In Business, the pursuit of excellence is a relentless quest. Companies are in a constant battle to maximise performance, outpace competitors and achieve sustainable success. Considering this, there is much to learn from the Sports Industry- where the cultivation of talent, dedication to improvement and strategic management are essential to get ahead.
What if Businesses adopted the same approach used with Professional Athletes with their Employee?
Businesses and Sports Teams achieve results in the same way- both spending years committed to enhancing their performance in order to exceed in their field. Businesses are made up of a group of employees, just as a sports team is made up of a group of Athletes. Both Employees and Athletes are expected to perform in the face of increasing pressure and frequent change, relying heavily on their mental and physical wellbeing to consistently deliver. Yet only athletes benefit from a multifaceted approach to their Wellbeing, underpinned by Sports Science. The Sports Industry fully embraces the understanding that in order to master a certain skill, Athletes must first master the fundamentals of Wellbeing.
How do Employees Compare to Professional Athletes?
Professional Athletes are expected to consistently perform whilst under stress, in rapidly changing environments where the risk of injury is high. They are required to draw not only on their physical attributes, but also on their mental fortitude. Similarly, Employees work in very similar work environments- they, too, are expected to perform daily, under unavoidably stressful circumstances, navigating demands on both their mental and physical wellbeing. Unlike Athletes, however, Employees are typically only appraised from the ‘neck up’, with little consideration given for their overall Wellbeing and its role in their overall performance.
What can we learn from the world of Professional Athletes?
Maximising individual performance is crucial for success when it comes to Professional Athletes and their teams. It is no secret in the Sports Industry that Mental Wellbeing and Physical Well Being are not only fundamentally intertwined, but have a clear bidirectional relationship. That is to say- better physical health correlates strongly with better Mental Health, and vice versa. There is a robust and growing evidence base that champions the application of this mantra to Employee performance leads to incredible results.
How do we manage Employees like Professional Athletes? What is their secret to success?
At its core, Sports Science and the Sports Health Model focuses on the prevention of injury, and the recovery from injury. The approach used with Athletes not only encompasses the risk of physical injury, but also that of psychological stress. It goes without saying that the risk of physical injury and psychological stress for Athletes is high, as is the risk of stress for an Employee. Whilst the physical demands of athletes tend to be related to positively pushing their physical capacity, there are many physical demands made of Employees that involve negatively pushing their physical capacity.
What does negatively pushing physical capacity mean? How does this affect Employees?
To negatively push a persons physical capacity, you are asking their body to actively under perform, or perform in a maladaptive way that has a negative impact on their physiology. For Employees this looks like sitting at a desk for most of the day, rather than actively moving their body to maintain their cardiovascular and metabolic health and wellbeing. It also looks like sitting in an anti-ergonomic way that challenges the maintenance of good posture and spine health. The majority of UK Employees are sleep deprived- citing reasons such as difficulty sleeping due to work-related stress, overexposure to screen-lights having spent the day in front of a screen, or turning to bedtime ‘revenge procrastination’ . It is any wonder we have a workforce composed of increasingly overweight individuals, with alarming levels of preventable lifestyle diseases, who suffer with mounting stress-related Mental Health problems and Chronic sleep deprivation?
How can we learn from the Sports Industry, and focus on the prevention of ill- health in Employees?
Employee Prehabilitation
This concept involves focusing on the proactive prevention of mental injury, and negating the negative physical demands placed on Employees. This can be achieved through mental and physical prehabilitation exercises. Mental rehabilitation exercises target specific areas of the mind to promote mental balance, flexibility and ultimately resilience to reduce the risk of burnout or the impact of stress. Physical Prehabilitation actively promotes and facilitates better sleep, a nutritional diet and a healthy amount of movement to keep our Employees in great condition, allowing them to counter the negative impact work has on their body and enabling them to unlock their performance potential.
Proper conditioning
Body conditioning refers to the concept of developing overall physical fitness to ensure the maintenance of mobility, strength, correct posture and the general physical condition of a person's body. Conditioning your body for work is becoming an increasingly relevant topic given the large and rising volume of musculoskeletal problems faced by the workforce. Conditioning is an important tool in the prevention of musculoskeletal injury, helping to reduce the risk and impact of common work-related musculoskeletal issues such as osteoarthritis, back pain, tendinitis and muscle strains. Workplace conditioning is centred around negating the impact of a lack of movement amongst Employees, and the abundance of maladaptive accommodation to sedentary anti-ergonomic positions.
Rest and Recovery
Adequate rest and recovery periods are crucial for the prevention of mental and physical injury, and for enhancing Well Being. Employees should be encouraged, like Athletes, to understand the true value of prioritising good quality sleep, and its vital role in recovery and performance. In parallel to rest, active recovery is a fundamental concept that elevates performance and Well Being. Active recovery for Employees includes taking time for rest breaks during the work day, and using strategies such as meditation or Yoga regularly.
Nutrition and hydration
Employees who follow a well balanced diet are fuelled with the necessary nutrients for optimum psychological and physical performance, as well as Mental Injury prevention. Making sure to keep hydrated throughout the day is so important for Employees. Not only is adequate hydration vital for supporting lots of important bodily functions, but it also supports our memory, concentration and attention.
Promoting a culture of collaboration and support
As for sports teams, success in Business is contingent upon effective collaboration, communication and support among teammates. Sports teams benefit enormously from something called ‘Strength of cohesion (SOC)’, which describes the teams willingness to stick together, working within their own performance to achieve results for the team. SOC strongly positively predicts a team's performance. In the workplace, fostering a culture of cohesion and collaboration builds strength of cohesion, driving innovation and organisational goals.
Cultivating Resilience
There is an intentional focus upon developing resilience amongst Athletes. It is well understood by Sports teams that setbacks are an evitable part of the journey to success, and so to succeed it is crucial that they can approach challenges with resilience and a growth mindset. Similarly, fostering a culture of continuous learning and resilience empowers employees to overcome obstacles and adapt to change effectively. By embracing a growth mindset, organisations encourage innovation, creativity and agility, positioning themselves for long term success in an ever-evolving marketplace. Developing resilience amongst employees not only enhances individual growth and development, but strengthens the overall resilience of the organisation.
In the competitive landscape of business, the parallels between Athletes and Employees are striking. Investing in the Wellbeing of Employees is paramount for organisational success. By treating Employees like professional athletes and investing in preventive care, Wellbeing initiatives and resilience training, companies can cultivate a workforce that thrives in the face of challenges and achieves peak performance in both personal and professional domains. In doing so, organisations not only enhance employee satisfaction, engagement and retention, but also position themselves as employers of choice in an increasingly competitive market.
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