Clients do not come first. No that was not a typo. Meeting client's or customers needs is imperative to any successful business, but as Richard Branson famously said:
“Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees they will take care of your clients.”
It’s a great philosophy and shifts the focus internally towards the retention and development of staff. Even with the best will in the world, some employees will leave, and it may be down to factors out of your control such as moving location or personal circumstances.
Therefore creating a framework to develop employees and bring new talent into the business is key for long-term sustainability. Sustainable can be defined as: ‘able to be maintained at a certain rate or level’ and all organisations working in our sector should be ensuring they have a plan to be sustainable in sport and physical activity to continue to have a positive impact.
We’re noticing more sport and physical activity organisations are looking at how they can be sustainable, with environmental impact and sustainable development being areas now looked at more closely. The good practice we’re seeing is where organisations are being proactive in how they approach this and taking control of those areas that can be controlled like how employees are treated and what workforce development plan is in place.
Treating employees well should be an active aim of all organisations and here are some ideas for it:
- Offering a competitive salary and clear structure to set expectations and show opportunities to progress
- Creating a safe and supportive company culture where staff feel listened to, trusted and empowered
- Offering flexible working to support a healthy work-life balance
- Ensuring staff are recognised and acknowledged for the great work they do
- Offering training and development opportunities that improve the knowledge and skills of staff
- Clear communication on company performance and how staff link to it demonstrates the mission and values of the company and how these have a positive impact.
Clear actionable points identified for the points above will help an organisation move towards having a happier workforce. One key aspect identified is to offer training and development opportunities to staff. This can cover the current workforce but should also include how new talent is brought into the business and how they are developed to drive the business forward.
The key things to consider to help create a sustainable workforce through a clear staff development plan are:
- Ensure a culture of training is cultivated – This will develop over time but starts with a commitment from leaders towards training and a clear prioritisation of it in work programmes where staff should be given some time to do CPD and training. Training should permeate all areas of the business for example it should be actively reviewed at staff progress/appraisals, all staff should be encouraged to suggest potential training courses or share good training they have completed and training should be delivered at team meetings. These activities will gain buy-in from staff and managers to ensure the successful implementation of any training plan.
- Have a clear training plan – Make sure staff and managers know what training is available and how to access it. This may include a layered approach with mandatory training for all staff, role and/or level-specific training. People want clarity and if staff can be consulted on what sort of training they would like that is even better. Also, look at how new talent is introduced to the business and what inductions (the first opportunity to start training a member of staff into your way of working) look like. A clear plan around how new staff are recruited and developed helps create a continuous pipeline of new talent to mitigate against staff leaving or to support growth for the business.
- Ensure the training is relevant and beneficial – There’s no point in offering training that staff don’t value because they won’t be motivated to do it. There will always be some mandatory training covering business needs but more specific staff training should also be planned to link to the role they are doing and to support them as they develop with the company. There are lots of free and funded training opportunities, including apprenticeships, that staff can benefit from so gaining training options from a wide variety of sources is definitely beneficial. Using internal coaching and mentoring is a great way to share expertise so there are contingencies in place should anyone leave, but they are also mutually beneficial for the mentor and mentee to develop their skills.
- Identify how to access training – a clear process is important so training is accessible to all. Is training requested by staff through appraisals? How is this agreed upon? What happens if the budget is exhausted by a few requests? Again, clarity is needed so there is fairness and transparency.
- Identify who owns and drives the training plan – not every company will have an HR Manager or L&D Manager but all companies should give ownership to someone to oversee the process. They may for example be the person that manages training requests and they may compile and present all training opportunities to staff, something that could be a working document that develops over time as new ideas are shared. Ultimately, if there is a commitment to training, someone needs to ensure it is implemented otherwise it could erode over time. Ongoing evaluation is also important to see what is working well and what needs to be changed.
- Contextualise training – training can support in developing knowledge and skills but to really add value it should be contextualised to your industry or working practices. Management training for example will cover key areas including finance, project management and people management but a hands-on sports education management course will help to contextualise these generic skills and knowledge in a sport and physical activity context which will make it much more relevant for organisations working in our sector.
All organisations are different but having a sustainable workforce that can drive a business’ vision and mission should be a common goal all sport and physical activity organisations are striving for.
