A common misconception when it comes to flexible and temporary workers is that they are unable to produce the same standard of work as you would expect from permanent employees. A flexible workforce can prove that incorrect.
It’s easy to see why plenty of hirers in the event industry have come to this conclusion; permanent employees know the processes of the businesses, they’re usually familiar with various venues and, in some cases, have even developed good relationships with repeat clients.
Flexible workers however, come with a number of tangible benefits, such as enabling event companies to cover peaks in demand and manage absenteeism. With that in mind, more and more event companies are tapping into the growing flexible marketplace to get the cover they need.
Increasing numbers of workers are choosing to work flexibly too, and event companies are finding that rather than the quality decreasing with flexible hires, they are able to access skills and experience that they have been unable to access with permanent hires. Quite often, even flexible workers without event experience will have transferable skills, such as the experience of working in fast paced hospitality environments.
These kinds of assets allow workers to hit the ground running, meaning there’s very little time lost with on-boarding, and as soon as flexible workers have done one or two events, they can be added to ‘pools’. That means the event company has access to reliable workers any time they need them.
To help ensure you make the most of temporary workers for your events, it’s a good idea to follow these easy to implement tips…
Clear communication
Clearly communicating with your temporary or flexible workers will go a long way towards ensuring quality. Simply setting out the expectations at the start of the shift will avoid confusion and if you working with an on-demand platform – rather than an agency – you will have you greater control over who you hire, meaning you will be communicating with people who have event experience and are used to the standards required.
Show them around
Knowledge of the location is particularly important with events, so taking the time to show them around is vital. The less time your flexible workers spend trying to find their way around will increase the amount of time they spend working. For large scale events, this can obviously be delegated to a permanent worker, or a flexible worker you have previously hired.
Expect the same standards
Having an even playing field is vital when working with a temporary or flexible workforce. If you set standards for them that are higher or lower than the permanent staff, you run the risk of making them feel less valued. With the numbers of skilled flexible workers within the event industry higher than ever, flexible workers are having more choice over which events they choose to work.
If you ensure favouritism doesn’t exist at your events, you’ll go a long way towards making it a pleasant experience, meaning the most reliable workers are more likely to choose to work at your events in the future.