New Way To Pay Part-time Event Staff

You may think I’m putting you on with this concept, but really, I think this concept has a place in some companies. This concept deals with paying your part-time event staff… especially for off-premise events.

It all starts during the hiring of the staff person and deals with their pay. The pay is offered based on the “amount of work” they wish to do. Another way of thinking of this is that they get paid on “how much physical abuse they wish to take” during the event. OK, maybe a little dramatic on my part, but most part-timers come in two basic “models”… those that love to get involved and are anxiously willing to work as hard as it takes to get the event handled or the other model that holds back, is slow to carry the tables, and intellectually “hides” from the event leaders in the hope they will be able to stay in a “slow” mode.

Now from the staff team’s point of view, if your company pays the same amount for the willingly participating worker as you do the shirker and lazy model, a potential rift develops in the minds of the hard workers of “why am I working so hard while that person is holding back yet getting the same pay as I do?”

So, during your hiring process of part-timers why not say “we pay those who wish to really work hard and fast by doing the heavy lifting and more intense jobs $4.00 more per hour than those who just wish to work the less intense parts of the events without exerting too much effort like pouring water and scraping dishes. Which do you wish to do if we hire you… the harder work or just the simple stuff?”

Once you stop laughing, please remember that I have clients who use this concept with great success. I suggest you at least think about it. By the way, I can assure you that some new hires will choose to get paid less and work at the easier jobs!