Essay on Managing People in the Sport and Event Industry

Employees are among the most valuable assets of any given organization. Their attitude and performance determine the success or failure of a business. However, managers experience challenges in managing people. They are required to lead, inspire, train, and encourage workers. On the other hand, they are required to recruit, fire, discipline, and evaluate the workforce. The two functions tend to differ; however, a successful manager needs to integrate them to create a positive and productive workforce. Either in a local or global context, managers should hire the right personnel and get the most value of these people. Equally, firms must embrace an organization culture that enhances the performance of employees. It should get the most out of the employees by putting in place practices and policies the offers people with appropriate training and development. For a better understanding of people management in the sport and event industry, it is critical to examine employee practices in Ajax Amsterdam and Age Entertainment Birmingham in a global and local context respectively.

The Mission and Vision of the Organization

Ajax Amsterdam

Ajax Amsterdam, also known as AFC Ajax is the biggest club in the Netherlands that emphasizes the need to engage in social responsibility. The firm is committed to creating a positive impact in society. The football club reaches thousands of people globally with the aim of nurturing talent. The firm’s mission entails offering disadvantaged children in Amsterdam and the entire world aged below 19 years an opportunity to achieve their goals. As their vision, the club believes in investing in a world where children have access to equal opportunities, especially regarding the discovery and development of talents.

Age Entertainment Birmingham

Age Entertainment is a leading entertainment firm based in Birmingham. The firm was created in 2013 and incorporated in 2017. Despite being new and a local firm in the sports and events industry, Age Entertainment is committed to making a difference in society. It manages events, offers consultancy and marketing services, music and artist development (“About Age Entertainment,” n.d.) Similar to any other firm, Age Entertainment emphasizes the need to initiate a positive change in society.

The Organisational Culture

Ajax Amsterdam

A company’s organizational culture refers to its underlying beliefs and values that contribute to the creation of a unique social as well as psychological workplace environment. Ajax embraces an organizational culture that supports the growth and development of its employees. For instance, the company strongly believes in the potentials of kids, and will always offer them support in nurturing their talents. In the workplace, discipline is paramount. Each employee is expected to demonstrate high levels of discipline through respecting others and observing time. Equally, the firm believes and supports diversity. AFC Ajax values diversity, and as such, the company has employed workers from all parts of the world. With a diverse setting, the firm creates a positive image and enhances its employee productivity due to better decision making. Finally, as a culture, Ajax is determined to lead. Employees, especially players are encouraged never to lose hope and to believe in their abilities (Fox, 2011). In fact, the firm is performing greatly in major competitions such as the UEFA Champions League due to its strategic organization culture.

Age Entertainment Birmingham

Being a local firm and relatively new in the sports and events industry, Age Entertainment embraces a highly attractive organizational culture. Notably, the industry requires high creativity and energy. As such, Age Entertainment tends to maintain a workforce dominated by young individuals, who are highly encouraged to embrace creativity. Equally, the firm maintains an up to date culture, whereby it highly relies on technology in working towards achieving its goals. For instance, the firm encourages its employees to lead an up to date lifestyle and portray a good image to the public through their social networks. Such hype makes the firm popular in the industry.

How the Organisation Recruits and Selects New Employees

Ajax Amsterdam

Ajax is a major club in the sports industry, especially after reaching UEFA Champions League semi-finals. The club’s success can be attributed to ideal recruitment and selection of employers. Notably, AFC Ajax is making a lump sum profits due to its strategic policies. For instance, in regard to the selection of new players and staff, the club has many scouts all over the world. Most of them being legends in sports, they attend various low-level league games, to identify the best talents. Once such scouts identify a potential player or coach, they pass the information to the firm’s human resource agents, who also monitor the particular player before recruiting him/her (Pruna, Miñarro, &Bahdur, 2018). In its selection process, Ajax emphasizes diversity. Consequently, Ajax Amsterdam prefers scouting young players, whom they sign into their young stars academy by the name De Toekomst. The fact that the club focuses on young players improves its competitiveness as the young players are easily moulded to fit the clubs system. Therefore, Ajax Amsterdam’s recruitment and selection of staff are primarily based on talent.

Age Entertainment Birmingham

Similar to any other firm in the sports and events industry, Age Entertainment recruitment strategy is based on talent and merit. Considering the firm’s recent expansion efforts, it is progressively involved in the recruitment of staff. The company tends to use local events as a way of identifying and recruiting new staff. Its agents attend such functions and identify the best talents in various fields, who are later required to provide their credentials before considering them for a job. Nevertheless, the company values talent over academic achievement. Therefore, on some occasions, it identifies employees solely based on their talent, a move that has improved the company’s productivity, due to increased performance.

Training and Development Techniques Used by the Organisations

Ajax Amsterdam

Training and development of employees is a critical priority in AFC Ajax. The club understands that good players are never created overnight, but rather nurtured with the aim of realizing their potentials. As such, the company highly invests in training and development, as indicated by its training practices in both the main club and its academies. The club mainly depends on its youth academy as the primary source of its players. Therefore, once it has identified and recruited new players, they are taken to their respective groups, where they are taught playing skills based on the club’s main format of 4-3-3. From a young age, the club’s players are taught the ability to exploit the pitch’s space via triangular patterns and movement combinations (Sokolove, 2010). Such training equips players with skills to widen the pitch for attack and narrow it in defence. Fixed programs and schemes for each group, which are also reflected in particular positions for the players, characterize the club. Each player receives training relevant to his position and encouraged to stick to it. The strategic training policies in the club are depicted in the high-quality players from the club’s academy such as Tottenham Hotspur’s striker Christian Eriksen.

Age Entertainment Birmingham

Age Entertainment company also believes in training and development of its employees. The sports and events industry is dynamic in the sense that it keeps changing day after the other. Therefore, the company is aware that it needs to keep up with such changes to remain competitive in the market. In that regard, the firm encourages its employees to further their studies in respective fields. Consequently, the fact that Age Entertainment uses talent as a recruitment factor propels it to engage its employees in various training programs, which are meant to further their skills and knowledge.

How the Organisation Rewards its Employees; Intrinsically and/or Extrinsically

Ajax Amsterdam

Similar to any other industry, the sport and event is highly competitive. The competition is actually severe among football clubs, whereby they have the tendency of poaching the best talents. As indicated earlier, AFC Ajax depends on its academy as the leading supplier of players, who are the large part of their employees (Roobeek& Morley 2015). However, with the increased competition for good talent in the industry, the club has put in place a strategic reward system. Equally, being a globally recognized club, Ajax Amsterdam is at risk of losing its employees to other clubs from various parts of the world. As such, the main component of AFC Ajax’s reward system is compensation. The company offers huge salary rewards to its players to keep them from being lured to join other clubs. Equally, the club provides attracting allowances to its employees as a means of attracting their efforts in carrying out respective duties. Consequently, AFC Ajax rewards its players and other staff by offering them long contracts. Notably, employment in the sports and events industry is on a contractual basis. Therefore, the company tends to provide long contracts to players to assure them that their jobs are secure.

Age Entertainment Birmingham

Irrespective the fact that Age Entertainment is a local firm; it also needs to offer attractive rewards to attract new employees and keep the current ones. Within the local market, the company offers relatively competitive salaries. It also supports the growth and development of its employees through training programs.

The Organisations Approach to Creating Employee Satisfaction and the Use of Employee Engagement

Ajax Amsterdam

Employee satisfaction is key to any organization that requires to succeed. AFC Ajax offers favourable contract terms to its employees as a manner of enhancing their satisfaction. Often, the employees are given a chance to negotiate with the firm on contract terms. This motivates the workers in executing their duties, as they feel to be part of the firm by taking part in deciding their respective compensation packages. Equally, Ajax enhances the satisfaction of its workers by creating an atmosphere for growth. It progressively subjects its employees to training sessions, which offers them a chance to grow.

Age Entertainment Birmingham

Age Entertainment also enhances employee satisfaction by recognizing good work among employees. The company has a tendency to rewarding the performing employee, a culture that has increased performance and satisfaction among the workers. Moreover, the firm enhances employee satisfaction by encouraging social connections. The company believes that through social connection, employees can learn new things and embrace them in the organization.

The Ethos of the Manager – Employee Relationship and the Practices of Performance Management

Ajax Amsterdam

It is the company policy for managers to maintain a good relationship with employees. For instance, the performance of the club largely depends on the players. Therefore, the manager has a responsibility of maintaining a good relationship with the employees, by engaging them in making key decisions. This motivates the players, thereby depicting a high performance and eventually yielding attractive results. Equally, the current good performance of the club is partly attributed to the good relationship between the manager and the players.

Age Entertainment Birmingham

Age Entertainment is also focused on creating a good relationship among its employees. The company is relatively small, implying that it has a manageable number of employees. The managers tend to engage the employees with the aim of making them feel part of the organization. Employees are offered the opportunity to make various decisions that never requires much attention. As such, the managers have developed a good relationship with the workers, which has contributed to its growth.

Conclusion

Overall, people management is a key process for both local and global firms. The similar way AFC Ajax focuses on improving the productivity of its employees is Age Entertainment. The two organizations embrace the most appropriate strategies that yield the best out of their employees. Ajax being a global firm, it emphasizes diversity. Moreover, the company has hugely invested in training and development as a way of enhancing the growth of its employees. As a local firm, Age Entertainment also recruits highly talented individuals that boost the company’s productivity. Both firms consider attractive compensation packages as the core element of their reward system to retain and attract talented employees. In that regard, through proper management of people, the companies are greatly performing in the industry.

References

About Age Entertainment n.d. Retrieved from http://ageents.com/about/

Fox, N. 2011. Football: Ajax Culture VersusWilkinson’s Way. Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-ajax-culture-versus-wilkinsons-way-1150504.html

Pruna, R., MiñarroTribaldos, L., &Bahdur, K. 2018. Player Talent Identification and Development in Football. Apunts. Medicina de l’Esport, 53(198), 43-46.

RoobeekR. & Morley G, 2015. Ajax: Dutch Club Opens ‘School of the Future’. Retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/15/football/ajax-amsterdam-football-school/index.html

Sokolove, M. 2010. How a Soccer Star is Made. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/magazine/06Soccer-t.html