Human Resource Management for Events

By Linn Van Der Wagen

A recent addition to the Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann Events Management Series, Lynn Van der Wagen’s Human Resource Management for Events is unique in that it is perhaps the only publications in existence to focus on human resource management specifically for the events industry.

A head teacher of tourism and events in Sydney,   Lynn was part of the team that trained the workforce for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, and has run workshops on the subject for the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG).

The book is divided into two broad topics the first of which is Human Resource Strategic Planning. This section establishes the context of managing human resources in the events industry by examining the event environment, human resource planning, event project planning, managing volunteers and contractors, employment law and duty of care, and finally job analysis.

Part two is concerned with the operational aspects of human resource management in events, and how to go about building the team. The chapters include recruitment and selection, workforce training, job specific training, policies and procedures, organisational culture, communication, leadership, and motivations and retention.

Like the other Event Management Series publications, Human Resource Management for Events is coherently organised and written. It works the fine balance between the practical and the academic featuring numerous case studies alongside theoretical references making it equally useful to the event management student and the event management professional.