Many events are run on a volunteer basis and do not employ paid staff (either permanent of freelance) but it may be something you need to consider in the future to increase the capacity of your organisation or committee or advance certain aspects of your work. Some of the key issues to consider:

• Registering as an employer and understanding your responsibilities
• Recruiting and selecting paid staff
• Putting together an employment contract
• Conducting staff appraisals
• Development and training of staff
• Grievance and disciplinary procedures
• Developing an employment policy/handbook

Business Link website offers extensive information on all of the above mentioned areas, click here to visit their website.

You may wish to employ freelance staff on a fixed-term basis to help with areas such as general administration, book-keeping or marketing. In which case, you might pay the freelancers a daily, hourly or a project fee. This can be an ideal way of gaining some of the skills that your volunteer team might not have and can also be a step towards becoming a professional festival or event.

STAFF DEVELOPMENT

Once you are employing staff it is important to ensure best practise in the development and management of your staff to help you retain and motivate your employees.

The following handbook gives extensive information on recruitment and retention of staff and best practise in terms of employment. It is aimed at the Welsh Tourism sector, but many of the basic principles are the same.

"Success through your people - Human Resources Management Toolkit" by Visit Wales  [please note that this is a large document] http://www.industry.visitwales.co.uk/upload/pdf/success_through_people_eng.pdf

It provides useful information on what it takes to be a good employer, the practices and procedures that make employment easier to manage and where to find help.

FURTHER INFORMATION

VAN briefing note 47, Taking on paid staff 1 - How do we do it? Good practice in recruitment (pdf)

VAN briefing note 48, Taking on paid staff 2 - How do we do it? - Good practice in selection and induction (pdf) 

Investors in People website
http://www.investorsinpeople.co.uk/
Visit the 'Investors in People' site for full information on Staff related issues. The site requires you to go through a basic registration but it has a wealth of information on topics such as: Strategic Planning, Effective Management, Culture & Communication, Developing People and Managing Performance.