By Eliana Barriga
Publisher and Managing Editor for The Retail Observer

A friend of mine recently went to the doctors for pain above her knee. She was told that the first thing she needed to do was rest. According to the doctor, continuing to force movement would only make things worse and cause more injury to the area so rest was the most important component needed to recover.

How many times do I “push” through it even when I am mentally exhausted and physically fatigued? How many times have I felt like taking one day, one afternoon or even one hour off was a luxury I just couldn’t afford?

After only a few days of rest, my friend happily reported that the pain was almost gone and by the end of the week she was surprised to find that she had no pain at all. What would have happened if she pushed through it and continued to stay active? She probably could have increased the severity of her injury beyond anything a week of rest could heal.

Do you make time for rest, mental breaks, exercise, healthy meals, visits with friends or quality time with family? What kind of toll is pushing through day in and day out having on your body and your life? Many of us don’t realize the changes since they happen so gradually. You just wake up one day and remember how nice it was to go play a round of golf or how energizing your morning jogs used to feel. Then you try hard to remember the last time you did anything other than work.

What I found, is when I push through it, my work days seem longer and it’s harder to let go and unwind at the end of each day. But when my life is more balanced, it is easier to move through it. I am more productive and enjoy the time I am working and when the day is done, I am able to easily relax and get some much needed rest.

Take it easy, 
Eliana
[email protected]

By Moe Lastfogel
Director of Sales and Marketing for The Retail Observer

As I was going through some of the back issues of The Retail Observer, I found an article written by Lee Boucher that touched on employee theft and the subject Lee brought up in the following excerpt of his article still amazes me: 

“This is not a pleasant subject, but customer and employee stealing is rampant throughout big and little retail stores in the U.S. ‘But, ’you say, ‘We treat our employees just like family.’ That may be true, but families steal from each other too. 
Theft costs the retail industry tens of billions of dollars each year. Maritz Research, one of the world’s largest research firms, recently surveyed retail employees and discovered that: 

• Nearly half (48percent) of retail employees surveyed have noticed customers stealing from their employers store. 
  
• Nearly one in three (29 percent) say they have witnessed other employees stealing from their employer.

I’m sure most of you are thinking ‘Well, we have safeguards against employee theft. It isn’t happening in our company, we treat our employees fairly so there’s no reason for them to steal.’ I hope you are right, but I don’t think so. Some of you might ask yourselves why there is “shrinkage” sometimes when you take inventory. Most people that steal justify it in their minds, but I’m sure they know that stealing is wrong whatever their excuse.” —Lee Boucher, RO June 2007 

As I look back over the years and the many companies I worked for, theft was never talked about. In our industry how often do appliances just walk out the door? Well, they do, and it’s unfortunate. The bottom line is protect yourself and your profit margins, get protocols in place and constantly review them to help detour this hit to your bottom line. 

Until next time,
Moe
[email protected]