Over the last 10+ years working in the high-performance world of women’s professional soccer, one area in which I have taken pride is the meticulous hiring process. I have always paid close attention to the merry-go-round that happens in sport hires and how people move around from club to club. In the NWSL, specifically, one could argue that in the early years, financial resources were a major limitation in building a strong staff – which, in turn, contributed to the ongoing revolving door of staff coming and going. However, in today’s new area of the league, financial resources are no longer a limitation, yet we still see the same percentage of staff movement in and out of clubs. 

What could be the root cause? In my opinion, the main issue is the lack of a thorough, comprehensive, and meticulous hiring process based on a true club identity. 

In every club I join, it is crucial that I take the time to grasp the identity of the club; unfortunately, that is not always clear or well defined. So, we must ask questions to challenge and understand what the club is about: what are the values? What are the non-negotiables? What is the fanbase like? What is the roster like? What are the club’s goals for this year and in five years? The list goes on. 

So, the first question I pose myself in every hiring process is who are we? This step always helps me create a matrix that will guide my hiring process. I think the key takeaway message here is that, to build a successful staff and increase our year-to-year staff return rate, we must hire toward who we are as a club. 

The next question I ask is who is the professional who best fits our staff and will have a positive impact on the club? This is where the search begins, and here is how I go about it.

Depending on the organization, I will draw up a 12-step process to follow a clear and systematic hiring which should yield the most optimal candidates:

  • Create the hiring process and timeline
  • Design the hiring matrix (critical values, experiences, and exposures we look for)
  • Create and post the job description on various recruiting platforms
  • Review all new applicants daily and start triage against our hiring matrix
  • Hold the first round of interviews – video call for 45 min. – and target 12-15 candidates
  • Check references and feedback
  • Prepare and assign case study (an assignment targeting 2-3 specific areas of the job)
  • Hold the second round of interviews – video call presentation for 1 hr. – and target 5-6 candidates
  • Identify the top four candidates and start the informal phone calls (more personable conversations)
  • Identify the top three candidates in order of preference and present this list to upper management
  • Start job offer negotiations
  • Offer official contracts and collect applicant signatures

 

To answer the second question of the process in identifying who the right person is, I want to highlight three specific steps in the above process: 

The first step is creating the matrix; this is going to focus our attention to specific details during the review of the resumes which should help us narrow down our list of candidates based not only on expertise and experiences but also any other factors we may want to prioritize. 

The case study process comes next. To me, this step is one of the most crucial parts of our specialized world of high performance. This step allows us to observe how a candidate thinks, what is their training philosophy, their methods, how they apply their knowledge and experiences to answer the case. It also helps us assess their comfort in speaking in front of an audience, how they handle themselves under a bit of pressure, the confidence in their knowledge, the organization of their thoughts, their composure. Within the questions we will ask, it is also an opportunity to feel them as a person, how they connect with staff, their personality, and how they respond to challenges. As a result, this step should yield a clear picture of our top four candidates. 

The third step is the informal calls; this is to me the last, most important step. It allows us to connect with the top candidates on a more personal level, to hear about their day, the stories they like to tell, the ideas they bring to the conversation. It is not a Q&A type phone call as we must be careful asking about personal questions. It is simply a genuine open conversation and most often candidates tend to open and share on their own. 

It is a hard task to lead a hiring process and too often it feels rushed. The one thing to keep in mind is that just like everything else, it takes time to do things right. Therefore, we must dedicate at least four to six weeks to complete a thorough hiring process and recruit the most optimum person to join your staff. The person behind the work is always the priority because you can teach a new system, you can teach processes and methods, but you can’t change people and who they are at their core. 

Focus on people, not expertise!