Mark Souris, Managing Director of Periscopic maintains that there are two main ways of entering the shopping centre industry as a manager: the first avenue is by gaining experience, either as an administrator or in a financial position. “Often, such people find that they have a natural aptitude for the industry. They intrinsically grasp the complexities of the shopping centre environment and the large amount of detail that goes into managing a successful centre.

“The experience they’ve already gained ensures they are well prepared to go one step further. Then there are those people who have no experience, but whose prior studies in areas such as finance and property evaluation stand them in good stead for learning about the industry from a practical perspective.”

According to Souris those who do wish to fine tune their shopping centre management skills are able to do so by completing the Certificate in Shopping Centre Management; an intense, week-long course hosted by the University of Pretoria in August.

The course provides an overview of key industry areas, from marketing to leasing, operational issues, finance, risk management, the history of shopping centres, principles of design, tenant mix, feasibility studies, customer service, legal, strategic planning and trends.
 
A second option is the Advanced Certificate in Shopping Centre Leadership; a year-long curriculum – also hosted by the University of Pretoria – which builds on the knowledge obtained through the previous course.

Souris maintains that it is advisable for anyone who is serious about a career in shopping centre management to complete at least one of these courses. He says, “Even if you come from a related industry – such as retail – it’s a good idea to get specific insights into the shopping centre environment. These courses give you a grounding that ensures you are well equipped to handle any industry specific challenge. Activities such as marketing and finance tend to be more detailed when it comes to centre management.”

At Periscopic, Souris insists that employees undergo a blend of on-the-job as and formal training. On-the-job training is critical because often it’s through experiencing specific circumstances that the skills to handle them are developed.

“The Eskom blackouts of 2008 were a case in point – few shopping centres had previously dealt with such a phenomenon, and only developed the knowledge of what such an event entails – and the processes needed to manage it – after having gone through load shedding. In essence, every interaction you have becomes an opportunity for training and should be viewed as such. Whenever one of my team members comes to me with a problem, I encourage them to find their own solution – that’s how people learn,” Souris advises.

He adds that the very best way to ensure that potential managers learn all they can about the industry is by walking through the building, from roof to waste area. “It’s a practical exercise which enables you to see exactly what is going on at each point of the centre, and thus helps you identify potential problems. It’s often by ‘doing’ that we learn how to address health, safety and security issues.”