JO WALTHER - DIRECTOR, ZING INSIGHTS
"It was great to be involved in the design and analysis of this year's Event Salary Survey, and it is obvious from the sheer volume of comments that there is no shortage of passion within the industry.
However, it continues to experience challenging times. Organisers' moves towards more customer/visitor-focused event delivery - in an attempt to halt declining visitor numbers - requires increased creativity and innovation, and, as a result, it is more important than ever that the industry invests in quality people to drive development."
- Which of these was the main reason why you left the company?
These results point to the fact that job dissatisfaction and a lack of career prospects were the main reasons why event industry professionals left their previous roles.
- How many employees are there in your company?
Interestingly, the mix of entrants in this year's Salary Survey is fairly even, although it was refreshing to see a rise in the number of larger brands taking the time to fill it in.
- All the reasons why you left?
When pushed to name all of the reasons for leaving their previous roles, entrants seemed to be upset about the lack of promotion, and wanted a better job package.
- If you work over your contracted hours, what do you receive?
These results suggest that, as an industry, overtime payments are not common practice, and if employees do receive anything it is time off in lieu.
- Did you receive the bonus/commission that you expected to earn last year?
A positive from the industry survey is that companies appear to be paying out on commission and bonuses.
- How good are the prospects for promotion in your company?
Compared with last year's grim readings, event industry staff's prospects for promotion seem to be getting back on track. This could be down to senior redundancies.
For in-depth analysis make sure you read the Nov/Dec issue.
LIZ SINCLAIR - MANAGING DIRECTOR, ESP RECRUITMENT
"I have been working with Event on producing the survey for more than 12 years and still find the results fascinating each year.
It remains a very important piece of research for the industry to ensure clients are benchmarking against the average when paying staff, especially now that the market is more buoyant - and seems to be turning back to a candidate's market. We have tried to keep the survey fresh every year by asking some new questions, and there are some really interesting results from the questions asked about companies' strategies for the Olympics and social media."