violence to others. Love yourself, pray, meditate—it’s all good.
LPM: Any advice for LP professionals who want to offer more mental health resources for employees?
Dr. Barton: Many retailers do an amazing job of benchmarking their peers, sharing programs, resources, consultant leads—they really are amazing at compassion and empathy, and that’s why their risk profile is low. When LP professionals get it (and most do) there are fewer sick days, fewer acts of self-harm or harm to others, and they have a higher retention rate of employees—hey, there’s an idea! But there are others that candidly are asleep at the wheel. They take two-day courses and claim to be certified in something. Those people scare me.
LPM: Anything else you would like to add?
Dr. Barton: Loss prevention has come so far because so many LP professionals are educated with real certifications and degrees; they read a lot, they attend conferences, and they benchmark. Their employers invest in their long-term skillset. That’s a big deal. If your employer isn’t watching your back and willing to have you expand your knowledge base, find a better employer. You deserve better.
