ABSTRACT
An event workforce comprises a range of different types of employees including paid staff, external suppliers, contractors and volunteers. Event organisers depend on volunteers who are recognised as an integral part of the workforce at local, regional, national and international events. This chapter describes how event organisations face a series of unique challenges and additional complexity when they are recruiting, training, managing, rewarding and retaining a volunteer workforce. With events increasingly depending on the volunteer worker, it has become essential to develop mechanisms of management that ensure the provision of a positive and satisfying volunteer experience, and the retention of volunteers. Drawing from extant literature on event management, this chapter focuses on the management challenges faced by event organisations in incorporating volunteer labour into their workforce and the management strategies used to overcome these challenges. The chapter begins with an introduction to volunteering and events and the episodic nature of event volunteering. There are a number of elements important to the management of event volunteers which include training and induction, motivating, rewarding and retaining volunteers. Managing these elements well can assure volunteers have a positive event experience and will encourage the volunteers continued contribution for future events. The chapter concludes with an overview of suggested areas for further research, the findings of which could enhance the volunteer experience and the contributions they can make to the success of the events sector.
