How can employee interviews identify inventory shrinkage causes?

1 Prepare your questions

Before you interview your employees, you need to prepare a set of questions that will help you uncover the possible sources of inventory shrinkage. Your questions should be open-ended, specific, and relevant to your inventory management system and processes. For example, you can ask your employees how they handle incoming and outgoing inventory, how they report discrepancies, how they deal with damaged or expired products, and how they prevent or detect theft. You should also ask them about their challenges, suggestions, and feedback on improving inventory management.

3 Conduct your interviews

You should conduct your interviews in a confidential and comfortable setting, where your employees can speak freely and honestly. You should explain the purpose and scope of the interview, and assure them that their responses will not be used against them. You should also ask for their permission to record or take notes of the interview. You should follow your prepared questions, but also be flexible and responsive to the answers and follow up with probing questions if needed. You should also listen actively and empathetically, and avoid interrupting or judging your employees.

4 Analyze your data

After you have conducted all your interviews, you need to analyze your data and look for patterns, themes, and insights. You can use a qualitative data analysis software or a manual coding system to organize and categorize your data. You should also compare and contrast your data with other sources of information, such as inventory reports, audits, surveys, or observations. You should look for common or recurring issues, gaps, or discrepancies that can indicate the causes of inventory shrinkage.

5 Take action

Based on your analysis, you should identify the root causes of inventory shrinkage and prioritize the most urgent or impactful ones. You should then develop and implement action plans to address the causes and prevent or reduce inventory shrinkage. Your action plans should include specific goals, strategies, resources, timelines, and measures of success. You should also communicate your action plans to your employees and involve them in the implementation and evaluation process. You should also monitor and review your action plans regularly and make adjustments as needed.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?