Show Your Staff & Volunteers Their Worth

By Kelly Watkins

Do your staff and volunteers recognize their worth when working with event participants and sponsors? Probably not. Most people have no idea how vital their role is.

Of course, as a sports event planner, you know how important your workers are—paid staff and volunteers alike. You understand that you don’t run a one-man (or one-woman) show. The success of your events is dependent on the people working for you and with you.

How do you let these people know they are important? Start by telling them. You may be surprised to know how many event planners never tell their volunteers and employees how valuable their contributions are. Unfortunately, sports events planners aren’t the only ones; it’s a universal problem. I work with companies around the globe, and I’ve found that a staggeringly high percentage of them never take the time to say to their staff, “You are important.”

Telling your staff and volunteers they are significant to your events’ success is only the first step. You should also show them that they’re important. Here’s a fun exercise that you can use at your next staff meeting or volunteer orientation:

Ask the group how many participants they think that you, as the event planner, see on the day of an event. Write down all the guesses on a flip chart or whiteboard. Then ask the group to agree on which number is most representative (i.e., their best guess). Next, ask them how many participants they see on event day. You can almost bet that the number they agree on will be substantially higher than your number. Why? Because it’s your job to oversee hundreds of areas on the day of the event. But, in most cases, it’s the volunteers’ job to take care of participants.

Don’t let the difference in numbers hurt your ego. This is just a good-natured, fun exercise aimed at demonstrating how vital volunteers are to you and your events.

Now that the group has the right mindset, you can explain that they have an exciting opportunity and a big responsibility to make a difference. Let employees and volunteers know how powerful they are. Recall some instances when you witnessed a volunteer or employee make a difference and share those examples with the group.

What if everyone at the event—from the people working the check-in table to those in the hospitality tent—is working hard and assisting participants with a pleasant attitude, but one person handing out T-shirts is rude? Participants may forget all the other nice workers; they’ll only remember the T-shirt worker who was rude. One negative encounter can ruin participants’ entire perception of the event.

Fortunately, a single positive experience can have just as powerful an impression. What if everything seemed to be going wrong for a participant—you lost his registration form and you ran out of snacks and water? Any one volunteer or employee can still salvage the experience, simply by being friendly and offering a solution.

Do your volunteers and staff know how important they are? They will after you tell them.

What is poor communication costing you? Find out at www.KeepCustomers.com, or contact Kelly Watkins, MBA, at (812) 246-2424, kelly@keepcustomers.com.