STAFF SUPPORT
The pandemic changed the event management landscape, and now operators are implementing lessons learned when it comes to hiring, training and retaining staff. By Michael Popke THE CHALLENGES OF THE PAST TWO YEARS — developing new strategies to attract employees from a shallow labor pool, enforcing mask mandates, implementing vaccine-verification practices — have tested the fortitude of event management professionals and their teams. And while the worst might be over, the lessons learned during this unprecedented period are just starting to pave the way for better operations. “Everybody’s looking for new ways to improve,” says Jessica Reid-Bateman, director of guest experience for the SAP Center at San Jose, home of the National Hockey League’s San Jose Sharks. “The pandemic taught us that we have to be more resilient.” Resiliency can take numerous forms. The SAP Center at San Jose, for example, shifted its hiring emphasis from job fairs to advertising for ushers and other event staff via social media, in-game announcements, electronic signage, and good old-fashioned word of mouth from existing employees. Applicants are asked to participate in a video screening process during which they answer five questions. Those making it past that round are quickly scheduled for an in-person interview. “We can’t wait weeks to respond to a job candidate now,” Reid-Bateman says. “The days of having a hiring fair and seeing 500 people show up aren’t here anymore. The workforce today is much more diverse in how they look for jobs — and what they look for in jobs.” Indeed, engagement is critical to employee satisfaction, according to Drew Pittman, associate athletics director for event management and facilities at Baylor University. Most of Baylor’s event workers are managed by a third party, but that doesn’t mean they’re not part of the university’s staffing family. “When we do a promotion where we put T-shirts on all the seats, we set aside an appropriate number of those shirts for the staff working that game,” Pittman says. “We also were able to bring employee parking closer to the stadium for football games, so they don’t have to get on a shuttle G A ME DA Y S E C UR IT Y | S UMME R 2 0 22
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