When sport and work collide

Look around your office, can you tell me three things you know about each person working there? Often times, the further the person sits from you the less you know about them. It is only natural, the people you interact with most during the day are the ones you work closest with, figuratively and physically.

Muhammad Ali once said, “It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up.” I’m rarely one to disagree with The Greatest, but when it comes to MY job it IS much more than that.

So, how is it that I enjoy coming into work in the morning? How is it I am happy enough to stay later if needs be or work the odd weekend? A lot of it is down to the people I work with, who I have come to know and have since become friends. And they don’t just sit beside me.

How did they get there? As much of it is linked to what goes on outside the day to day work. When I first arrived at Hays, over a year ago, we enjoyed a Thanksgiving feast together, organised by our American colleague Kelly, to raise money for Barretstown. This was quickly followed by the usual Christmas fare like Secret Santa and the Christmas party. Then with the new year upon us - and a desire to get more active - a group of us signed up for the Great Ireland run, then there was tag rugby, zip lining and most recently a 5 a side football team.

The basketball player Bob Cousy said, “Sports create a bond between contemporaries that lasts a lifetime. It also gives your life structure, discipline and a genuine, sincere, pure fulfilment that few other areas of endeavour provide.”

No stronger was that bond felt than when the Hays tag rugby team took to the field. Almost to a player we had very little idea what we were doing, why we were doing it or who we were doing it with. But as the games went by one thing remained constant - we kept turning up. Thankfully, what changed were our fortunes, we started to grasp the rules and the ball and suddenly we were scoring tries and defending our own line like a team. Regardless of our status within the workplace, from MD to new starter, we created a talking point for the office, one we could all participate in.

The sense of achievement that we all experience during our workday, is often only shared with our immediate teams. Tag rugby – and the other activities we took part in – allowed a relationship to build that went much further than our closest colleagues. In its simplest form it allowed imaginary boundaries to be broken down and conversation to flow that may have previously been stifled.

It is hard to disagree with Martina Navaratilova when she says, “Whoever said, ‘it is not whether you win or lose that counts’, probably lost”, we may not have won as much as we would have liked but it definitely counted for something.

Philip Bourke

Marketing Executive
Ireland

HAYS Recruiting experts worldwide
16 Upper Fitzwilliam St
Dublin 2

T: +353 1 619 0580

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