What about the family? Onboarding athletes’ entourage into professional sport organizations

Abstract

Effective onboarding practices benefit both the incoming members and the organization as a whole. However, to date, existing onboarding literature has focused exclusively on the incoming members, with little attention to those in their social network, such as family members (e.g., partners, parents/guardians). The purpose of this study was to explore onboarding practices within a professional sport context (i.e., National Basketball Association), with a specific emphasis on understanding the experiences of family members involved in the transition process with an athlete. A qualitative approach was undertaken, involving semi-structured interviews with people who facilitated or had undergone onboarding: organizational representatives (n = 11), athletes (n = 5), and family members (n = 6). Findings demonstrated the importance of resource and information sharing, valuing family members, and developing social capital for successful onboarding, and identified several considerations (e.g., timing, acquisition type) and barriers (e.g., member turnover, status hierarchy). Ultimately, although organizations acknowledged the importance of purposefully onboarding family members, none prioritized the task or had a systematic process in place. These findings reinforce the importance of considering significant others when onboarding professional athletes and provide suggestions for future research directions and practical advancements within the elite sport context.

Lay summary: Family members, such as partners and parents/guardians, play an important role in assisting professional athletes through career transitions. While family members experience similar stressors during transition periods, they are often not considered in the onboarding process. Results highlight that family members require purposeful onboarding from sporting organizations to be successfully integrated into a new environment.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

• The current findings emphasize the importance of being purposeful and prioritizing family members during the onboarding process of professional athletes.

• For successful onboarding to occur, organizations should know who will be onboarded and subsequently, provide tailored resources to ensure they feel informed and valued.

• It is integral that systematic and formal mentoring efforts (e.g., forming a mentoring network) are put in place to foster a sense of connection amongst family members within an organization.

Disclosure statement

No potential competing interest was reported by the authors.