Over the last decade, the recruitment industry has witnessed several significant changes, as traditional recruitment methods prove less effective and job boards are replaced with new online hiring portals, social media recruitment channels and mobile-friendly applications.
Within the last few years, we’ve seen a steep rise in demand for talent and the competition gets fiercer by the day, as companies and organisations seek to fill roles with well-suited, high skilled candidates. Posting vacancy adverts to attract potential candidates to apply, is now considered out-dated amongst modern day business leaders. Often, it’s a fruitless attempt that simply attracts the same type of candidate leads; many of which you may have already disqualified during past recruitment efforts. As such, traditional recruitment routes can become time consuming and costly to most businesses, whilst providing little to no pay off.
Strong business leaders and many successful organisations are now starting to realise the importance of alternative talent acquisition, and that finding the right talent for the right roles requires a more personalised approach. Today, it’s much more about setting in place diverse talent pools and relationship building strategies, connecting employers with future candidates through networks and communities. In short, talent pipelines are crucial as they cut costs, reduce time to fill and effectively identify high-quality candidates suited to the prospective job role.
Many companies now undertake specific recruitment processes, targeting niche groups such as university graduates, ex-military personnel and those with managerial experience to enhance the probability of suitable new hires, but what about athletes; and how can an athlete career program revitalise your global talent pipeline?
At ACT, we’re continually transitioning retired athletes into corporate work environments, nurturing relationships between employers and high-performance sporting professionals as they seek employment opportunities outside of the realms of sport. We recognise how the skills and experience gained through sports can often translate into exceptional business and leadership skills.
By expanding your talent pools to be inclusive of, or even specifically focused on attracting candidates with athletic and sporting backgrounds, you are providing your business with a wealth of future growth opportunities. Having an athlete career program implemented into your recruitment strategy means that you are likely to engage with people who possess incredible communication and collaborative skills. These are individuals who, for many years, have had to rely on their ability to work well within a team, communicating with others, working collaboratively to achieve a single goal. Team sport demands from athletes, the ability to not just perform well under pressure but to accept responsibility for how their personal effort affects the outcome of a combined team performance. In addition to their collaborative capabilities, elite athletes are also skilled in areas such as strategic planning – a key attribute highly sought after in business. In both sports and business, strategic planning involves identifying a goal and then clearly defining and executing strategies so the goal can be met. Athletes regularly take part in strategic planning, as this is required almost every time they play and attempt to win a match or game. Athletes are also adaptable. In the world of sports, things change quickly and suddenly, often with no pre-warning to the athlete before-hand. The same thing can sometimes happen in business, where unforeseen changes to operations, structure, and leadership are all possibilities. Athletes are renowned for their resilience in dealing with change and therefore, when unpredictable circumstances present, they are likely to reflect keen critical thinking and respond positively with maturity and professionalism.
Those who have dedicated years of their life to their sporting careers are usually those driven most by self-motivation. This unique skill, which they will have perfected over time often means that they can easily motivate others, too. Athletes are not reliant purely on the roar of cheering crowds and excitable fans. As they strive to achieve top level performance without faltering under pressure, athletes must draw from within. They recognise their inner strengths and they hone in on them, pushing themselves to excel at every opportunity.
For business leaders, companies and organisations with ambitious aspirations, each of these transferable qualities are desirable skills within the corporate workplace. It’s for this reason, at ACT, we’re passionate about supporting businesses to engage with those from athletic backgrounds as we invest time into building prosperous relationships between corporate recruitment teams and retired sports professionals.
To find out more about how elite athletes can re-energise your talent pipeline, read our Athlete stories. We’re continually adding to our ‘Employer Insights’ to share information on how businesses can utilise the transferable skills of some of the world’s most renowned athletes for mutual success.