For many security companies, the events season is a peak time. While it brings with it a glut of work, the logistics of managing event security and traffic management with a workforce of ad-hoc, casual or seasonal workers is a highly complex balancing act. Add to this the difficulty of finding reliable people and communicating with them effectively pose additional challenges. However, despite the general shortage of security staff, there are plenty of people that enjoy working events and welcome the additional work over the summer.
Whether you are providing services for a smaller event, or for one with 10,000 or more capacity, it pays to have the right workforce management and rostering software. As well as managing the shifts and allocation of suitably qualified/vetted staff for specific roles, a mobile app for people to book on and off, and a means of communication with events staff will ensure that everyone knows where they should be and what they will be doing. Timesheet reconciliation and sign-off, means that hours worked have been agreed in advance and invoices are accurate. All of which helps to ensure you deliver a great service to your client.
SmartTask’s comprehensive and intuitive scheduling and rostering tools make it quick and easy to create the required services for an event, and to add staff to them. This combined with shift broadcasting and integrated payroll and invoicing has enabled SmartTask customers to manage staff for events effectively.
TMS Protection at the Leeds Castle Classic Concert
TMS Protection, based in Kent and London, specialises in events, key-holding, alarm response, training and security services for clients across the UK, including many local and national companies. During the event season the company can have up to 400 officers in the field – many of whom are seasonal events workers. As Managing Director Tom Devine says: “Our reputation is incredibly important to us and as a customer-focused business, our people are our biggest asset. If we can make life easier for them, they will provide a better service to our customers. SmartTask simply streamlines operations so that mundane tasks are quick and easy for all our staff.”
Delivering Excellence with a Seasonal Workforce
TMS regularly provides security and traffic management services for large events (10,000 to 25,000 people) such as the Leeds Castle Classic Concert, Maidstone River Festival, the Glitter Bomb at Mote Park and the UB40 concert, also at Mote Park.
The Leeds Castle Classic Concert involved deployment of an extra 80 staff over and above TMS’s regular workforce. The SmartTask solution was used to manage rosters, deployment and time-sheeting for the event to cover the provision of security and traffic supervisors, CSAS officers, traffic marshals, stewards and central control room staff. At the end of the event during a debrief with the organiser, timesheets are reviewed and confirmed. TMS then uses SmartTask to arbitrate the shifts and share the Timesheet sign-off report with the client via the Customer portal. The customer electronically approves the report which triggers an automated email to TMS so that invoices can be sent.
A Game-changing Partnership
"SmartTask really demonstrate their partnership approach when they ask us about how the software needs to grow to continue to support our business. WhatsApp integration is a game-changer for us. In a normal week we have 160 staff, for events this can go to 300 or 400. Ad hoc staff are not going to be using the SmartTask App, so being able to send out event details direct from SmartTask via WhatsApp and receive confirmation of availability will save so much time against ringing people on the off chance they want to work. It also means their availability is already in SmartTask, ready for scheduling," added Tom.
Events Security - specific features from SmartTask
SmartTask has a strong track record of listening to our clients and developing our software to meet their evolving requirements. With this in mind, we have extended our solution to include many new Events specific features which, when combined with existing tools, will make managing staff for events even easier.
Event Shift Broadcasting via WhatsApp
Controllers are able to invite workers to events via messaging either through the SmartTask app, or WhatsApp. The SmartTask app has long had the ability to message and send available shifts to workers. However, as part of our research into how we can better enable communication with occasional workers, feedback from our customers indicates that the most reliable way to reach them is via WhatsApp. SmartTask integration with WhatsApp enables organisations to alert workers to events, assess availability, roster them and send shift details and reminders to staff.
New for the 2024 season – Events Roster View
The very latest update to the Events Management module is the Events Roster screen which can be used by on-site team supervisors to better manage their team and typically replaces a clipboard. The new summary screen makes it easier to see all shifts on a given day, review status and amend shift details as required. This will enable controllers to finetune shifts and ensure contractual obligations are covered.
With the advent of contractor WiFi at most events, when loaded on to a laptop or tablet this feature can be used to book staff on and off shift, and to log what equipment they are issued with. As well as providing an at-a-glance view of who is working, when and where, it provides an audit trail for equipment, and accurately populates reports for the customer after the event.
In addition, by keeping a record of who is issued with numbered high vis jackets, staff behaviour can be monitored, enabling the company to deal effectively with complaints and praise from the public.
The system can also be used to provide a list of staff expected on-site to the organiser in advance.
Pay-as-you-Go Occasional Workers
With no long-term commitment, this update to our existing option (where organisations pay per number of ‘Active’ staff registered on the system) enables companies to designate a worker to be PAYG, meaning you will only be billed for any shifts the staff member completes.
See SmartTask at the International Security Expo
We will be sharing our latest Events functionality, as well as the full capability of the SmartTask workforce management solution at the International Security Expo, at Olympia on 24-25 September. Our stand number is D3 – drop by and say Hello!