5. The 6 Step Recruiting Process: How #6 changed our program

OUR 6 STEPS

1. Find athletes who can play
2. Make sure they are of the character we want our program to represent
3. Make sure they are not liabilities in the classroom
4. Get them on campus
5. Show them why they should choose our experience
6. SHOW THEM EVERYDAY WHY THEY MADE THE RIGHT DECISION

THE THOUGHT PROCESS

 STEP #6:  SHOW THEM EVERYDAY WHY THE MADE THE RIGHT DECISION

There was a point in time when I believed that college baseball was a game of survival.  After witnessing a handful of recruiting classes (including mine) run their course, it seemed as though the "if you don't work out, we will find someone who will" process was wildly inefficient, not to mention, unfair to the student athlete.  This “Darwinian” approach, with the right resources and lack of concern for an individuals welfare, may work wonders for some; however, it was not for me.  It seemed lazy and bad for culture, while challenging my ethical beliefs.  In today's post, I will share the influences and development of our 6 step recruiting process and how adding a 6th step transformed our program. 

Recruiting can be very shallow, almost "transactional" in nature, with the promise of trading an opportunity for ability, turning student-athletes into a commodity rather than a life to be impacted.  The result: lack of engagement and a high rate of turnover.  Operationally, turnover creates a roster management challenge and sustainability issue.  More importantly, from a culture standpoint, turnover (for the wrong reasons) creates distrust in leadership and its impact on engagement leaves the staff only to spin their wheels dealing with personnel issues.  In order to get my hands around the issue of turnover, I knew I needed to define the experience that we were providing.  In defining the experience I wanted our program to provide, I was able to reverse engineer how we would get there and the 6 step recruiting process was born.

Most everyone, I am sure, employs some sort of an attract/procure/retain model and I am not putting ours above another program's.  Being the people/program watcher that I am, I try to pay as much attention to how other programs are run and I have paid the most attention to roster and staff management throughout the years.  Why do people leave?  Why do people stay?  In my opinion, the template for the most efficient recruiting model exists in the answers to these questions.  I do not believe that all issues in retention can be solved.  "Life happening" (family issues, unforeseen changes in financial status, an athlete truly finding their passion, etc.) will continue to be present when talking about the sheer number collegiate athletes.  That is not the problem I felt needed to be solved.  I have found; however, that there are several "bad marriages" as it relates to the recruiting process because of the missing element I have discussed.  

It struck me as I read the book It's Our Ship: The No-Nonsense Guide to Leadership by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff.  We need to "re-recruit" our people everyday.  We need to coach, mentor, and care for our people with the same excitement and hopeful optimism with which we recruited them.  Roles, along with their ability to perform those roles can change; however, we are committed to coaching, mentoring and caring for the individual first and the role second.

I have also fallen victim to expecting a sort of "blind loyalty,"  wherein, I assume a player will stay because I have preached the value of loyalty.  I have since learned that loyalty as a value, should only be accompanied with a qualifying standard of action by the receiver.  As much as we want to pretend that a recruiting relationship that lasts from a week to 2 years is enough to meet a qualifying standard of action, we are mistaken.  In my experience, loyalty is built after the original commitment.  We should pursue the loyalty of our people through perpetually meeting the standard of what their experience represents.

The following are some of our elements to the idea of "re-recruiting" our people everyday:

Follow through on the experience we promised to provide.

We are very clear in the recruiting process because we understand that people do not want to be surprised about two things: how they will be treated and how the program is run.

Also, we do not oversell the experience in the recruiting process.  If we cannot follow through, we need to: change our process or change our promises. The desire to oversell comes from the pressure to get a "yes" in the recruiting process; however, we have to be able to stay out ahead of any promises we make.  The only promise we have ever made is that we will provide an opportunity for them to be challenged as a student, an athlete, and most importantly, as a person.  There are many methods we will provide to fulfill that promise and those may change; however, the efforts to fulfill the promise will not wane. 

Foster a culture of feedback.

Feedback is the fastest vehicle for growth.  We challenge our players to provide feedback as a measure of our own accountability.  If we are not following through in their eyes, we want to hear about it.  We owe as much to our players for sacrificing other opportunities to choose our program.  Out of this developing  relationship (we are in a constant state of growth with this) with feedback, our program has made exponential leaps forward and, as an ancillary benefit, our players have learned how to respectfully give and receive feedback.

I will get into feedback in a future post; however, its impact is immeasurable when you value it enough to implement appropriate channels for your players and staff.

Allow freedom within the structure of your program.

No one wants to be micromanaged; but at the same time, everyone wants structure.  Structure and organization allow your people to move forward as a unit, while allowing them to be individuals allows them to take ownership for their own development as it relates the success of the group.   When you give your people opportunities for autonomy over their own development, the success of the team is inevitable.

Hold your people accountable.

Accountability fosters engagement.  Accountability can be thought of as an "invisible fence" that leaders create to keep their people on course.  If student-athletes are unaware that we will hold them accountable, then they weren't listening in the recruiting process.  

Have a genuine care and concern for the well being of your people.

It sounds simple in theory; however, many fall short in practice.  Our players and staff are people first and players/coaches, second.  They need to be reminded of that daily.  As coaches, we all want their best to come out on the field; however, they need to learn to be the best version of themselves as individuals.  At this point in their lives, we as college coaches, wield a great amount of power in terms of building or crushing their self confidence.  We have a responsibility to build them up as an individual to help them tackle any obstacle their role may throw at them.

In closing, we need to work everyday to keep the loyalty and trust of our people. 100% retention and engagement is unlikely; however, we owe it to our people to try. 

Up next on December 4th:  "Feedback"