It’s not enough just to sit back, glass in hand, and enjoy the Rugby Union World Cup final – HR professionals are being asked to consider the ‘lessons’ from it for their practice…
Rugby is a favourite sport for the “upper echelons” in business, including many in HR, so doubtless quite a few of the profession’s number will be glued to their TVs on Saturday night for the World Cup final between the New Zealand All Blacks and South Africa, beer or wine glass in hand.
An early warning, however: Strictly Come Dancing doesn’t finish until 25 minutes after the rugby kicks off, and is followed up on BBC1 by Survivor, so negotiations may ensue in many HR households – perhaps leading to a pub foray for the more rugby-inclined.
There is much about the game that is baffling – the rules around the scrum, what constitutes a knock-on and the awarding of penalties and so on – which often leads to the commentators and pundits themselves sounding a bit flummoxed.
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And if the rules were not enough to furrow one’s brow, there are also HR ramifications to consider (apparently). André Spicer, dean and professor of organisational behaviour at Bayes Business School, claims to have revealed five key traits that are common to both successful rugby teams and business operations.
He tells us: “As we enter the final weekend of the World Cup, it is clear we’re about to witness a clash between two closely matched teams.”
Er… yes, go on.
“Although a contest of such magnitude is very tough to call, team success can be predicted by several crucial factors, which are common to both organisations and elite sports teams.” Hmmmm.
And now for the key insight: “Having the objectively strongest individual team members increases the odds of success.”
Surely that’s obvious, everyone agreed at Personnel Today.
We like the bits of rugby that don’t lend themselves to business comparison: the fights after rucks and mauls for starters”
“This may sound obvious,” Spicer continues, “but many organisations select on the basis of what they think a good performer looks like rather than objective factors linked to performance. Top organisations often focus on putting aside biases and focusing on selecting individuals based on their objective strengths.
More controversial was his assertion that: “Strong teams seamlessly keep operations on track. Utilising all colleagues and teammates, they stay on top of demands through good communication and resourcing. The same applies to rugby teams – winning teams are able to keep a game flowing. Successful rugby can be built on putting together longer passages of play and keeping the ball moving instead of stopping and starting.”
The rugby fans at Personnel Today thought this assertion should go to TMO (television match official), as quite often rugby teams appear to win games by breaking up the play, forcing errors and scrums and kicking for touch. They argued that England had enjoyed considerable success with this approach against South Africa, who themselves eventually beat France in the quarter final by forcing penalties and not keeping the game flowing.
Spicer argues: “Winning teams make the very most of all opportunities afforded to them. They seek any advantage around the edges when they are closely matched with competitors. In an office setting, this may include leveraging networking, taking advantage or new technologies, or simply out-working competitors. On the rugby field this entails accurately kicking penalties and drop goals and making the most of scrums, lineouts and territory.”
This is fine but we like the bits of rugby that don’t lend themselves to business comparison: the fights after rucks and mauls for starters. Also, in our workplace, people don’t leave the office bleeding profusely to be immediately replaced by an even larger person in a pristine shirt.
Winning teams make the very most of all opportunities afforded to them” – André Spicer, Bayes Business School
Knowing now of this alignment between rugby and business goals, you might find your enjoyment of the spectacle spoiled by thoughts of work. You could ask yourself “was offering the boss a cup of tea after I’d taken his car park space a knock-on or a 10-metre penalty?” “Was my idea of implementing a new workflow system a lineout that I didn’t throw straight, or a forward pass?”
Perhaps it’d be better to watch Strictly. Nobody has yet compared the perfect execution of a fleckerl (dance step in a Viennese waltz) to a brilliantly timed intervention in a meeting on how to improve productivity. But now I come to think about it, what are the judges but a board of directors, gazing over their workforce, trying to establish who the true stars are – every dance a time and motion study. An “8 from Craig” could be seen as the equivalent of a huge annual bonus or last-minute match-winning try.
We could go on like this for ever.
Perhaps it’d be best just to watch Survivor.
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