Of all the jobs involved with running a paintball field, staffing
and dealing with employees is probably the most difficult, in my opinion. The number of staff we need at our field
varies greatly. For instance, if my
business partner and myself are both present at the field when open for business
and we only have a small group of players (which happens often on weekdays with
small private bookings), we only need one extra staff member. On the other hand if we have several games going
on simultaneously with 150 or more players present at the field, we might need
12 or even more staff.
Therefore we need a sizable list of part time, on call
employees to draw from. We can’t promise
these employees a lot of work, because there often is not a lot of work
available for them. Yet on occasion we
do need them, desperately. Luckily by
offering discounts to employees, we have quite a few regular players that are
willing to put in a shift now and then.
Like any business, we see a wide range of employees. Some are great, others, not so much. Those that don’t do so well, get called back
very infrequently, or not at all. Those
that do really well, get called often.
It’s only natural.
One of our competitors advertises that they use only adult
refs. It’s an obvious dig at us, as we
have both adult and teenage staff members.
And I’ve seen many a forum discussion over the years about how “kids”
shouldn’t be allowed to ref. Kids can’t
handle altercations that take place at paintball fields and can’t stand up for
themselves, is the main argument. It’s a
fair statement, IF those things are commonplace at those fields. But they aren’t at our field. The intensity level is low enough that
altercations are rare. We also have
adult or senior refs on duty every day that could step in if necessary.
Could we have only adult staff? Yeah probably, but the overall quality of the
staff would slip seriously. Why? To get 12 or more refs for busy days, we need
an extensive call list. We usually have
about 40 or so names on the list to draw from, but sometimes, that’s not
enough, especially in the summertime, which also happens to be our busiest
time. Most competent, responsible adults
have other full time employment as well as having other adult responsibilities. Imagine trying to have 40 or more responsible
adults on call to put in a shift at a paintball field every once in a while. It would be nearly impossible. Sure, you could probably find 40
irresponsible adults that might be willing to show up now and then, but who
wants them?
On the other hand, the younger teenage staff we have to draw
from is quite extensive. They are also
eager, at least many of them. For many
it’s their first job and coupled with discounts on playing the game they love,
they usually try quite hard. They are
often in better physical shape, meaning they can run to paintchecks much
quicker.
Some of our younger refs over the years have stayed with us
to become adult refs, but most move on to bigger and better things, which is
what I expect them to do. If they are
good, eager teenage employees, then chances are they are going to become
responsible energetic adults. They aren’t
going to stick around working at a paintball field when there is so much more
out there waiting for them.
Therefore, when a paintball field advertises that they have
only adult employees, then my radar goes on alert and I wonder how good the overall
staffing is. Unless the field has very
little business and needs very few refs, my intuition tells me that some of
those “adult” refs may not necessarily be stellar employees. By not discriminating by age, we have the
ability to attract and keep more good staff.
That’s the way I see it anyway.
