How to Identify, Hire, and Train the Next Generation of Party Professionals

Read our interview with Party Pro, Frank Price, for insights to help you hire and train a party team that your competition can’t replicate.

We are proud to partner with leading industry experts and sponsor such events as Birthday University. In advance of the upcoming Birthday University & Party Host Certification seminar in Chicago March 30-31, we sat down with Frank Price for his take on creating the perfect party team. With so much competition for entertainment in our communities, Frank has a lot to say about building a unique brand. Read on for his responses to some of the most important questions.

Question No. 1: What’s the one element in an entertainment facility that can never be duplicated?

Frank: Your team and each member of your team’s specific personality. The solution is in the recruiting, hiring, training and keeping those with the best personalities. Competitors will easily duplicate your entertainment facilities, but will most definitely find it hard to copy your people. They give your business and programing its heart.

Question No. 2: What makes the perfect Party Host?

Frank: It’s definitely personality, but WHICH personality? That comes down to science.

If you are familiar with the science of personality assessment that’s been around for over fifty years, there are sixteen human personality types. We each have one that’s our default. It’s how we are wired to respond in our most natural state, during stress or when we are not “consciously” choosing our specific actions. It’s like defaulting to right or left-hand dominance. These personality temperaments can be used to match jobs, careers and obtain a greater understanding of human team dynamic.

You will find that two of these temperaments make up the perfect party host. We have researched countless, high-quality party offerings and unanimously come back with the same two, as the best, for that position. If your intention and business model is to attract the top end of the family market, which still has the most spendable income and defines value in ambiance, peak moments, personal interaction and emotional connection, here is a solution. Find, hire, train and keep Party Hosts with these personality temperament qualities. They will be naturals.

The Idealist (NF) Personality Temperament: Your best party host

Based on the Your Perfect Team industry research and a version of Myers-Briggs personality profiles, NF personalities with extroverted (E) tendencies are the best party hosts. They make up less than 10% of the total population. The introverted category of (NF) types is not as good a match because guest-interfacing roles are not natural for them.

As you read each of the two personality descriptions, I’m sure you’ll wish you had a dozen of these on your party team. What do they have in common?

1. The ENFP (Idealist) personality is always very popular in a group and is always friendly. They are altruistic and cooperative, doing their best to be empathic and friendly in every situation. They can get along with nearly everyone and usually have a large circle of friends and acquaintances. Their energy and enthusiasm are contagious and inspiring. They are excellent communicators, have great people skills, and instantly know how to present new ideas in a convincing way. People with this personality type know how to switch off stress/worry and have fun, simply experiencing life and everything it has to offer. They are enthusiastic and loaded with energy that can often surprise even their closest friends.

2. The ENFJ (Idealist) personality is charismatic, charming and popular. They instinctively know how to attract and keep people’s attention, as well as communicate with them effectively. They are warm and selfless, always willing to help other people. They are idealists, motivated by the idea of doing something good for the world. They find it very easy to notice what drives, motivates, and worries other people, and they are instinctively able to adjust their manners and interactions accordingly. People with this personality type tend to be open-minded and accepting, willing to consider competing ideas as long as they do not contradict their inner principles. They are hardworking, reliable and consistent with structure and systems.

Does this mean that these are the only two personalities that will make a great party host? Absolutely not, but they will be much more natural at it, enjoy it and make your party program uniquely different and more successful. This Employment App will help you discover personality in the application process, visit www.yourperfectteam.com.

Question No. 3: Ok, so you know what personality you’re looking for. Now what?

Frank: Now you’ve got to attract them to your facility. Meet Generation Z (21 years old and younger) – they will make up 95% of your party team. And you thought you were just getting used to the millennial generation.

Just as you began to reconcile with the unique thought process and characteristics of the millennial generation employee, leaders, managers, coaches, teachers and even parents have a new generation that is nothing like their predecessor. As with Millennials, you don’t have to agree with how they think, act, behave or even have to like them for that matter, but you do have to align with them to be productive, however you define it.

Generation Z is self-motivated, technology savvy, entrepreneurial and more mature for their age than the millennial generation. This makes them goal and growth driven, independent, loyal and possess a high desire to work if the work has meaning and is purposeful. Understanding their way of thinking will help you recruit, hire, train and keep them. A few highlights about Gen Z:

• They communicate visually.
• They value face-to-face communication.
• They want to learn.
• They crave security.
• Perks do not impress them; they want real meaning and authentic relationships.
• They desire mutual respect from their superiors and co-workers.

How to recruit Gen Z

Get their attention by speaking their language with purpose and meaningful opportunities. Money is important, but meaning and purposeful work, as well as a boss they can respect are far more appealing. Personal growth to this generation does not equate to money, or flexibility in their work schedule (like the Millennial) but learning opportunities, autonomy, solving challenges, new responsibilities and being able to make a difference.

It’s natural to assume social media will be the best and maybe the only place to recruit this generation, but only to grab their attention. They must be able to respond immediately and apply directly from your posting on their smartphone. The good news is they check their smart phone every 7-8 minutes.

Snapchat is the most popular platform for the demographic between 12 and 24 years of age, as 72% of this age group are Snapchat users. Snapchat allows you to create a geofilter that can be used when sending a photo or video, which makes your business become the focus, with a direct link to your web site application. Instagram and Facebook can be visual mediums (photo & video) and have ‘Story’ options to convey meaning. Posting recruitment videos on Twitter is also quite popular, as long as they are interesting and relevant. There’s even a new app gaining attention that works like Tinder, swipe left or swipe right called JobSnap. Video resumes will soon become the norm as this generation looks at a resume as a waste of paper.

You can further stand out with Gen Z by giving out gifts at job fairs. Useful, yet neat swag like cellphone cases or branded hot sauce and key chains. Show Gen Z that your organization is fun and goes beyond the typical boring methods of your competitors. Make your audition process fun and social. Include pizza, soda and an exit gift, like a game card to remember you by.

Gen Z is very visual and has a short attention span so use unusual photos and short, organic recruiting videos that speak directly to their heart. A good measure of a successful photo or video is one they would “Like” and can see themselves in.

Question No. 4: You’ve hired them, now how do you train a generation with an attention span of 8 seconds?

In my opinion, Gen Z learns best through digital mobile devices. Follow their social media trends and mimic them, make sure content is relevant and bite-sized. Here are six bite-sized tips to get you started:

1. Go visual; they prefer images, icons and symbols.
2. Incorporate games and story-based games on their mobile devices.
3. Include scenarios, simulations and online digital links.
4. They are independent learners and would rather take on a learning challenge alone than being held up by a group.
5. Keep your content fun, engaging, YouTube “organic” quality video. Learning needs to be fast-paced.
6. They like to learn, but the learning has to have a purpose and be meaningful.

Question No. 5: And finally, what are your best recommendations for keeping them?

Frank: All of these in any order:

• Treat them with respect.
• Coach them by showing not telling.
• Set goals and guide them how to achieve them.
• Reward often and change the type of reward frequently to keep them engaged.
• Give them the autonomy to solve work-related challenges on their own.
• Allow them to stay connected with their technology.
• Give them technology-enhanced learning opportunities that are relevant.

There’s so much to be excited about when thinking about your team and the experience that you want your facility to deliver and, with the right processes, you’ll be well on your way to creating an experienced team that outperforms everyone else. To contact Frank, reach out to him at FL Price www.fl-price.com or www.birthdayuniversity.com.

Have other ideas for what makes a world-class party pro? Share them with us in the comments or on Twitter!