Recruitment

[pugsood 89]

Recruitment.

 

People associate recruitment with what a coach, a GM, a franchise needs to do in order to gain a commitment from a player. Following that line of thinking, recruitment ends when that person signs on the dotted line.

 

I'd challenge that notion. Recruitment is an always on activity, especially for coaches and general managers in this kind of league, where member engagement leads to earning which leads to success on the rink. The front office cannot lapse in its engagement with its team members, because:

 

- an engaged member will earn, will contribute, can be built around

- an unengaged member is always at risk. At risk of leaving the team in free agency, demanding a trade, or leaving the enter VHL universe in general

 

Recruiting doesn't take extraordinary effort. What it takes is above-average communication, a skill lost on most front offices in any number of simulation leagues. Frankly being a strong communicator is lost on most of America and most of its work force. In Lattimer's particular situation, I've experienced the good and the bad of the communication spectrum.

 

The good: Janser and company took an unmolded piece of clay in myself and shaped it into a productive member of the league. That wasn't by accident. It was by intention, their intention to maximize a player whom was not much of a self-starter but certainly willing to put effort in when asked and when guided. 

 

Most recently, Lattimer's current team is getting a free ride on Janser still being communicative and maximizing Lattimer for the good of the league, given I no longer play for Calgary. But he wants VHL to thrive and so, despite Lattimer not having heard at all from his teammates or GM, Lattimer continues to earn and be a relatively productive member of the league.

 

This should not be the case, being successful in spite of shitty management.

 

ABR.

Always

Be

Recruiting

 

Even the very act of writing this post is a testament to what good, sound, consistent recruiting looks like. It is the kind of communication and effort that has made Lattimer outright hope and request that he goes back to Calgary. It is the kind of effort that is illustrated when Lattimer does press conferences for his old team instead of his new team. It is illustrated in that his former teammates and GMs are telling Lattimer how he's performing in the league, despite the fact that Lattimer is now their opponent.

 

And it's the absence of continued recruitment that puts Lattimer's future in the VHL at tremendous risk. Steve has said on the record that he does not think he will continue in the league much past this point, especially given his owner's retirement from the SBA. Right now, the only thing keeping him engaged in VHL is Janser, to be honest. Someone who is willing to earn, but will only do so if prompted, is completely dependent on one or few people to maximize his skills and attention. His current front office is not doing that. 

 

Will Lattimer just disappear soon? The possibility is strong, if not likely.

 

Unless he's recruited.

 

 

[Ricer13 2,623]

Big ooph to his new teammates and GM