Want a Better Event Team? Start With How Your Agency Treats Its Staff
Published: November 2026 | Last updated: November 2026 | Written by Michal Orlowski, Co-Founder, Cube | Connect with Michal on LinkedIn
About the author: Michal Orlowski is the co-founder of Cube, a London hospitality staffing agency. Having started his career as an agency worker in 2007, he has spent seventeen years running a hospitality staffing business, supplying teams for conferences, hotels, weddings, private parties and dinners at venues including The Dorchester, Sofitel and Ham Yard Hotel.
The Quick Answer
The best event teams come from agencies that reward initiative, pay staff for what they add rather than a flat rate, and treat agency staff with the same respect as permanent employees. Those agencies keep their strongest people, and their strongest people are the ones who turn up at your event. As a client, you can help by briefing the team properly, treating them as your own and telling your agency who impressed you.
In seventeen years of supplying teams for conferences, hotels, weddings, private parties and dinners, I have learned that clients rarely want “staff”. They want a team that makes their event look effortless.
Whether you get that depends on something that never appears on a booking form: whether the people arriving at your event actually want to be there.
Why Does a Flat Pay Rate Produce Weaker Event Teams?
The most common mistake in agency staffing is paying every person the same rate, regardless of what they bring to an event.
Picture two people on the same shift in the same role. One arrives early, reads the room, anticipates what the client needs and quietly solves a problem before a guest notices. The other does the minimum required. If both are paid the same, both learn the same lesson: effort and judgement make no difference.
Your strongest people then either leave for an employer who values them, or slowly settle to the level of everyone else.
Pay should reflect what someone adds to an event: skill, reliability, initiative and how well they represent your brand in front of your guests. A flat rate is easy to administer, but it quietly drives away the people you most want to keep.
What Separates Great Event Staff From the Rest?
When I am running an event, I watch for one thing above all: initiative.
I look for the person who starts the next task before anyone asks. They notice what needs doing and get on with it, rather than waiting to be told. They don’t do the minimum and then stand back.
Those are the people I want to recognise, reward and give more responsibility to, because that quality lifts an event rather than simply filling a shift. For more on how agencies assess staff before they reach your event, read do event staffing agencies provide trained or experienced staff?
What Does Recognising Good Staff Look Like in Practice?
I once had a junior waiter who was average to good. He worked with us for about a year while studying at university, doing the job well enough.
Then he began asking for more responsibility, offering to take on extra tasks at events, such as organising certain duties during set-up. Nobody had asked him to. He simply wanted more.
That was the moment his potential showed, so we gave him the responsibility he was asking for. He was soon promoted to help manage events and turned out to be very good at it. Not long after, he became lead manager on several events.
A flat pay rate would never have captured any of that. On paper he was one more junior waiter, right up until he proved he was much more.
The lesson for me is that potential often shows up in what people ask for, not only in what they do. When someone puts their hand up, make room for them, then reward them as their responsibility grows. Do that and you don’t just keep a good person. You build your next lead manager from within.
How Should an Agency Reward Good Work?
Spotting initiative only matters if it leads to something. At Cube, we reward it in three ways, so good work is recognised in proportion:
Team leader. Staff who show initiative are promoted to team leader, with a higher rate for the extra responsibility.
Premium waiter. Strong performers move up to premium waiter, with a higher rate to match.
An extra hour’s pay. When someone has gone the extra mile at an event, we can add an hour to their pay without a promotion. It is a simple, immediate way to show we noticed.
Having several options means not every reward has to be a promotion. Good work is recognised straight away, and the people doing it see that effort pays off. That is a big part of how we keep our best people, and why the same strong faces keep appearing at our clients’ events.
Why Should Agency Staff Be Treated Like Your Own Team?
My core belief is simple: people who work through an agency deserve the same respect as people on your own payroll. Temporary does not mean disposable.
Your guests cannot tell who is on whose payroll. They see one team. When agency staff feel included, properly briefed and trusted, it shows in how they carry themselves and how much they care.
At Cube, that respect comes down to four things:
Communicate, so nobody is left guessing.
Be accommodating, because staff have lives outside the job.
Be honest, even when it isn’t what people want to hear.
Recognise and reward good work, so people see that effort leads somewhere.
Do that consistently and people feel valued and part of a great team. That feeling is what brings good people back, shift after shift.
What Should You Ask Your Event Staffing Agency?
If you want a better team, you have more influence than you might think. Ask your agency:
How do you decide who is sent to my event, and can I have the same people again?
Do you pay and treat your strongest staff differently from everyone else?
How do you brief and communicate with the team before the day?
What happens when someone does outstanding work, or falls short?
For more, read what to ask an event staffing agency before you book and our guide to red flags when choosing an event staffing agency.
How Can Clients Help Build a Better Event Team?
Your side of the event matters too. The clients whose events consistently run best do four things:
Brief the team as they would their own staff.
Explain what matters most to them on the day.
Make the team feel welcome from the moment they arrive.
Tell the agency who impressed them.
That last point is easy to overlook. Your feedback is how good people get rewarded, and how they keep coming back to your events. For more on what makes events run smoothly, read what 1,044 shifts a month taught us about event staffing.
Retention Is Built Every Day
Retention is not a perks scheme bolted on at the end. It is the result of how people are treated every day: paid fairly for what they add, told the truth, thanked properly and made to feel part of something good.
Get that right and the right people keep coming back, and your events get better every time.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get better event staff from an agency?
Choose an agency that rewards initiative and pays strong staff more, brief the team properly before the day, and tell the agency who impressed you so the same people can be booked again.
Should event staff all be paid the same rate?
No. A flat rate tells staff that effort makes no difference, and the strongest people leave. Pay should reflect skill, reliability, initiative and how well someone represents your event.
Can I request the same event staff again?
Yes. Most good agencies will try to send the same people to repeat clients. Telling your agency who performed well is the best way to make that happen.
How does Cube reward its best event staff?
Cube promotes staff who show initiative to team leader or premium waiter, both with higher rates, and can add an extra hour’s pay when someone goes the extra mile at an event.
Why does it matter how an agency treats its staff?
Staff who feel valued stay longer and care more about your event. Agencies that treat their staff well keep their strongest people, and those are the people who arrive at your event.
Book Event Staff With Cube
Send us your date, venue, guest numbers and event format. We will recommend the right team, confirm availability and come back to you within two working hours with a clear, itemised quote.
Get a Quote or call 0203 488 3386.
About Cube: Cube supplies vetted waiters, bar staff, chefs and hosts to London’s hotels, venues and caterers, including The Dorchester, Sofitel, Ham Yard Hotel and Hilton. See our case studies.
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