Going Pro - why sport and recreation organisations should invest in professional development

Investing in professional development is well documented as best practice for managing and enabling individuals to flourish in all industries. Organisations can and will vary in their ability to do this effectively, with barriers such as finance, resource and capacity all standing in the way.

Yet the business argument for this investment is growing ever stronger. Here are our top three reasons why investing in the professional development is essential to the future success of your organisation.

1. Enhancing performance

A clear objective for any organisation is to invest, grow and stimulate employees for the benefit of both the individual and the organisation.

As the sport and recreation sector expands and continues to evolve, alongside developments in technology and communications, the need for high-skilled professionals has never been more important.

Our Fit for the Future publication highlights the environmental changes the sector and organisations need to be aware of. Investment in training is one way to ensure your workforce keeps pace with the changing times and continue to deliver a consistent performance. For instance, performing better on digital platforms such as Twitter, Facebook or Periscope requires an understanding of new techniques, features and trends. Attending workshops such as our Social Networking: Using social media to boost your membership helps your organisation develop its capacity in this area through investment professionals.

2. Knowledge growth

In today’s fast-paced, instant action and reaction orientated world, knowledge ‘voids’ can often be a huge barrier to change. Organisations need to be adaptable in order to respond quickly to a certain development or put in place strategic thinking.

‘You don’t know what you don’t know’ has never been a truer sentence. The Sporting Future strategy suggests a period of real change is on the horizon for the sector. From increasing participation with greater inclusion of diverse communities or working with an expanded age-range; it is important we as a sector are equipped with the skills to effectively implement the new strategy. This knowledge can be obtained through professional development at conferences, workshops and events. The inclusion of Transgender athletes in competition is a topic which requires specific knowledge and this is something that can be taught, discussed and researched in the presence of consultants, partners or training to further understanding. Our Diversity and Discrimination Training is an example where the expertise of Croner, are matched with the needs of the sector to improve knowledge on a niche topic.

3. Softer skills

The key word here is ‘development’, suggesting that there is no real finish line, just a series of peaks and troughs as an individual or organisation grows. This fluctuation is seen across all levels of an organisation from volunteers to Board members. Moreover, it is important for your organisation to identify the range of skills required to achieve key business targets. This may result in the recruitment of a strategic consultancy team, planning a change of management or creating a new role to specialise in a certain area.

At the Alliance, we have been curating development opportunities through our events for members and non-members for a number of years. We recently launched the Alliance Learning Week offering a range of training workshops, at value pricing. Find out more about the Alliance Learning Week and the great discounts available to members at http://www.sportandrecreation.org.uk/learning-week

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