Staff and volunteers

This article is about working with collaborators and volunteers. When you want to realize an initiative or project you often have to deal with other people. For example, you have suppliers and parties that have an influence on your initiative or project. Think of the municipality or emergency services. It may also be that you yourself hire people to support the implementation of what you have come up with. Depending on the funding of your initiative or project, you may hire employees or you may look for volunteers. In many cases there is a mix of paid and volunteer staff.

Paid workers

In some cases, you work with a number of colleagues to develop the initiative or project. You then have the costs of this included in the budget and you pay these people from the company or foundation organizing it. They may also work as self-employed workers which allows them to send you an invoice.

Volunteers

Especially when you are going to perform something for the first time or when budgets are a little lower, it is advisable to work with volunteers. This is also fun because volunteers often help because they are interested or want to learn something. You can give volunteers a fee or offer them a ticket to the performance or food and drinks. There are rules associated with volunteer compensation. In all cases, draw up a volunteer agreement, which you need for tax and insurance purposes. Keep in mind that volunteers deserve at least as much attention as paid employees.

Internship

Many organizations decide at some point to work with interns. Often interns have a different perspective on things that allows you to develop. In turn, you teach students new things so that they can grow and become part of the new generation of cultural creators in a city or region. In fact, you should always schedule interns as supernumerary staff instead of seeing them as replacements for certain positions. That way they have the opportunity to learn and make mistakes! There are students who do short-term internships, such as helping out at an event. In addition, you can commit an intern to you for several months, making him or her part of the organization. These students have often been given a research assignment or a larger executive assignment. Chances are that you must first become an "approved internship company. This means that you are officially allowed to supervise students. You can contact several organizations for this:

• ELBHO Foundation for HBO and WO.
• Collaboration Organization for Vocational Education Business (SBB) for MBO.

Take good care of your staff and volunteer

It is very nice to cooperate with others and sometimes it is even indispensable because it is not possible to realize an initiative or project on your own. Therefore, it is very important that you take good care of the people who help you, whether they are doing paid or unpaid work. This means that you provide enough food and drink for them. You also make sure they are safe and have the necessary facilities when doing their work. Involve employees as much as possible in coming up with solutions and provide variety in their work whenever possible. Also, always let them know clearly where they can go with questions.

Briefing

It's helpful that your employees, paid or unpaid, are well informed about everything. That's why you create a briefing. This can be done at several times. Often you send a briefing by e-mail a few days to weeks before the execution. In it, you list all the things they need to know in advance. Think of things like:

• The date and times and schedule.
• Any clothing to be worn.
• Location address and accessibility.
• The day's program.
• Job content, tasks and duties.
• Financial arrangements.
• Communication tools so they can help with promotion.

In addition, it is helpful to have another briefing on the day. This is often done verbally and by employee types (if it is a somewhat larger initiative or project). Often your employees have never been to the location before. Then it is good to give them some things to take with them the moment they get there. For example, consider the things below:

• A tour of the venue focusing on practical matters such as where the restrooms are.
• Safety aspects such as house rules, where fire extinguishers are located and how to proceed in case of emergencies.
• Any changes to the day's program.
• Specific explanation of tasks and duties.
• Breaks and crew catering.
• Changes in the day's schedule.

Creating a grid

It is advisable to create an overview of the all types of staff and personnel you want to use. You can do this for both a one-day activity and a multi-day activity. The roster will include who will come to work at what times, what their function is and with whom they work. You could add a column with the cost per staff member so that you have this listed immediately as well. You could also include who eats with you at what times, so that you immediately have an overview for crew catering.

Recruitment and selection

Finding good employees can be done in a lot of ways. If you are looking for paid employees, it is often a little easier because you can offer financial compensation. You can then make an appeal through your own network, you can use employment agencies or secondment agencies and you can post a message in networking groups on LinkedIn or on Facebook. Recruiting volunteers is best done through your own network, through schools in the area or through sports clubs. In some cases, the Vrijwilligerscentrale Arnhem or Gelderse Handen may also be a good fit for your initiative or project.

If, from your expertise, you yourself have knowledge that would fit this topic, or if you see opportunities to improve this text, we look forward to receiving your message at info@cultuuracademy.nl.