A 10-step guide for best practice coach recruitment

“Acquiring the right talent is the most important key to growth. Hiring was, and still is, the most important thing we do.”

- Marc Benioff, Founder, Chairman, and co-CEO of Salesforce

Are you a club searching for your next coach?

Are you in need of establishing a process that will help guide your recruitment?

Are you aware of the consequences and impact on your club’s reputation if you aren’t considerate of the applicant coach throughout the recruitment process?

With experience as an applicant coach and as the hiring club/ organisation, I have witnessed some unfortunate commonalities in the process of recruiting coaches that can be easily improved.

Simple changes could not only assist the club to attract the right coach but also ensure that the reputation and credibility of the club as a hiring organisation are protected and leaves a positive impression.

Based on these experiences, I have put together a 10-step guide for best practice coach recruitment and listed how football clubs or sports clubs more generally can ensure that their recruitment process is a positive experience for all parties.

1. The club should first establish the organisational need for the coach within their staff structure. Key factors such as role type, anticipated impact, contract type, expected department growth or if there is a strategic need in order to improve or enhance the overall club strategy. Determine if there are components of the Operational Plan that can be achieved by employing this new hire and determining what areas are your key priorities in the short, medium and long term.
2. Establish the profile of the coach you require and how much budget you have to hire this coach. This can include the desired and appropriate level of coaching qualifications, certifications, or auxiliary accreditations such as Police Check, First Aid etc. The budget and the offering salary should be fair and reasonable given not only the role and responsibilities but considering the length of education and experience that you require to have undertaken to fulfil the role prerequisites. I believe professional and even amateur coaching is financially undervalued and clubs should ensure that they are budgeting to attract an appropriately skilled candidate as well as any additional benefits they may be in a position to provide.
3. The club should establish a clear job description and role responsibilities. Ensure you coordinate these responsibilities with any existing employees or plans for further recruitment to avoid overlap or confusion. Coaches should be able to clearly understand their scope of influence within the organisation and ensure both parties are clear on the expectations of how the role could evolve over time. Eg. First Team Coach and the relationship with Youth Teams — are they linked or separate departments?
4. Advertise the role. Please. As well as your club website and social media channels, use job search sites such as seek.co.nz to help promote your new role to as many potential coaches as possible. Under NZ law (see the Public Service Act 2020) there are certain requirements for public sector roles to be advertised. However, if the club or organisation is a private company, private-sector employers do not have to advertise a vacancy unless they have a specific requirement in employment agreements or workplace policies.
   
   Refer: https://www.employment.govt.nz/starting-employment/hiring/advertising-the-job/
   
   In both scenarios, giving all coaches the opportunity to apply for all roles is paramount to club credibility. Clubs may also uncover a hidden gem who you may not have anticipated receiving an application from. Coaches have often spent years of practice and 1000’s of dollars on coaching qualifications to be eligible for these positions and should be given the opportunity to apply for a role if opportunities become available. By keeping jobs in-house or already determining who your coach will be, you may in fact be deterring candidates from applying in the future.
5. Prior to the first meeting, set clear boundaries on the interview process, detailing the anticipated number of interviews. This helps with time management for the coach, ensuring that they can meet these requirements either around their current coaching role or other professional working commitments that they might have. This process should be completed within a reasonable timeframe and will also ensure that you maintain the interest of your potential new hire, whose motivation may reduce if there is an undeclared number of interviews.
6. Ensure the club are maintaining confidentiality throughout. Coaches have the right to privacy, and their personal and professional information should be kept confidential before, during and after the interview process. Maintaining confidentiality can help protect candidates from potential discrimination or negative consequences at their current job. You may be in a situation where you are hiring a coach from a rival club, or from another country, and they are placing their trust in you to maintain the level of confidentially that protects you both. Whilst it may be tempting to disclose coaches you have been in discussions with, some disclosers of information may also result in a breach of the Privacy Act 1993.
   
   Refer: https://www.employment.govt.nz/starting-employment/hiring/job-applications/
7. Once interviews are complete, notifying candidates quickly shows respect and should be the main priority as soon as the discussions are finished. Candidates who have taken the time to apply or attend an interview and provide their information deserve to be treated respectfully, regardless of the outcome, and should not be kept waiting for any longer than is necessary. This means that if unsuccessful, the candidates are able to explore other options without the uncertainty about their current status with your club.
8. Whilst in some cases timely, please respond to every single applying candidate. Coaches have often spent hours finely crafting and curating bespoke application documents. Writing a CV, and cover letter and requesting written references is not easy for the coach and takes time, effort and even money. Your club reputation is built on each interaction you have with the coach and you should be prepared to provide bespoke and constructive feedback to each coach to help them be in a more favourable position next time around. Coaches might be more willing to work for your club in the future if they have been part of a positive recruitment process previously. It is profoundly demotivating and off-putting to read “only successful candidates will be contacted” at the end of a job advertisement. Even if you are receiving 100’s of applications, responding to each one of these candidates is achievable, the club just has to dedicate the time.
9. Ensure you announce the appointment as soon as your recruitment process is complete. It should be the hiring organisation that makes any official announcement of a coach, not the coach first. By announcing a new appointment first, the club can control the narrative and present the news in the way that they want to. This ensures that the company can frame the appointment in a positive light, aligning with club values and language, and highlighting key messages such as coaching qualifications and strengths of the new hire.
   
   New coaches will no doubt have huge pride in securing their new role and will be keen to advertise this to their friends, family and colleagues through their various online platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook etc. Allow them to enjoy this by taking the steps to publicise first. It should not be the new coach that is announcing your new hire and would equally encourage any coaches to request that their appointments should be announced from official channels first.
10. Integration and onboarding. Once you have secured your new signing, this onboarding should be a comprehensive process that enables your new coach to have all the information required as part of the role. This can be from understanding Club Policy and Procedures, meeting new direct and indirect colleagues, or even familiarisation with the facilities and their new surroundings. It is important that this is not rushed, and is viewed as a crucial role in helping the new coach become familiar with, alleviate any initial concerns and establish a level of comfort that will enable them to start their job as energetically and efficiently as possible.

From this point, continually train, review and support your new coach throughout. The first few months will be key to ensuring that they are successful in their role, but there is an increased chance of longer-term retention if this recruitment stage is managed successfully.

All of the above will need to form part of the overall club strategy, with this linked recruitment strategy needing to be well-considered, deliberate and planned out.

With the potential direct and indirect benefits this will have on the club, both on and off the field, it will be well worth the investment of time, energy and resource.

What would your recommendations be? Have you had a positive experience? Comment below with your suggestions. You never know who you might help!

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