Skills and Qualities of Security Officers to Look For - Secure Guard

• August 31, 2021
• By ahmad hamidi

A good security officer has a specific set of qualities that set them apart from other professionals. Hence, to ensure that you hire the ideal security individual, you keep a check list of the skills and qualities before you judge them for the position. This will ensure that you have hired the right person for the particular position. Below is list of qualities and an explanation to why that specific quality is important.

Alertness

A great security officer is one that is alert and vigilant to different situations. A job of a security officer can sometimes be very quiet and mundane. This means that an individual that is prone to boredom and lacks focus is one that is most likely to get caught off guard by an offender.

Moreover, alertness also has much to do with a security guard’s ability to retain attention on the task. A security guard with a short attention span is likely to avoid a criminal act as it happens from right under their nose.

Ultimately, focus, attention, and alertness are qualities of a security guard that keeps them from identifying criminal activities before they come into fruition. By being alert and promptly responding to a situation, they are able to prevent the lives of individuals from getting into harm’s way.

Along with alertness, security guards must also have quick reflexes. These help them react quickly to situations that can escalate into more serious outcomes. The best security guards are not only alert to all situations, but also have a strong instinct for crime.

This means that they have an instinctive drive towards stopping crime, and they can analyze criminal activity in a way that no one else can. They can not only determine potential threats but also respond to them in the best possible ways.

Honesty

When you hire a security guard, you are essentially providing an individual full access to confidential information, along with private areas of a facility. Even though every security guard has training and a contractual clause that keeps them from unveiling company information, honesty is still a trait that is most important.

This is because with honesty, comes trustworthiness. A security guard that you cannot trust is one that will exploit their privileges against your interest.  Alternatively, if the security guard is honest, then it satisfyingly makes it easier for you to provide the security guard with access to personal details.

Furthermore, if the security officer is honest and responsible, they will also hold themselves accountable in the case of any mishaps that occur.  As humans, it is not uncommon for a security individual to make a mistake. However, if a security guard is not honest about the mistakes they make, and do not take responsibility; it can leave you in a very difficult situation.

Fitness

Being healthy and at an ideal weight helps a security individual with most of their attributes. For example, regular fitness is also an incredible contributor to sharpness and alertness. Therefore, if you want to ensure that the security guard is vigilant, judge them by their physical fitness.

Bad fitness and out of shape individuals are usually not mentally alert, and this is because they tire quicker than the rest. Moreover, security guards need to have the stamina, strength and speed to be able to chase an offender and arrest them when they try to flee.

If they let an offender get away from the scene, your company will be unable to recover the losses.  Hence, during a chase and arrest is when physical fitness is most crucial. Not only that, a physically fit security guard also portrays a strong presence that can be intimidating to the perpetrators.

This presence can potentially keep offenders from acting upon their disruptive tendencies. It may also make a criminal think otherwise once they initially plan on causing harm to a particular facility or person.

Keeping all of this in mind, it is also important to note that your security guard is a representative of your business. Thus, a physically fit, well groomed, and neat security guard portrays a great impression of your company.

Communication Skills

If a security guard does not have good communication skills, it means that they will fail drastically in the face of an altercation. A good security guard is able to neutralize a situation using only their verbal skills and this keeps them from using force on the public.

The first rule of command for security guards is to be calm and assertive in the face of an outbreak, and with good communication skills, they can de-escalate potential threat easily. It is only when the situation gets out of hand, can a security guard use their physical presence to either evacuate or arrest the culprits.

Hence, a security guard that communicates fluently, and words their sentences properly, is a perfect candidate for the job.

Team Work

Even though security guards often work in solitude, they still require strong leadership skills. If you hire a team of security guards, then each individual must have collaborative skills that allow them to work together towards the main goal, which is to provide security and prevent harm; at all costs.

This also translates into their decision making power. When working together, each security personal needs to know how to tackle each situation accordingly. Since every occurrence presents a different set of challenges, security guards must know when to assert their dominance, and when to stand down, amongst other options.

Final Words

Security guards must have all the mentioned skills as licensed professionals. Along with these qualities and attributes, they must also have keen knowledge over the state law.  This allows them to do their job, without putting you, or your organization into legal issues.