Planning & Promotion

Event Hiring Managers Alert: Important Things You Must Look for In Your Next Event Prof Hire!

Eventually Learning Team

05 September 2022

Read time 7 minutes

“The most important thing you do as a leader is to hire the right people”. - David Cottrell

The staff you hire for your event, can make or break your audience experience. Everyone wants to hire the best event staff in the industry, but very few event planners are ready to go the distance when making the best hiring decision. Also, given the collaborative nature of event planning, you need an event professional that can not only work well with the team but also give relevant results. Let us understand the key factors you must consider when putting up a ‘Now Hiring’ post for your next big event production!

Get a Grip on The Event Staff Hiring Rules and Regulations

When undertaking event staff hiring, event organizers need to adhere to certain internal rules and regulations, to bag the best staff and build upon their event agency credibility and market value. Some quick pointers to get started would be:

First and foremost, speak to your in-house accountant about how he can legally manage full-time, part-time and contract employees. Create a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to protect your business and intellectual property.
You also need to sort out your event budgets and determine the number of staff members and the type of staff you need! Know that for VIP events, you need bigger hiring budgets, and you also need to account for extra costs that may crop up, like overtime.
If your planning a destination event, with the local community involved; make sure you know the local rules and regulations while hiring the event staff.

Sieving Your Next Event Prof Hire!

Your event professionals’ team hiring is one of the most important decisions you’ll make that will directly affect your event’s success. Make sure you talk to numerous event staffing agencies and many potential candidates, individually or through the agency databases, to find your perfect event team member match. You can try out websites like upwork, MPIWeb.org, Happily.com, PCMA.org, Meeting Jobs, Snagajob and more to fulfill your varied Sponsorship Coordinator, Catering Manager, Concierge, Operations Supervisor and Social Media Specialist etc. event team positions.

Try out venues that have a ready list of vendors and suppliers that you can bank on!
Also, check out the ratings of the event staffing agency. You can google them or refer to review websites like Angie’s List!
Another logical way of going about your event professional selection is asking for referrals from clients, peers and other event planning team members. You can even pay a visit to an event, watch the event planning team live-in-action and hand them a business card! Asking the past clients about the event staffing agency is also a good idea!

Tick-off Your Event Requirements

Are you looking for a staff member who has worked on events like yours? Are you checking certifications that might fit the bill?

Event Hiring Managers need event professionals that meet their budgetary and skilling needs, given the unpredictable nature of staff placements. To select the best event team member amongst the bunch, be sure they tick off all your event requirements about these factors:

Job Description
Date of Joining and Hours to put in
Insurance needs
Licensing and permit information
Extra work they can undertake

Choose event professionals who are okay with negotiations and can accept customizations concerning their availability on dates; how much can they stretch to deliver specific event experiences!

Find Your Best Event Staff Match

Your event requirements can help you decide which prospective event staff to qualify and hire and which to show the door to. Some questions you can ask your potential candidates are:

Why did you apply for this position?
What are your strengths or top skills in event planning?
What event planning areas do you need training in?
How do you handle contingency situations?
What do you love the most about your work?
Do you prefer working long hours, on weekends, late evenings or handling late-minute event planning emergencies?
What do you do in your free time?

Qualities to Look for In Your Next Event Professional Hire!

The event industry has a high turnover rate is a well-known fact, but event professionals who are into job-hopping, especially through personal recommendations, is something every event organizer should be wary of! Whether contractual or full-time, event organizers should look for candidates with high attention to detail and a flexible attitude to sudden changes in workflow patterns. They must also be calm and collected when making decisions that demand good judgment and lateral thinking on their part.
Another trait you should actively scout for when event hiring is the team member’s desire to learn newer aspects of event planning - with a positive attitude. With the pandemic-led event industry changes, there is a pressing need for event teams that can quickly adapt to new digital event production processes, support clients through various market changes, and think about how budgets can be optimized at every step of the event planning journey. Also, good teamwork coordination capabilities are all-important especially in the event’s industry where every aspect of event planning is woven into the other.

Event creation equals no weekend holidays, long, odd hours of working, unforeseen schedule changes, parties and whatnot! It needs a lot of passion and a sense of maturity to survive and thrive in the field. You can assess a prospective event team hire’s competency by his punctuality in attending the interview, or from his instant or late reply to your job position email.

Even if the event professional has worked for industries other than yours, some skills like problem-solving, leadership ability, multi-tasking and negotiation skills, creative thinking and even tech skills; with deductive reasoning expertise; can tick all the boxes on your ideal event team member!

A person who can demonstrate his contribution to the team is what every event organizer wants and needs!

So, when looking for your next event hire, search for evidence of how the candidate has gotten out of complex situations, negotiated the best deal and worked well within the given budgets. After all, as Steve Jobs said – Hiring is your most important task!

FAQs

What is the RACI Model for Project Management?

The RACI Model for project management allocates event planning responsibilities across the event team in an organized manner. RACI stands for Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed. The ‘Responsible’ is the person who ensures that the work gets done, ‘Accountable’ is the event team member who does the on-ground work, ‘Consulted’ is the person who gives the final approval and ‘Informed’ is an event team member who is informed about the project but who does not execute it.

What is lateral thinking?

Lateral thinking involves an indirect or creative approach to problem solving. This method was ideated by Edward de Bono. Lateral Thinking involves a non-linear thinking pattern and can help solve complex event planning problems easily.

How can I manage my Event Staff well?

You can manage your event staff well by sharing relevant event staff responsibilities in a timely manner, staying connected with the event staff on a continuous basis, holding regular staff meetings and taking feedback from the event staff post the event.