Tenure and success in the IPL: lessons for the business world

Chennai Super Kings won the IPL 4; by the way they also won IPL 3; and have appeared in 3 of the 4 finals since the tournament began. Volumes have been written about the underlying reasons for the success of CSK. Depending on who is commenting, several theories have been forwarded by the experts. Some claim that it was the magic of Dhoni’s captaincy, others say that it was the team composition (Steve Fleming claimed that team selection was done keeping in mind the home condition) and some also point out that CSK benefited by retaining maximum number of players from the past editions of the IPL. It is public knowledge that during the auction CSK retained M.S. Dhoni, Suresh Raina, M Vijay and Albie Morkel; and also aggressively bid for R Ashwin, S Badrinath and Doug Bollinger.  What should not go unnoticed is the fact that Stephen Fleming, the coach, has been part of the team since the first edition first as a player and now as a coach.

Experience and tenure

It may be difficult to identify a single reason for CSK’s success, as each of the points shared by the experts had some role. It is well known that leadership plays an important role in professional sports and in corporate world. Further, good team composition is essential for achieving success, as it is the team which implements the strategy. The third point, retention of high performers from the previous editions of the IPL says a lot about the management’s attitude and faith in experience. It is open knowledge that decisions in the IPL revolve around money but in the end retaining talent was not only good business but also the winning strategy.

On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bangalore had a good tournament last year but barring Virat Kholi they went for a complete makeover of their team-unfortunately the results did not change much. Delhi Dare Devils and KKR cannot be questioned for rebuilding their teams.

Retaining talent, encouraging tenure has several benefits:

Most of the time talent development efforts are limited to the top 2-3% of the employees, completing ignoring the core. There may be a differentiated and less featured program for the core but nonetheless attention to this group is equally critical. This is your middle class solid and gives continuity to the business. In an organization, the HR is responsible for promoting talent development but the onus of execution is with the immediate managers.

Companies which focus on developing and retaining talent enjoy all round benefits. By the way, organizations who don’t invest in developing talent don't focus on retaining talent either. They are happy recruiting talent from other sources. The jury is still out on how beneficial is this strategy in the long rum. Some of the benefits of having a specific talent retention and development strategy are:

• It reduces costs of hiring and retraining employees
• It is a great way to build a management bench and attract new talent
• Investment in further developing tenured employees is proportionately less
• Talented tenured employees are great ambassadors for the organization- they help build culture

Why do talented employees leave?

There are several reasons why employees leave their organization. The key among them is that they are no longer growing in the organization. And people and products have one common trait; if they don’t grow they go. Therefore, it is important for organizations to create an environment in which their most important asset can flourish.

Is growth the only driver?

Not really. The current tangle between Chris Gayle versus West Indies Cricket Board is a good case in point.  An organization may bestow all the money, training and title to an individual but if it cannot fulfil the basic human need of appreciation, respect, love and recognition the employee would look elsewhere. The current crisis is a timely reminder to all managers; don’t forget to hug and appreciate your employees from time to time, they may not be asking for a raise or a promotion but just a pinch of acknowledgement of their services to the organization.