Canadian Retailer - Fall 2013 - 24

MYSTORE RETAILER'S GUIDE VOL. 9.5: LOSS PREVENTION

subject talks and sometimes says too much.
In an interrogation, the subject feels pressure,
and when a person feels backed into a corner,
they protect themselves. And that can mean
telling more lies.
As Norris explains, "The goal is ultimately to
avoid the lie."
READING FACES
Most of what we communicate comes through body language.
When conducting a non-confrontational interview, interviewers
need to pay attention to how the other person uses their body.
Where to look: Interviewers want to keep their focus on the
centre of the other person's face. By looking at the centre of the
face, the interviewer can read micro expressions in the eyes and
the mouth. The interviewer will also want to pay attention to the
peripherals, like how the interview subject moves their body and
how the environment might be affecting the interview subject.
What to look for: Micro expressions are those little giveaways in an
expression that reveal how a person really feels. A person might
smile to indicate happiness, but the smile might never touch her
eyes and come across as a fake smile. A person might say, "Yes,"
while shaking their head "No." A person's mouth might show anger, fear or surprise when the subject of the theft comes up.
Looking for micro expressions-the unconscious expression of
true feelings-can help an interviewer steer the interview closer
to the truth.

The interview environment

The place where a retailer conducts an interview always matters. Conducting a job interview in a very public corner coffee shop probably won't give the retailer an accurate read
on the applicant. And for the same reasons,
getting the truth from a person who might be
lying won't be easy if the person feels exposed.
Interviewers need to control the interview
environment.
* Conduct interviews in a private room. A setup that places the interviewer across from
the subject without barriers, like a desk, can
help create an air of comfort and intimacy.
Sit close enough to the interviewee to read
their face and body language.
* Eliminate barriers to listening. Turn off the
phone and radio, shut off the computer monitor, close the blinds and ask people not to
interrupt the meeting.
* Prepare a set of questions to move the interview along. The interviewer's job is to listen
to the subject. It's hard to listen if half the
interviewer's mind is searching for the next
question to ask. Keep the questions simple
and sit at a discrete distance from the interview subject.

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Pauses and what they mean

"Was I in the store on Saturday morning?
Uh...yes."
Pauses in speech are an important verbal
signpost. We pause when we're confused, when
we need time to think or remember. Pauses are
emphatic devices and sometimes we use pauses...for dramatic effect.
But there are other kinds of pauses, like the
pauses we use when we need time to construct
a lie, or to run the question against a lie that is
growing out of control.
How should an interviewer evaluate a pause?
One way is to know when the person pauses. Is it
in relation to a simple question? Does their body
language shift in a way that might suggest the
pause is something other than a pause?
Ways to begin

Beginning an interview with an employee
suspected of stealing requires tact. As a general
rule, the interviewer wants to control her emotions and maintain a calm, open atmosphere.
* Reduce resistance and show understanding. The object of the interview is to get the
suspected thief talking. Thank the person
for taking the time to talk. Open with small
talk or the regular kind of conversations you
have with the subject.
* Start with established fact. "You need to know
truthfulness of your subject before you can
discover deception," says Norris. By gauging
how people respond to truthful statements-
like their full name, their date of birth, where
they go to school-it becomes easier to gauge
how they react when they tell a lie.
* Establish credibility. Depending on how well
you know the person, remind them of your
experience-how many years you've worked
in retail, how many people you've supervised
and trained, how many people you've interviewed. It's okay to be exhaustive in this section. Let your knowledge of store operations
become a presence in the room. It might help
to make the guilty person confess.
* Know how people react to you. Interviews,
even positive interviews, can make most of
us nervous. At the beginning of the interview, get a read on how the person is reacting
to the situation. Is the person nervous? Is
this person's reaction different from how this
person normally reacts to you? Maybe there
are good reasons for nerves-but as the conversation progresses, does the person relax
or do they stay nervous?

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Canadian Retailer - Fall 2013

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