Learn effective strategies for managing seasonal staff to ensure smooth event execution and a positive experience for both your team and clients.

Hiring seasonal staff can be an excellent way for you to meet your staffing needs during your busy event season without hiring permanent employees who are not essential during your slower months. This arrangement can be beneficial to your business and your seasonal employees’ flexible schedules.

Training seasonal staff is just as important as onboarding permanent employees, so you have everything in place to pull off a successful event. We’ve put together some tips to help you manage your temporary staff effectively. 

Communicate expectations

Revisit the job description with your new hires to define roles and responsibilities and answer any questions your staff may have. This can be a good time to determine the skill sets of your employees and where they may fit best in the roles. You may also have to customize roles and responsibilities before each event to suit your clients’ needs. An employee handbook can come in handy here to communicate company policies. Make sure you are also complying with labor laws.

Train with a set onboarding program

Walk your new hires through what an event entails, so they are prepared and comfortable to take on their duties. If possible, have temporary staff shadow and be mentored by experienced staff for on-the-job training to lessen the learning curve. This can also foster a sense of community among your staff and help integrate new staff into the team. 

Create a shared spreadsheet and checklist

Use a checklist for each event with tasks and assign staff members to stay on track. This can help keep you and your staff organized and on top of responsibilities.

Schedule check-ins

You can arrange a weekly meeting or daily check-in as necessary. This can help you stay up to date but also allow your staff to answer any questions they may have so you can address concerns. Check-ins can be useful to direct your employees, provide needed assistance, and bring on other staff members when it makes sense.

During these meetings, take the opportunity to provide feedback on their performance for improvement and professional development. As a reminder, always let them know you value and respect them – that alone will go far!

Maintain seasonal staff for the future

Training is a lot of work and if you have talented staff that can continue to work for you year after year, that’s something you can benefit from. Take the time to recognize their hard work with a “thank you” or a small token of your appreciation and invite your top performers to come back next season. Taking the time to send your seasonal staff off on a positive note makes a big impact.

Now that you have managing seasonal staff under control, consider advising your clients to look into event insurance. Helping your brides understand the importance of event insurance can help provide peace of mind for everyone involved, ensuring their big day is protected despite the unexpected.

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This post is sponsored by Markel Service, Incorporated

Markel Event Insurance is an easy and affordable solution for your clients, with liability coverage starting as low as $75.  A free event insurance quote takes only a few minutes online or on the phone. 

Get more information now on the Markel Insurance website on how easy it is for event planners to recommend event insurance to their clients.

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