Tips for firms considering sponsoring Peter Waterfield

If you are considering sponsoring Peter then the most obvious method is to negotiate a financial and/or in-kind package with him. In return, he will provide some desired benefits to the company concerned such as product endorsements or personal appearances at company functions.

By sponsoring Peter you are aligning your company with the sporting values of ‘leadership, competence, fair competition and being the best’ – there will be what we call an ‘equity transfer’ and therefore proof of return on investment, which gives a ‘feel good factor’.

There are six points we recommend any business looking to sponsor Peter considers:

1. Define your partnership objectives – what the partnership specifically aims to achieve, in what timeframe and how you will measure success. Before embarking on sponsorship, the organisation needs to be clear about what it is aiming to achieve from the relationship. Is it primarily about building employee motivation, endorsing actual products or services, or adding an exclusive element to business entertaining? One of the biggest mistakes made by sponsors, large and small, is to have too many objectives, so it is important to focus on a maximum of five key elements, with three being more than enough for most organisations to handle effectively. This doesn’t mean you cannot work with Peter on other things, just that return on investment will be calculated on only these key elements. This also means that, when resources have to be allocated, they will be put against the critical elements of the partnership rather than squandered on ‘nice to haves’. Once the primary objectives are clarified, these need to be turned into specific goals in order to be measurable.

For example, ‘enhancing employee motivation’ might be broken down into:

a) All staff to attend a training session on how Peter remains motivated to succeed, and how they can use the same skills in the workplace, within the first year of the partnership (an input measure)

b) Employee survey scores on “I am highly motivated to do a good job” increase from x currently to y once the training sessions in (a) have been completed (an output measure)

c) There is an x% improvement in overall performance of staff in each year of the partnership, measured via staff annual appraisals, using the most recent appraisal scores as the benchmark (the desired outcome). This is the ROO – Return on Objective.

d) If the organisation has previously modelled employee performance against financial performance, it is then possible to convert the increase in performance to a financial impact on the bottom line and calculate the partnership’s Return on Investment (ROI).

This looks like hard work, and some organisations may have to rely on more qualitative measures, but it is vital to do the thinking up front if anything other than gut feel is to be used to measure a partnership’s success or failure.

2. Write a job description – the duties, both within and beyond the functional role Peter will occupy, that he will be expected to undertake.

This is essential so that both parties have a clear idea of what is required and how this will fit in around training and competing schedules. There is little point in asking Peter to attend your corporate function on a day when he could be competing for a medal.

Look at all aspects of your organisation to determine what functional roles could be undertaken on a part-time, flexible basis – non mission-critical or project work is ideal. Then review your partnership objectives to add those duties Peter will need to undertake: participating in training sessions; writing blogs or online diaries; attending advertising shoots. The outcome of this process is a clear understanding of your requirements that can then be matched against Peter’s abilities.

Like any other recruitment decision, it is important to view Peter as a valuable employee you wish to retain for the long term, not merely a marketing asset to be sweated then discarded. Sporting prowess does not preclude Peter from having an excellent brain and skills that will be valuable to his sponsor long after he has hung up his diving trunks.

3. Draft a pro forma contract – including potential functional duties and the broader role envisaged.

4. Communicate with all employees – engage interest and support. It is vital that employees understand why the organisation is seeking to sponsor Peter and that their support for the programme is actively sought.

5. Interview – meet Peter and get to know him before agreeing any sponsorship.

6. Review progress – regularly.

FAQs

Q: What’s in it for us?

A: Benefits of supporting Peter include:

• Access to a highly motivated and committed individual in their own right, someone with highly developed desirable behaviours – focus, discipline, someone who can inspire employees and coaches on key business skills including motivation, teamwork, performance.

• The potential to use Peter for promotional purposes

• Share in Peter’s sporting achievements

• Enhanced corporate positioning through demonstrable good citizenship

• Low-cost participation by association in the biggest sporting event in the world – the Olympic Games.

Q: What resources would we need to commit?

A: Money and time: cash to cover living expenses, transport to training and competition venues, paying coaches and other professional support such as a sports psychologist, and time to train and compete. Therefore, the minimum you could hope to spend would be a part-time salary, but ethically it would be more appropriate, not to mention likely to achieve a better result, if more money, or relevant benefit in kind, is invested. It is up to the organisation to decide on a case-by-case basis how they might reasonably adapt to Peter’s needs.

Q: How do we maximise return on investment?

A: In the planning stage, it is vital to decide how Peter can support the achievement of specific objectives. These will vary widely, but might include:

1. Staff canteen - the healthy eating campaign

2. Internal communications - a regular feature in company newsletters/intranet

a. Regular journal on training progress

b. Top tips on peak performance

c. Lectures on teamwork

d. Teambuilding through participation in corporate sporting activities

3. External communications:

a. Meeting visiting dignitaries

b. Representing the company’s values to the media

c. Representing the company’s position to stakeholders

d. Product/service marketing

e. Providing a hook for corporate entertainment.

Q: How do we evaluate returns?

A: The critical elements are:

1. Clearly defined objectives, set in advance, and committing to targets and milestones

2. Transparency through sharing these with Peter

3. Tracking performance on a regular basis – perception and reality can differ widely.