Managing People in Sport Organizations

A Strategic Human Resource Management Perspective

Tracy Taylor, Alison Doherty, Peter McGraw

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781134709120
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Human Resource Management
• Index: Business

Managing People in Sport Organizations provides a comprehensive overview of the theory and practice of managing people within a strategic framework. This revised and updated second edition examines a range of strategic human resource management approaches that can be used by sport organizations to respond to contemporary challenges and to develop a sustainable performance culture. Drawing on well-established conceptual frameworks and current empirical research, the book systematically covers every key area of HRM theory and practice, including:

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• recruitment

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• training and development

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• performance management and appraisal

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• motivation and reward

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• organizational culture

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• employee relations

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• diversity

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• managing change

This new edition also includes expanded coverage of social media, volunteers, and individuals within organizations, and is supported with a new companion website carrying additional resources for students and instructors, including PowerPoint slides, exam questions and useful web links. No other book offers such an up-to-date introduction to core concepts and key professional skills in HRM in sport, and therefore Managing People in Sport Organizations is essential reading for any sport management student or any HR professional working in sport.

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After reading this chapter you will be able to:

• Identify the unique challenge of managing people in contemporary sport organizations

• Identify the key human resource (HR) issues that affect sport organizations

• Explain how the human resource management (HRM) perspective affects HR policies and practices

• Describe how effective HRM contributes to the sustainability of sport organizations

CHAPTER OVERVIEW

In this chapter the concept of HRM is introduced in the context of a short historical overview of its evolution from personnel management. The case is made that contemporary HRM techniques are the most effective methods of increasing performance in modern organizations, particularly in the service sector. We overview some key issues relating to the effective management of personnel in sport organizations. In the context of this book volunteers are defined as individuals who provide their services free of charge to sport organizations for the benefit of those organizations. As is highlighted throughout the book, the prevalence, cultural context and meaning of ‘volunteering’ varies quite significantly from country to country.

The chapter concludes with a discussion of various elements of HRM and where these are covered in the remaining chapters of this book. We also acknowledge the themes that are integrated throughout the book that are related to the management of individuals and workgroups, staff and volunteers, and in geographically and culturally different contexts.

MANAGING SPORT ORGANIZATIONS

There has been much written about the unique nature of sport and the organizations associated with its delivery. The premise underpinning the inimitability of sport relates to its ability to engender irrational passions and emotional attachments, despite the often variable quality of the product. This is evidenced in the devoted fans who continue to support their favorite team through product purchases and spectator attendance even though the team is in the bottom half of the competition ladder, the organization is financially mismanaged or there are questionable ethics employed in player transfers. There is also the example of the wealthy team owner who continues to sustain massive losses year after year, but is alternatively rewarded by the associated status and sense of benevolence of his or her actions in financially propping up the team! This passion for sport may also be reflected in the individuals who choose to work in the sport industry where, except for some professional athletes, the salaries and earning potential tends to be below what similarly qualified individuals could earn in jobs unrelated to sport (Parks & Parra, 1994). It is also reflected in the vast legions of volunteers who congregate to help stage mega-sport events such as the Olympic Games, and who constitute the majority of coaches, managers and administrators running community sport clubs and associations (Cuskelly, Hoye & Auld, 2006).

The sport industry’s distinctiveness is further exemplified by the features of intangibility, heterogeneity and inseparability of production and consumption (Buswell, 2004). By way of illustration, a consumer’s valuation of, for example, a professional sports match or a personal training session with a coach or fitness consultant cannot be determined until that person has watched the match or engaged in the training session. This underscores the importance, and organizational challenge, of offering what will be seen as a quality product or service. These distinguishing characteristics of sport combine to create a unique management environment for sport organizations, of which the effective management of people who are working and volunteering for the organization is the most critical. In the same way that getting the best out of their players is the hallmark of a good coach, getting the best out of employees and volunteers is the hallmark of a good manager acting within an effective HR system.

As with many industry sectors there is extensive variability in the scope and size of sport organizations. Organizations dealing with sport range from small locally based volunteer run sport clubs that have no paid employees, to medium-sized organizations with a mixture of paid staff and volunteers, to multinational corporations that are staffed by a large global workforce. In delineating the sport industry, Hoye, Smith, Westerbeek, Stewart and Nicholson (2005) classified sport into three sectors: the public sector, the non-profit or voluntary sector and the professional or commercial sector. Sport organizations in the public sector include the sport and recreation branches of local, state/provincial and national governments (e.g., city recreation department, or provincial or federal ministry of sport), as well as government-funded specialist agencies that support such areas as high performance athlete or coaching development (e.g., a national sports institute). The non-profit or voluntary sector includes such organizations as community-based sport clubs (e.g., local swimming or football club), regional and national sport governing bodies (e.g., state or national athletic association) and international sport governing bodies (e.g., International Olympic Committee). The professional or commercial sector includes organizations such as professional sport teams and their governing leagues (e.g., Boston Celtics and the National Basketball Association (NBA), sport apparel and equipment manufacturers and retailers (e.g., Nike or Li-Ning, China), and sport stadia and facilities (e.g., Estadio Azteca, Mexico; Wembley Stadium, UK; Estadio Do Maracana Stadium, Brazil).

People management issues, processes and practices are inexorably linked to the orientations of these sport organizations. Some examples of sport organizations, their missions and their staffing requirements are presented in Table 1.1 using the Hoye et al. (2005) industry sectors framework.

TABLE 1.1 Sport organization sectors and staffing

HRM considerations are shaped by the environment in which the sport organization is located. The environment includes not only the sector but also the geographical location and cultural context. This operating context presents both opportunities and challenges for sport organizations.

In the public sector, government policy and legislation can support, regulate or dictate activities. At the general level this can impact sport organizations through the financial resources available from government sources for employing staff, to more specific operational implications, such as mandatory police checks of all employees and volunteers who work with children under child protection legislation. Non-profit and voluntary organizations inevitably have to grapple with volunteer management challenges. Organizations with a workforce consisting of both paid employees and volunteers require an approach to managing people that recognizes the different perspectives, motivations and capacity that each group brings to the organization. A volunteer workforce can provide sport organizations with the resources to perform such vital roles as officials, umpires, coaches, team managers, administrators, facility and grounds managers, registration and accreditation officers, fundraisers and event managers, to name just a few. The challenge is to recruit sufficient volunteers, maintain their motivation and to retain their services. The importance of volunteers to the sport sector has been well recognized and there are now many well-developed volunteer management programs and initiatives in countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the USA and across Europe.

Professional and commercial sport organizations have challenges such as meeting customer expectations and stakeholder demands via an effective workforce. Contemporary sport businesses have to make decisions about where to invest in HR and what types of HR activities will bring long-term, strategic benefit to the organization. Professional sport organizations have to deal with complex HR matters related to player trades and acquisitions, salary caps, team contract negotiations, player welfare and increasing scrutiny of integrity matters. In many sport-specific organizations there are also dilemmas about whether to recruit staff for their technical expertise or skills irrespective of their sporting background or their knowledge of the sport.

Regardless of sector, location or size, successful sport organizations require an approach to managing people, both on and off the field, which ensures that each individual realizes his/her potential and one that leverages capabilities across groups and that provides a rewarding work environment.

Throughout this book we present cases for discussion, ask you to think about questions related to the content, and present you with some ‘dilemmas’ to promote discussion and debate about different perspectives on HRM issues.

After reading the introduction, discuss/debate the following situation:

Your sport club/team has always operated with a small number of professional staff but a recent government grant has provided the funds to make an additional senior management appointment. The top two candidates are a degree-qualified management specialist with five years business experience but no association with the sport, and a recently retired former captain of your first grade/tier team with 15 years’ experience with the club including having held a board role. How might you differentiate between these two candidates? What ‘weight’ would you give to these considerations?

CONTEMPORARY SPORT ORGANIZATIONS

Increased globalization, commercialization and accountability in the sports industry over the past few decades have led sport organizations to adopt more sophisticated management systems and become more ‘business’ orientated. These forces have shaped the scale and delivery of sporting competitions, the ways in which sports are organized, managed and governed, and the multidirectional flow of athletes, coaches, managers and executives across local, national and international locations. Significant change can be found in sport organizations in countries where fundamental political and ideological shifts have occurred (e.g., China, Russia) or where government funding in the provision of sport has been tied to restructured sport delivery systems and increased accountability for that funding (e.g., Canada, Australia, New Zealand). In the past few decades we have seen sports assume professional status (e.g., Rugby Union, Triathlon, Snowboarding) and long-established professional clubs achieve significant global exposure and build their brand equity (e.g., Manchester United, Barcelona, Bayern Munich). The transnational movement of athletes and coaches in professional sport has intensified, and global companies are involved in the management of these personnel (e.g., IMG, Octagon). We have seen the growth and increasing sophistication of chain organizations (e.g., Fitness First with over 1 million reported members in 2013), and in organizations that deliver major sport events (e.g., Organizing Committees for the Olympic Games, the FIFA World Cup, Formula One). A vast array of specialist providers associated with sport spectatorship has emerged (e.g., Global Spectrum – facility management; Nevco – sport scoreboards/displays) together with companies providing security for sport events and an ever expanding array of sport technologies.

The shift in the way sport has been traditionally organized may be most evident in bodies such as provincial/state and national level representative sport organizations where a growing number of paid employees have been appointed in roles traditionally held by volunteers (Ferkins, Shilbury & McDonald, 2005; Skirstad & Chelladurai, 2011). The classic examples of this are national sport organizations (NSO). These organizations were traditionally managed by former athletes and sport enthusiasts with a passion for the sport and the NSOs’ measures of success were tied to on-field success and participant numbers rather than operational effectiveness. Changes to the sport environment have meant that increasingly NSO employees are selected for their technical or professional expertise in managing a business irrespective of their knowledge of the sport, and board members are recruited for their business acumen and not just their sporting knowledge or prowess.

As a sport develops, it is important to remain cognizant of how sport organizations have evolved, their cultural contexts, origins and core values, who the stakeholders are, and how staffing and HR policies can be used to meet their missions and goals for the future.

THE PEOPLE MANAGEMENT CHALLENGE IN SPORT ORGANIZATIONS

Human resources are of critical importance, alongside other valuable intangibles of a sport organization such as brand value and customer relationships. Attracting, developing and retaining talented people can provide a sport organization with the resources it needs to prosper, grow and, ultimately, gain competitive advantage. For example, the right coach or manager, a dynamic CEO or a new key player can transform the fortunes of sport organizations in a short period of time from the bottom of the pile into league or world champions.

The attraction, retention and development of high-caliber people is a major source of competitive advantage for sport organizations and should therefore be a high strategic priority. Creating competitive advantage through people means being able to identify the best mix of technical, team and leadership skills and abilities required for the organization. The ‘best mix’ is the combination that will allow the organization to meet its strategic objectives now and into the future. Recruiting the right people into the organization can provide the basis for improved efficiency, increased productivity and high morale in the workforce. Such people are likely to be motivated to give their best and will deliver the flexibility and commitment that most sport organizations seek.

Retention of talented employees and volunteers is one of the most important challenges for sport organizations today. Retention is often linked to issues of motivation, satisfaction, positive morale and appropriate rewards and recognition. Therefore, it is important to find out what creates motivated, committed and contributing employees and volunteers. Structuring a reward and recognition system that is aligned with the organization’s strategic direction can contribute to positive employee and volunteer motivation, morale and retention. Training and developing employees and volunteers can create a more positive organizational culture by adding value to its key resources, and underpins a commitment to organizational learning and its associated benefits. Training and development of individuals will also assist the sport organization to satisfy current and future HR needs.

Retaining good employees and volunteers also contributes to customer satisfaction and facilitates greater sport consumption. Effective succession planning and talent management will also be of increasing importance, as over the next few years the Baby Boomers (born 1946–1964) will retire, and the much smaller cohort of upcoming Generation Xers (1965 to 1976–1982) will mean that there are significantly fewer people available to work.

How well sport organizations cope with the future challenges facing them will depend to a large degree on how well they can manage people to succeed in new ways of working and how successful they are at negotiating associated changes. Irrespective of the nature and degree of current and future people management challenges, the importance of attracting, developing, motivating, retaining, rewarding and managing the ‘right’ people needed to optimize the sport organization’s performance is central to effective HRM and organizational performance.

WHAT IS HRM?

Human Resource Management is broadly defined as the policies, practices, procedures and systems that influence the behavior, attitudes, values and performance of people who work for the organization. An organization’s HRM system at its most basic level administers people management systems which support broader organizational activities. In other words the HRM system follows strategic decisions taken in the mainstream business and ensures that such decisions can be implemented effectively by coordinating the people-related aspects of them. To be effective the HRM system must be both aligned with the strategic direction of the organization and be internally consistent. Strategic HRM (SHRM) takes this idea one step further by integrating HRM decisions into the strategic decision-making process so that it no longer just implements strategy, but actually helps to define and enable it in the first instance. The concept of SHRM is discussed in detail in Chapter 2 of this book.

The HRM system within an organization can be shaped by many factors depending on the type of organization (e.g., public or private sector), the external environment in which the organization operates (e.g., the nature of the labor market), and the choices made by the organization about how work is organized (e.g., the extent to which rewards are equally shared within the organization). As a result of these factors and choices there will be different human resource configurations within different organizations.

Before we consider a model of HRM it is useful to briefly outline the evolution of the concept from personnel management. This brief history is useful for three reasons. First, it helps us to understand how HRM is conceptually different from personnel management. Second, it helps us to understand how different HR functions have evolved historically at different times and as a result of different external pressures. Third, it helps us to understand that personnel and HR practices have been shaped by key theoretical advances which are to this day important underpinnings of practice and which will be referred to again in the various chapters of this book outlining different HR practices.

THE EVOLUTION OF THE HRM CONCEPT

HRM in practice varies greatly between sport organizations, from those with modern HRM techniques that are integrated and strategic to others that are still implementing an older style ...