Five considerations when hiring event hosts

26 Aug

1. Consider your event staffing budget

When planning an event of any type, you will quite often need to strike a balance between your budget and your requirements. This is also the case for your event staffing. When structuring your team, give some thought to how many staff you may need vs how much you can afford to spend on this part of your event. Very few event organisers have an unlimited budget so you it’s important to understand how much you will need to dedicate to personnel.

Having an open dialogue with an event staffing agency can help you understand how staffing costs are calculated and the majority will have a standard rate card they can share which can give you a good starting point, even if you are not yet clear on your exact requirements. If you’re unsure how many staff you need, an event staffing agency will also be able to give advice based on their experience of staffing similar past events. The agency can also talk through options for staff seniority and explain how price differs between roles.

Having a contingency set aside is also a great idea. If anything unforeseen were to happen which meant you needed more event staff, or required overtime, a slightly flexible budget will enable you and your staffing agency to act quickly resulting in less disruption to your event.

2. Ensure you know the regulations

Although most event staffing agreements are short term, there are a number of employment regulations that still need to be recognised and abided by, whether you are using an agency or employing the staff yourself.

There are a number of things to consider including how you will process the payroll, ensuring the staff receive and allowance for holiday pay and making sure you are offering a workplace pension scheme. All these things are required by law when employing temporary staff and with the recent roll out of IR35 to the private sector, HMRC are really hot on this!

Any event staffing agency worth their salary will be implementing a proper payroll for their agency workers, meaning they can take this headache off your hands.

3. Be specific

Event hosts are the face of your brand and business, so choosing the right staff for your event is pivotal in authentically portraying your brand’s core values.

Whether you are a business owner, a brand manager, or organising an event on behalf of your client, you will usually be the best person to decide who is a good fit and who is not.

If you have clear expectations on this, it is vital that you communicate these to your event staffing agency during the briefing process. We encourage our clients to be as specific as possible in terms of the demographic, presentation and skill set of the staff they are looking for, so that we can use this information to match with the best people for the job.

This conversation will also give your event staffing agency an opportunity to manage your expectations and work with you to adapt the parameters of the brief if there are any requests that may be difficult to deliver.

4. Choose an event staffing agency you can trust

If you’ve decided to outsource your event staffing to an agency, congratulations! You are already part of the way there to freeing up a huge amount of time that you can then focus on other parts of your event planning.

But be careful! As with your other suppliers, not all agencies operate to the same standards and if you choose the wrong staffing partner, you may end up spending a considerable amount of your precious time resolving issues. Place your event staffing requirements in the hands of an agency which are certain to deliver on the brief you present them with, one that leaves no stone unturned in finding the perfect event staff for your brand. Your choice of agency will ultimately determine the quality of staff at your availability, so do your research and don’t take this choice lightly.

Working with a new supplier always carries a certain element of risk, but if you do your research and put your brief out to a few agencies, the quoting process will enable you to get a feel for how each operates.

Ask questions! How does the agency source their staff? What do they consider when matching staff to each job? Do they have a pool of regular people or is their team made up mostly of new recruits? Do they operate a payroll and comply with IR35?

Also consider their dealings with you so far; did they ask sensible questions about your requirements or did they respond with a brief one liner? How long did they take to respond to your request? As this is a great gauge of how responsive the agency may be in practice.

Your choice of agency will ultimately determine the quality of the event staff and the service you will receive so take your time to make sure your choice is a shrewd one. And don’t forget when it comes to staffing, cheap is usually not cheerful!

5. Take care of your event hosts

Because agency event staff are often working for multiple clients and in multiple locations each week, it’s difficult for them to build lasting relationships with their colleagues which can sometimes result in them feeling isolated and detached from their role. In turn this can have an impact on their motivation and performance on site. Since they are usually with you for only a short time, it can be easy to overlook the importance of integrating them into your team.

Whilst this can be difficult to achieve in only a matter of days, there are a number of things you can do to ensure they feel welcome and of value, regardless of the type of event or its location.

Simple things like learning their names, making sure they have access to common areas, being approachable and introducing them to permanent staff can really contribute to their drive and job satisfaction which inevitably results in enhanced productivity and happy staff. Since this always means more positive consumer engagements and better customer service, it is well worth putting in the effort.

The best Event Hosts for your requirements

Looking for experienced event hosts? eventeem are here to help! We have a huge database of experienced event hosts and can match the best hosts to your requirements. Give us a call on 02921 676500 or email hello@eventeem.co.uk and we’ll be happy to help!