Discover how GoTo, the Official Communications Partner of Sydney Football Club, played a part in helping the Club navigate change, cope with uncertainties, build resilience and strengthen trust within the team, enabled by technology.
Trust. It is key to everything we do. It’s how we foster relationships, why we buy certain products, and it sways our decisions throughout life. For organisations, trust is pivotal to success, especially when facing big changes.
Sydney FC understood this, and when transitioning into their new stadium during the height of COVID, ensuring trust was present between leaders, staff and players was vital to the journey. Adam Santo, CEO of Sydney FC, outlined the importance of Sydney FC’s staff trusting the strategies put in place while moving stadiums.
“We built our solutions based on the feedback that we received, and the staff really enjoyed being part of that process. They really believed in the process and that helped improve morale in the office too, in that everyone was very aligned with where we were going.”
Hannah Lidster, Chief Commercial Officer, further explains how communication was a key factor to building trust, as it helped Sydney FC remain transparent and clear with all its staff.
“I'm pretty proud of how we handled things. We really just led from the front with communication. Regular meetings online were really important for us, just to be able to communicate exactly what was happening, to keep everybody informed, but also to keep them motivated.”
However just as important as it is for organisations, trust is a gamechanger on the football pitch. This is even more pronounced when playing the unique position of goalkeeper, where the stakes are higher for each error, as only the goals stand behind them.
Andrew Redmayne, Sydney FC goalkeeper and World Cup Qualifier hero, explains that trust is an ongoing process, and not something that comes overnight on the pitch.
“If I can lead by example by working hard, then they know I've put in the preparation and I've done the work in advance, so on the weekend they have trust in me that I can execute a game plan and execute in certain key moments.”
Learning from Andrew and Sydney FC
Trust is vital on and off the pitch and Andrew showed us that his players trust him to do the job that he needs to do, which builds cohesion and unity throughout the group when they're playing on the field. If organisations work together and trust each other as a team, they can focus on the job at hand rather than other extenuating circumstances.
According to a recent OnePoll survey, GoTo found 79 percent of Australian businesses believe a recession will occur in 2023, and as business leaders look to navigate this, it is imperative that they make sure trust is built between themselves and amongst their employees. Organisations can build trust in the workplace by: •
- Keeping communication lines open with employees.
- Providing opportunities for the workplace to air concerns.
- Allowing employees to participate in making decisions and help in building strategies.
In the same survey, GoTo found 50 percent of Australian businesses notice that their employees worked or acted differently in 2022 because of the impending financial storm. While navigating the stress can be difficult, by ensuring trust is strengthened during tough times, organisations will be able to successfully overcome future external challenges that they’ll face.
