Brand Value Alignment through Dual Career

Background Many elite and sub-elite sportspersons have part-time or full-time employment which is often characterised by a significant challenge to balance the demands of work and sport (i.e. Dual Career (DC)). The value of the sportsperson to society and corporate brand is significant. BRAVA-DC (BRAnd Value Alignment through Dual Career) focused on how the circumstances and needs of DC employee sportspersons could be effectively accommodated while considering the needs and expectations of the employer. Objectives 1) to structure an evidence and eminence knowledge base on DC employee athletes, and 2) to define and enable (i.e. feasible to implement) new European guidelines which support DC in the workplace and which facilitate appropriate brand alignment strategies and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies which value DC. Accordingly, the project will inform the further operationalisation of the EU Guidelines on DC of Athletes (European Commission, 2012) in the specific context of the workplace. Implementation A range of methodologies were used: 1) review of relevant existing literature, 2) in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, 3) concept mapping to effectively gather, integrate and visually and numerically represent the composite thinking of key stakeholders regarding DC in the workplace and 4) via consensus the translation of the data gathered into new European guidelines that support DC in the workplace and facilitate appropriate brand alignment strategies and Corporate Social Responsibility. Achievements Sixteen guidelines were postulated, representing the micro (i.e., individual employee-sportsperson meeting work, and training/competition commitments), the meso (e.g., supportive entourage of families, sport staff, and working colleagues), the macro (e.g., companies aligning to sports as a value chain and meeting CSR commitments through DC supports), and the global (e.g., policy makers supporting social development through alliances between sport and the workplace) DC dimensions in Europe.