Tuesday, July 15, 2014

10 Mistakes to Avoid When Hiring Event Staff



The success of an event largely depends on the event staff working and how well they interact and engage with your audience. Not only is the event staff the face of your brand, but they help to build and establish relationships with your most valued customers.

However, many times staffing is overlooked which can, consequently, harm the event. In order to create the most success for your event, be sure to avoid the following mistakes when hiring event staff.

Event staffing

1. Delaying the Decision Process
One of the worst mistakes an event planner can make when hiring event staff is taking too long to make a decision. While event staff understand that a lot goes into planning and executing an event, they also have their own personal schedules.

Delaying the decision process for more than 1 to 2 weeks is generally too long and will result in top event staff becoming unavailable. In order to avoid this and ensure quality staff, keep the decision process as short as possible.

2. Not Factoring in Your Brand’s Image
Event staff are the frontline and face of your event and/or promotion. Therefore, when deciding which event staff to hire, it is important to remember your brand image and hire staffing that accurately reflect it.

3. Not Consulting Your Team
When hiring event staff, it is important to consider the other members of your team that will be working alongside these staff members.

Will their personalities complement one another? Nothing is worse than a team that doesn’t get along. Be sure to consult your team before selecting event staff.

4. Not Understanding Your Event Needs
Before hiring event staff, factor in the size, length, and audience of your event. This will help you to determine the ideal number of staff your need, along with their gender, age, experience level, and cultural diversity.

5. Not Interviewing Event Staff
You wouldn’t hire a full or part-time employee without first interviewing him or her, right? Then, why would you hire event staff, without interviewing and asking important event staffing questions first? Before hiring event staff always ask to interview them via phone, Skype, or in person.

6. Not Asking for Updated Photos & Resume
Along with interviewing event staff, you should also ask for an updated resume and photos (editor’s note: this is only for model related staffing where asking for a photo may be relevant to the job. Asking for a photo is NOT always relevant and against the law in some countries) . Doing so will help you determine whether their credentials and experience level are an ideal fit for your company and/or brand.

7. Not Sharing Your Company & Product Information
After hiring event staff, it is important to provide them with the necessary information about your company background and product information. Doing so will keep your event staff well-informed and prepared to answer any questions.

8. Not Investing Enough Money
The quality of the event staff you hire is in direct correlation with the amount of money you pay them to work. While seeking event staff on Craigslist may seem like a great way to save money, it is unlikely that they will be able to meet or exceed your event needs and expectations. Instead, it is best to work with an experienced event staffing company that is professional and reliable.

9. Withholding Job Information
It is important to be upfront with all applicants about the responsibilities of your event. While it may seem better to leave out the negatives or downsides of the staffing role, it may result in more stress. By being honest with your candidates about their roles during the event, they are more likely to work the entire event.

10. Hiring Based on Looks
Finally, one of the biggest mistakes event planners make when hiring event staff is hiring based on looks. While looks are an important factor for attracting attention to your booth, it is more important to hire event staff based on experience level, professionalism, and personality. Event staff that are hired for reasons other than looks are more likely to produce the results your team is aiming for.

In Conclusion
In the end, event planners must remember that staffing is one of the most important factors for lead generation and sales and event and should be treated as such. Therefore, event planners should allot enough time to hire and train event staff before they arrive onsite.

By keeping your event needs and goals in mind, and avoiding these event staffing mistakes, your event is sure to go off without a hitch.

-Margaret Colebeck.

Editor's Note:

In Malaysia, the concept of event staffing is not new but companies might be a loss at where to start finding suitable candidates. Event Sidekicks was formed to fill this void. 

Corporate PR and Marketing Teams who have the event planning done but not enough people to execute it will find it much easier to have a go-to company whenever they have the need for more manpower to help out in their events.

This includes Event Management Companies, Government-Linked Companies (GLCs), Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) and Hotels who organize their own events internally but need extra pairs of hands (and legs!)

For more information about Event Sidekicks, do visit their website at www.eventsidekicks.com


About the Author

Best Events

Author & Editor

Based in Malaysia, Best Events specializes in Conferences, Seminars, Murder Mystery Dinners, Gala Dinners and Team Building events.

33 comments:

  1. # 2 is a great and important tip ... Last year for my 2nd year Blog Anniversary , I rented half of a popular venue and everybody was asking what was the name of the Blog. If I gave my volunteers at the event shirts with the Brand logo and website , that would have been avoided. Great Tips

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  2. Event planners should be proactive and be ready for anything. They should be able to adjust to situations so it's really important to go with experienced ones.

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  3. Really good advice. I actually got 2 jobs without interviewing because my parents knew the owners and while I was a good employee most of the people I worked with were not so it was not a good experience. I'm a big believer in you get what you pay for.

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  4. This is a really great list, thank you! You can certainly apply these tips to other areas such as looking for a job. Even when hiring a daycare provider! These are great to hang on too..

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  5. Event planning is such a tremendous job to undertake. Thanks you share this post that will be of great to those who are into event planning. Your tips will come very handy.

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  6. Yes, these tips can be applied to job hiring in general and not limited to freelancers alone. Rane, for your 3rd anniversary, you can print your website address on Welcome Boards/Signages and paper napkins. Might be cheaper than t-shirts :) Mom of Dogs, we agree with your statement "you get what you pay for". Freelancers with experience don't come cheap and it's important to get to know the candidate before hiring (in this case, Event Sidekicks interviews the right candidates before recommending them)

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  7. PR skill and hiring good people is really a very crucial element to look into when it comes to event planning. With good event planning, everything will be successful and vice versa...

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    1. Yes, it's crucial to have time to plan the event properly and to hire the right people

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  8. thanks for info, I nearly join a PR crew long ago, but I didn't as I was pregnant.

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  9. I think brand Image is really important, so I agree with you. Representation is important and so is the recall, so all the attendees know what brand they are going to learn more about.

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    1. It is! It will be a waste of resources if guests attend your event and ask your representatives questions about the company and all they have to say is "Urm I'm new" or "I'm a part-timer"

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  10. Great post. This will help us alot. brand image is too important is some one violating that then he/she is not suitable for that job.

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  11. Hiring based on looks goes on in bulk in smaller firms mainly. But that really is awful. I personally think the two points you mentioned about - "understanding event needs" and "sharing company information" are very important for the correct recruitment

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    1. Thanks for your comment! Looks help if you are selling cosmetics/fashion items but personality and knowledge are key to selling your brand regardless of whatever you are planning to sell at your event

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  12. Good Article it really helps lot of people to get a job ... thanks for making this post its very useful .

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  13. This is good and helpful for event recruitment but not all types of recruitments. In other words, more on the impact of the interviewer to what they really in need.

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    1. Thanks for your comment! We agree, this post acts as a guide to event hosts hiring freelancers who they tend to hire as an after thought rather than incorporated into the event planning process

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  14. I have been worked under couple of event company. And yes! You're right. they should avoid these mistakes. Good said!

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  15. Totally agree with your points. I was doing events/roadshow coordination for 5 years previously and the problem is, there's no such people who fit the criterias above! Not exactly "NO One", but not many people who fit the criteria are willing to work long term! :(

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    1. Thanks, Tiffany! Yes, freelancers tend to think that because it's just a part time job, not much commitment is required but as event planners, we tend to hire those who show more alertness, pro activeness and interest in what the event is all about rather than just being there for the pay

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  16. I don't have any working experience outside my dad's company... Thanks for the informations :D

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  17. I haven't work but this is so useful if I have a company later and I want to hire staffs,nice post ^^

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  18. I have read 4 to 5 new points here, Good to read your article and will share these tips with my other employes as well.

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  19. i once want to be an event planner. This is a good read specially to the starters in events planning. Your conclusion is just so right and i must agree with that.

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    1. Thanks, Alexandria! Who knows? We could be working on a joint project some day!

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  20. Consulting and having cooperation and sharing an ideas etc is the best way to success

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