RGH-Global opens up Epitome Global’s workforce intelligence platform to the sports industry

A game-changing player profiling platform will be at the heart of a keynote panel discussion at the upcoming Sport x Business Conference, held on the 17th September at the Honourable Artillery Company, London EC1Y 2BQ, ahead of this year’s London City 7s rugby competition.

Alongside former England 7s captain and head coach Mike Friday, workforce intelligence expert RGH-Global – powered by Epitome Global – will talk about how sports clubs can get the best from their players on the pitch while fully preparing them for a professional career once their time at the club is over.

The panel discussion is entitled ‘Building high-performance teams’ and will begin at 9.50am.

Epitome Global’s ground-breaking workforce intelligence platform, built on 20+ years of organisational psychology research and 1.3M+ career profiles, is now being made available to sports clubs in the UK. Recognising the parallels between sport and business - where people must be trained and developed to maximise their talents and prepare for new challenges - RGH believes that both clubs and individual players could benefit significantly from Epitome’s ‘whole-person intelligence’ profiling technology.

A sportsperson’s playing career can end suddenly through injury, release, non-selection or age, and when this happens, it’s often the case that they’re unprepared for what comes next. Epitome helps clubs to understand each player as an individual, and to translate sporting attributes into professional competencies. It can also help players themselves to understand their strengths, motivations, leadership potential, education needs and future direction while they’re still competing.

Justin Madgwick, CEO of RGH-Global, says: “Sport has a poor track record of preparing players for the world of work beyond the club environment, despite the many transferable skills and attitudes that sportspeople develop – for instance, discipline, resilience, coachability, leadership, teamwork, competitiveness and performance under pressure. Yet it doesn’t have to be this way. The whole-person intelligence that Epitome’s profiling technology delivers helps both clubs and players to understand and develop the full range of their talents and make informed decisions about their post-sport careers.”

Mike Friday has worked closely with RGH to outline the particular challenges that sportspeople face, especially in terms of developing a second career once their playing days are over. He says: “Most clubs are narrowly focused on the development of specific sporting skills to help the team succeed on the field – but if you can develop the whole person, you can also develop a better player.  Understanding what makes the individual tick and what they’re really capable of can give clubs a vital edge in terms of team chemistry and match strategy, but it can also give them a major pastoral advantage in identifying future pathways for players when their time at the club comes to an end.”

Simon Shaw, former England and British & Irish Lions rugby union player, adds: “I’ve spent most of my life in high-performance environments, and the older I get, the less convinced I am that performance is simply about having the best people in the room. It’s about behaviour, trust, ego, pressure and adaptability. It’s knowing when to challenge someone, when to back them and, occasionally, when they’re making everyone else worse. Those are the conversations I’m looking forward to having at London City 7s.”

Speakers on the ‘Building high-performance teams’ panel will be:

• Mike Friday – former England Sevens captain and international coach, having led England, Kenya & the USA

• Simon Shaw – former England and British & Irish Lions rugby union player

• Nick Timpson – Strategic Growth Director at RGH-Global

The discussion will be moderated by Heather Fisher OLY – Team GB Olympian and 2014 Rugby World Cup winner.