Staffing Special Events: From Start to Finish

Incorporating special events into your work schedule can be daunting, adding a large workload to your current route and often meaning that you’ll be working up to 7 days a week. So, why do portable restroom operators love them? Because, when done right, the payoff can be substantial for relatively small effort.

Staffing special events is the key to success or failure. In order to make things easier for you, we’ve outlined the most important factors for success below, based on industry experience and insider knowledge.

Don’t Forget Your Regular Routes

The most crucial aspect of special events is how well you prepare. If everything is planned to perfection, the event will run smoothly. First, you need to make sure you have enough people to run your regular routes, as well as service the special event.

This might mean reshuffling things with your normal route. For example, do your regular route on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, freeing up Friday and Monday for deliveries and pickups at the special event.

Find the Right Extra Staff

Many PROs hire extra staff specifically for special events. People like college students, part-time workers, and those hoping to supplement their income. Very often, family and friends will come in and help out with big events. Word of mouth is a good way of finding special event staff like this. Put the word out there among people you know and get staff that you can trust, who won’t let you down.

Take time to train your extra staff! The ideal situation would be that the same staff comes back for repeat events. It can be an ideal summer job for the right person, so training them is most certainly not a waste of time and will lead to increased productivity on the day.

The extra cost of staffing extra people is easily surpassed by the extra income your company will bring in if you have events that run smoothly. Just make sure your events staff is made up of reliable, hard workers who will not fold easily under the pressure of a hectic weekend. Make sure they’re trained and understand the jobs they’re doing.

Pay rates and any extra overtime or bonus pay should be made very clear before the event so that issues don’t arise during the event itself. The last thing you want is staff walking out during an event.

After the Event

Once the event is over, reach out to the event coordinator to see how everything went. From there, you can determine if you’ll need more staff next time or if everything went according to plan.

If your staff did a great job, try to lock them down for future events. Having a specialized events team is a great way of increasing the scope of your business and can be fantastic for morale.

Special events are an amazing revenue stream, so don’t be afraid of taking them on. Staffing should not be seen as a pain. Rather, it shows that your company is growing and adapting. Hire the right people, use them effectively, and watch your business boom!

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