Last month, we delved into staff recruitment issues that face your multi-system DJ business. This month, we conclude “Who’s The Boss?” with what happens after recruitment.
Published in the October 2006 issue
of DJ Times Magazine
Volume 19 - Number 10
By Stacy Zemon
Training
When hiring inexperienced people, provide them with a comprehensive training program that includes a manual. To initiate the new DJ into the business, training should include a combination of lecture, hands-on practice, observation with your other DJs at events, and on-the-job, supervised performance prior to going solo.
Your thorough training agenda should cover all aspects of performance, sequenced in a logical order, as well as your company’s policies, procedures and standards and practices, all set forth in a manual. It is important to have clear and concise standards that apply equally to all of your employees, and then monitor them to ensure those standards are met.
Consider implementing a probationary period for all new employees. This can also apply to existing ones who have violated company policy.
The use of video can be very useful in training, especially to show performance examples or how to properly set up sound and lighting gear. Show your newbie some footage of other DJs’ performances, and other professionally produced “how-to” videos. Excellent resources can be found at djutilities.com, theonepercentsolution.com, and at bmpcd.com.
Provide evaluations a few times per year and always be consistent in your words and actions. Praise people when they perform well, and give criticism constructively (and privately) when it is needed. Your ability to communicate your expectations effectively with employees will be a major factor in your success as a manager.
InternalCustomer Service
Are your employees loyal ambassadors of your company? In many ways, your employees should be considered high-ranking diplomats representing your company.
Remember, you not only have external customers but internal ones, as well. They are your employees. The best way to attract and retain them is accomplished by compensating your DJs well, showing appreciation and respect for the contributions they make, and providing opportunities for professional growth.
Since most of your employees are likely part-timers, you must provide consistent incentives for them to uphold your company’s hard-earned reputation.
To gain buy-in, Missouri-based DJnexus tries to make his DJs happy by making their job as easy as possible. “I personally handle 90-percent of the work that needs to be done for an event,” he says. “This includes closing the sale, meeting with the client, scheduling, special music requests—the list goes on and on.”
If you think about it, the success of any facet of your business can almost always be traced back to motivated employees. From productivity and profitability to recruiting and retention, hardworking and happy employees lead to triumph.
Unfortunately, motivating people is far from an exact science. There’s no secret formula, no set calculation, no work sheet to fill out. In fact, motivation can be as individual as the people who work for you. One person may be motivated only by money. Another may appreciate recognition at staff meetings for a job well done. Still another may view perks as his/her primary motivation.
As a boss, Brandon Lindsey of Hey! Mr. DJ, Entertainment in Cincinnati, wants to build loyalty, reliability and friendship among his staffers, and to reward them for their hard work. And, he has come up with some creative ways to do it.
“During our monthly meetings I provide food and training,” he says. “It’s an educational and team-building experience as well as an opportunity for everyone to give input. Once a month my DJs meet up after our events for a late night dinner. We all talk about how our gigs went and I pay the bill. I also throw a Christmas party every year at a local hot spot and pick up the tab for that. It’s a chance for us all to socialize and blow off some steam. We always have a great time. I just spent about $1,200 on carts, straps and other tools to make my DJs jobs easier.”
Celebrate achieving goals and surpassing milestones such as “500 events booked in 2006.” Commemorating these accomplishments underscores the value that each person brings to the table.
Study after study has shown that praise and recognition tend to build employee loyalty. People want to feel that what they do makes a difference. Money alone does not do this; personal recognition does.
Across the border in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Kevin Kirouac, chimes in about the value of tempering friendship with effective leadership. “We treat our guys like friends,” he says. “We respect their suggestions, and they respond well to criticism when it’s warranted. We drive into them that we have a ‘chain of command’ and ‘standard operating procedures’ that everyone, even the owners, must follow. All complaints are required to be submitted in writing and signed. The Complaint is reviewed by management and then with the employee. A resolution beneficial to all parties is drafted and then implemented.”
Getting staff members to represent your company in a positive manner is not impossible nor is it a “happy accident.” It is the result of a carefully planned management approach that is applied successfully.
When it comes to effective management, DJ Steve Rhodes lives by this motto. “A good manager doesn’t necessarily have to know how to do anything well, other than find good people that do know how to do things well. When managing people, just never ask them to do something that you wouldn’t do yourself.”
At the end of the day, there is only one way to know how morale is at your company—ask the people who work for you.
Compensation
The compensation for DJs ranges from $15 to $200 an hour (or 25- to 70-percent of the contract). Here are the primary factors to consider:
- Experience and talent
- Length of employment with your company
- Specifically requested by a client
- Type of event
- Travel distance to and from party
- Number of hours worked at a function
- Event planning responsibility
- Provided the client lead
- Closed the sale for your company
- A high percentage of positive client reviews
Additional factors include who provides the transportation, equipment and music for a gig. Rate increases should only be awarded for quality performances determined by client satisfaction surveys, and adherence to company standards, policies and procedures.
Most DJ services share the overtime with the entertainer. The MC and/or DJ should be allowed to keep 100-percent of the gratuities. I recommend adding verbiage to your company contract that states, “Gratuities given to your DJ are made at the client’s sole discretion—10- to 15-percent is customary for an excellent performance.” Knowing there is a likely tip at the end of a gig can be a strong DJ performance motivator.
Greg Tish, owner of GT Entertainment in Tallahassee, Fla., believes he pays his DJs at a higher rate than any other company in his local area. Greg’s motivation is simple. “I take care of my people with what they need, and they take care of my company every time they go out to an event.”
Maximizing Meetings
There is great benefit to holding monthly staff meetings as vehicles to train, create camaraderie, and brainstorm information, and to develop action steps toward accomplishing a business goal. The more employees know about the goals of your DJ business and how they can contribute to accomplishing those goals, the more valuable they will feel.
Create a worthy agenda and stick to it. Keep the gathering to about two hours and watch the clock. A good facilitator will chart out periods of time for each topic and will help the group decide how best to use the remaining time allotted if an agenda item requires more discussion.
Meetings are work. But that doesn’t mean participants can’t have fun. Allow joking, small talk, etc. (Know when to cut chatter, too, like when no one has focused on the issue at hand for a couple of minutes.) Make the environment one in which people are comfortable both physically and emotionally.
There is much more that can be said about effective multi-system/person management than there is room for here. Longtime Virginia-based multi-system operator Paul Beardmore has written an excellent series of articles on the subject that can be found at: www.dju.prodj.com/v2/courseindex.php?CourseCatID=12
A veteran of the DJ industry, Stacy Zemon remains an active MC/DJ
Entertainer, and is author of "The DJ Sales & Marketing Handbook and
The Mobile DJ Handbook".
If you have any questions for Stacy Zemon
or Business Line, please send them to djtimes@testa.com.
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