With his background in sport and education, UCFB academic Ian Tomlinson was recently asked to speak at the Blackpool Business Expo 2017 as part of Philip Parramore’s “Protect Your Recruitment Investment With Employee Attachment” seminar. Ian was asked to present his ideas on the differences in employee attachment of sports individuals and those in the corporate sector…

Employee attachment typically gives an organisation a 120-day window to create a strong “bond” between themselves and a new employee, and act as the foundation for future trust and engagement.

That “trust” is built upon 20 drivers of attachment – developed by shc Bond. These drivers, such as orientation (where the kettle is in the office); performance objectives (setting clear goals for the individual and their team); and systems and processes (how to log an issue with the IT team), must be right at the beginning of an employee’s time with a company to maximise the individual’s potential in the workplace.

Simply put, within sport the attachment period is significantly shorter. This statement can be clearly defined using the framework of the thoughts of former Australian rower Bo Hanson, who now runs Athlete Assessments – a company that works with sports teams and organisations to develop athlete-centred coaching structures.

I adapted the framework first introduced by Hanson, who has previously set out eight clear lessons on employee attachment in sport and the subtle differences between that and the corporate world. Though core feelings resonate in both sectors – security, trust, acceptance, belonging – the added emotional attachment of being a leader or coach of a sports team eventually separates the two.

I explained how the same points identified can be used in non-traditional employee/employer relationships – e.g. associates, short contracts and secondments. The attendees also had the opportunity to raise questions around specific issues through an engaging Q&A session.

Phillip Paramore runs Guide Dot You, business and leadership specialists.

Photo by Peter Jefferson of Visionistic Photography.