As business managers we can easily fall into a victim mentality. “The coaches can ignore my requests or requirements and have no scar on their evaluation.” Or, “why set policy if my superiors do not support me?” Or, my favorite, “you would never allow one of your players to ignore a rule so blatantly, why should I give you a pass when you behave that way with me?”
Coaches can reprimand, suspend or even remove a player from their team. An Athletic Director can do the same to the coach. What can an Athletic Business Manager do?
Reprimand: what good is a reprimand when it likely has no teeth? Just like a child runs to the other parent when being disciplined, hoping for this next judge to overturn the other’s parental verdict, a coach can run (and I mean literally run – I have seen it) to their supervisor and complain about the Athletic Business Manager’s unreasonable requests. And, it always seems to be during a critical recruiting period or during essential game preparation.
Suspend or remove: sorry, it took a few minutes to write this sentence. I could not stop laughing at the idea of a coach being suspended for habitual disregard of my rules. Oh gosh…that’s so funny! I want the rookie trading card of the Athletic Administrator who does that. Face it, other than some kind of fraud, day to day occurrences, no matter how frequent, will not result in suspension or removal.
So what’s an Athletic Business Manager to do?
1. Clearly define the rules and consequences for breaking the rule.
2. Ask your superior and the sport supervisors to have your back.
3. Partner with sport supervisors for enhancement and enforcement of rules.
4. Meet with coaches as frequently as necessary to reinforce your systems.
5. Respect their time.
6. Practice what you preach.
Next time: How to Create a Culture of Fiscal Integrity – Part II: Defining rules and getting administrative support
Jude Russo Caserta
Your AthleticBudgetCoach.com
Twitter AthleticBudget
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What type of abuses do you see? Overspending?
Overspending is certainly an abuse which would get the attention of a good sport administrator.
I will give you a few examples:
Chronic tardiness with receipts
Not supplying supporting information with the credit card
Making purchases without proper approval (a big one)
Blowing off meetings
Late getting critical information into our office causing crisis mode unnecessarily
Big stuff like credit card fraud or cash fraud would obviously get a dismissal (and possibly criminal consequences). It’s the little things that add up.
Fiscal integrity happens when everyone involved sees it’s importance and supports it’s goal.
Great question!