Event planners and staff members have fast-paced roles with many responsibilities, from establishing event ticket prices to acquiring auction items to setting up the venue. This can result in them feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and eventually burned out.
That’s why it’s your business’s responsibility to implement strategies that encourage them to create events that support your company’s goals. But where do you begin?
This guide will cover the four top strategies you should use to motivate staff members and ensure they stay passionate about their roles. With the right approach, your event staff will be excited to come to work to plan and host events that draw in more revenue for your business.
1. Prioritize employee engagement
Employee engagement is an increasingly important concept that organizations of all kinds are prioritizing. This term refers to an employee’s emotional commitment to their organization—the more engaged they are, the more they care about their work and company. As a result, highly engaged employees are also highly motivated to work hard, which is especially important for event staff.
To improve employee engagement, address the root causes of disengagement, which include:
- Minimal training. Create a thorough onboarding program so all new employees learn what they need to know to handle their responsibilities. Document any processes relevant to their work and make those resources available so they can refer to them whenever required.
- Lack of communication and feedback. Clearly communicate your expectations to your event staff for their performance and the event they’re planning. Establish clear metrics to evaluate them and regularly update them on their performance. Have regular one-on-one meetings with event staff members so that they can ask questions, ensuring you all stay on the same page.
- Isolation. Despite working as part of a team, your event staff may feel isolated in their work and disconnected from coworkers. Encourage them to get to know each other outside of their responsibilities. For example, if you know that multiple event staff enjoy running, start a company running club to facilitate connections.
Additionally, you may look into other ways to increase engagement at your company. Many CSR statistics demonstrate that corporate social responsibility is a great way for employees to become more connected with their business—for example, 93% of employees think that companies should lead with purpose, and 55% of employees say that they would take a lower salary to work for a socially responsible company.
Philanthropic initiatives provide a concrete framework for employees to give back to the community, instilling a greater sense of purpose and leading to heightened motivation and engagement at work.
For example, let’s say you start a company running club. In that case, Sneakers4Good suggests donating running shoes for your CSR initiatives. This allows you to recycle gently worn, used and new shoes, showing your employees that your business is committed to sustainability. Employees who value sustainability will appreciate your dedication to this cause and feel more connected to your organization.
2. Promote healthy work-life balance
Although event staff are extremely busy, that shouldn’t mean they must sacrifice their work-life balance. While some periods (especially the days leading up to large events) will be much busier and they’ll be expected to put in more hours than usual, they should be able to establish a balance between their professional and personal lives on a day-to-day basis.
To help them create that balance, encourage them to:
- Take breaks. Employees who regularly step away from their desks report 43% more overall satisfaction than their peers. Allow employees to take a quick 10-minute stroll or breather when they feel overwhelmed by their responsibilities.
- Take time off. Most employees are allowed a certain amount of paid time off as part of their compensation. They should take this time to rest and recharge, allowing them to return to work feeling refreshed and energized.
- Make space for their hobbies. Your business can also incentivize employees to participate in their hobbies in their personal time. This might mean providing a wellness stipend for gym memberships, starting a monthly book club, and hosting paint-and-sip sessions.
Having the opportunity to disconnect fully from work allows employees to focus on themselves and reduce their stress. Then, when they return to work, they’ll be more motivated to plan stellar and creative events that help push your business’s goals forward.
3. Delegate event tasks to other teams
Event staff handle many tasks, from developing event agendas to booking entertainment. However, some tasks may fall in a grey area between teams. If your event team members are feeling overwhelmed, delegate some of those grey-area tasks to other teams. These tasks may include:
- Developing event microsites, which a web development team can handle.
- Soliciting sponsors through your sponsorship team.
- Creating marketing materials that your marketing team can handle.
Since event staff usually manage multiple tasks or even multiple events at once, this strategy can help ensure their workload remains manageable and lower stress levels. After all, high stress is correlated with a slew of negative effects, including headaches, sleep problems, and fatigue. A streamlined workload will result in less stress and more motivation to work hard.
4. Show employee appreciation for their work
Everyone wants to be recognized for their achievements. By regularly showing your appreciation for your employees, you communicate that you value their contributions and see their hard work. This positive reinforcement will make employees feel good about themselves and motivate them to excel.
Here are a few ways you can show recognition to your employees:
- Send recognition cards. Purchase cards from your local grocery store and write a heartfelt letter to top-performing employees, thanking them for all they do for your business.
- Encourage peer-to-peer recognition. Recognition doesn’t need to just come from managers and business directors. eCardWidget recommends fostering a culture of peer-to-peer recognition, where employees feel empowered to show appreciation for each other, resulting in more frequent appreciation for all employees.
- Host employee appreciation events. This is one event you shouldn’t ask your event team to plan! You can host an appreciation event just after the close of a big event to celebrate a promotion or to recognize a work anniversary. For an extra fun twist, choose an engaging event idea to inspire employees to attend, such as a wine and cheese night or a mini-golf tournament.
Employee appreciation can also go beyond work achievements. Don’t be afraid to celebrate other occasions as well, such as birthdays, holidays, life milestones, and more.
Empower employees to do their best work with proven strategies
In today’s workplace culture, simply providing the framework for employees to do work is not enough. You need to empower them to do their best work by creating a workplace they can thrive in. With these strategies, you’ll ensure that after sending out post-event surveys for your organization’s annual gala, your event staff will still be excited about jumping into planning your next event.