It doesn’t matter whether you are in Japan or California, news related to the Fifa world cup is going to touch your life. Whether it’s your office colleague raving about that spectacular goal from the new flying Dutchman, Robin van Persie or your favorite celebrity tweeting their support for their soccer team, you just can’t get away from soccer for this whole month.

1. Important Lessons for HRs from FIFA 2014
World Cup
It doesn’t matter whether you are in Japan or California, news related to the Fifa world cup is
going to touch your life. Whether it’s your office colleague raving about that spectacular goal
from the new flying Dutchman, Robin van Persie or your favorite celebrity tweeting their
support for their soccer team, you just can’t get away from soccer for this whole month.
While all of us may or may not enjoy football as much as others around us, this world cup has
been a revelation in numerous ways. Here are the lessons from the world cup.

2. Don’t just rely on Past Performances:
Spain, the world champions in 2010 are already knocked out of the 2014 edition. So did France
in 2002 after they had won in 1998. The World cup is as big a stage as it gets and all teams
compete very hard to win without regard for the opposition’s reputation or past performances.
Every game is a new game.
HR professionals, should also consider this when they are hiring candidates who apparently have
a stellar track record. Keep one caveat in mind though that this “stellar performance” should not
be too far ago in time. Just like in sport, if someone has been performing well recently s/he is
likely to carry that into their next role. If a candidate’s exceptional performance was a long time
ago (say 4 years) then it’s quite possible that the candidate is still basking in the glory of the past.
Make sure you are thorough in your evaluation including aspects of their ability to work in
teams.

3. Great individual performers do not necessarily make a great team:
This world cup has been a disaster for teams that were packed with individual superstars.
England with Gerard and Rooney, and Spain with Xabi, Iniesta and Diego Costa were knocked
out at the group stage. None of these individuals could make a strong enough impact to rescue
their team from leaving early.
Organizations often face similar challenges when their star performers get too comfortable in
what they do and the way they do it, sometimes putting themselves above the team. To avoid
falling into this trap of complacency, organizations need to constantly challenge their star
performers with different roles that put them out of their comfort zone on a regular basis. Do,
this only when your organization has a culture that encourages risk taking.
Culture makes a huge difference:

4. In football, great teams often come from countries that have a long history of sport. This world
cup has seen strong performances from Australia and USA. Both these nations have a strong
sporting history. People in both countries take sports seriously enough to play it, watch it and
make their kids play it as well. Football does not yet have a long history in both these countries
but these teams have been putting the fear of god against some of the leading teams. Sample
some scores
Netherlands V Australia: 3-2. Australia led 2-1 at one stage
Portugal V USA: 2-2. USA led Portugal 2-1 till the last minute of the game. Incidentally USA
finished above England at the last world cup in South Africa
As more and more kids in these countries start playing football, it starts becoming a part of their
culture and this helps forms the nucleus of future great teams. Don’t be surprised if one of these
teams wins the world cup in the next 10 years.
Business leader, entrepreneurs, CEO’s and HR professionals or anyone who wants to build a
successful sustainable business needs to focus on building a solid culture, one that touches all
employees across the organization. The external world will inevitably change and present new
challenges to the organization ever so frequently. Be prepared for change with a stronger culture.
The World Cup changes every 4 years:
South Africa, the venue for the last world cup in 2010 was as different from the current world up
venue, Brazil as chalk and cheese. So will the next world cup in Russia in 2018. Players will
have to play in different climates, terrains, different styles and quite likely under different
coaches too.

5. Change is constant, and HR professionals should expect it. The way organizations hire and
manage talent has changed significantly in the last few years. In the USA, the best technology
talent ends up joining startups or becoming entrepreneurs themselves. In Asia, the best talent
ends up in Multinational Corporations leaving home grown companies and startups struggling.
With the expansion of the EU and its free movement of labor for member countries, Western
Europe now finds that the best talent may be coming from Poland, or Latvia or the former
eastern bloc countries like Hungary, leaving lesser number of jobs for its own citizens.
Things will change the way you hire and manage talent. So be alert, watch the trend and adapt as
necessary.
You can find great “rockstar” talent anywhere:
Some of teams from lesser known countries have been outstanding in this world cup. Costa Rica
topped the Group of Death, knocking out England. Ghana held Germany to a Draw and USA
held Portugal.
Premier league club talent scouts in England, Spain and Italy must be licking their lips at finding
a treasure trove of talent from these lesser known countries. Expect some of these “rockstar”
players to get contracted at very lucrative deals in the coming months.
HR professionals too can find talent from lesser known channels like referrals, internal CV
Databases and extended network for their employees. Wisestep brings together all these channels
together in one place and makes them easy to use for employers.
“You only stop learning when you quit” — Ruud Gullit, Netherlands, Football Star

6. Do you also have similar learnings for HR Professionals from events like the world cup that
you’d like to share with us?
Comment here, We’d love to hear from you.