Security officers are an important part of the shopping center’s daily operations. Ensuring the security and safety of the store’s clients, staff and assets require professionals who are well trained, committed, and willing to make sacrifices. Because security personnel maintains peace and justice in shopping malls, they should possess certain qualities that will allow them to perform with maximum effectiveness. Here are five characteristics that all shopping center security officers should have.
Alertness and Vigilance
Often used interchangeably despite having slightly different meanings, alertness and vigilance are crucial for a good security officer. Both these qualities convey the ability to notice potential or imminent threats to the security and safety of the public and to take action to minimize and even prevent these threats. With these characteristics, a security officer can spot a suspicious person attempting to smuggle prohibited items or stolen goods, hear a desperate cry for help in huge and rowdy crowds, and even distinctly smell burning electrical circuitry.
Even Temperament
Security officers should have the ability to remain cool and collected under pressure and not give in to panic, euphoria, and anger while on duty. Professionals who are able to keep their emotions in check can quickly think on their feet and come up with the proper response to emergencies and diffuse situations before they get out of hand. Whether it is calling for help for a man who lost consciousness, an irate customer, or subduing a thief, an even-tempered officer can deal with the situation more effectively compared to someone who becomes panicked or responds defensively.
Proper Training
Various environments have various risks and threats. Security personnel is expected to respond to these in the best way possible, considering the people concerned and the sensitivities of the environment. They will have to go through specialized training to know to properly respond to industry-specific threats. These professional pieces of training will ensure that these security officers are knowledgeable of security management and security concepts, and are well-equipped to respond to real-life situations.
Good Communication Skills
Security officers usually interact with different kinds of people from all walks of life. And although these interactions do not always involve deep philosophical conversations, having good communications skills is still a must. Many shopping clients approach security personnel for various reasons, from asking for directions to find a missing companion to helping resolve a confrontational situation. Most of the time, clients are in varying degrees of emotional stress. Thus, a security officer has to have good communication skills to ease the patron’s apprehensions and effectively address their concerns.
Integrity
Integrity might be the most important characteristic a security officer should possess. Aside from being entrusted with the lives of the shopping center clients, they also take care of sensitive information pertaining to the business, including key entry and exit points, delivery of sensitive or dangerous goods, timetable of key transactions, and location and access to operational areas. Thus, security officers should have a strong moral compass, putting the highest priority on performing their duties without being susceptible to blackmail or bribery.
Security officers are assigned to different working environments so they have to possess certain characteristics in order to adapt to varying situations. Take note of this list and use this as your guide in choosing a security officer for a shopping center to make sure that they are cut out for the job.
