Dec 23, 22 ‧ by Keith ‧ 15mins read ‧ 🌐 中文

Cristiano Ronaldo's interview with Piers Morgan in Nov 2022

Eve of the World Cup, fans are not focusing on the upcoming event. Why? Because a week before the start of the World Cup, British TV broadcasted an exclusive interview with a person who shocked the world. The protagonist of the interview is Cristiano Ronaldo, the former player of Manchester United. In this more than an-hour interview, Ronaldo, who was still playing for Manchester United at the time, accused the team Manchester United, its management and coaches. Whether it is for Ronaldo himself, the team management, players or fans, this is an interview with a nuclear bomb-level impact.

If this happened to a company, it would definitely be a public relations disaster. Today is the era of technology and the Internet. Employees' public evaluation of the company not only affects the productivity and morale within the company but also affects the company's employer brand and business goodwill, affecting talent recruitment, customer trust, product and service sales, etc.

Although the mouth is on others and we cannot control what they say, we can still reduce the chances of these things happening. In the following, I will use Ronaldo’s complaints during the interview to analyse what the management needs to pay attention to when creating a working environment and getting along with employees. This will effectively increase the engagement of employees, avoid public relations disasters, and help retain talents, improve employee productivity and performance.

Ronaldo: "I've never heard of his name!"

Ronaldo returned to Manchester United in 2021, he immediately faced the alternation of the old and new managers. During the interview, Ronaldo mentioned that before the new manager Ralf Rangnick took over, he had never heard of Rangnick's name at all, and he did not understand why the management had a director of football as the manager. Ronaldo believes that Rangnick is not qualified for the position of Manchester United manager.

In the early days of coaching, Rangnick insisted that players play pressing football tactics. However, Ronaldo felt that all the players were obviously unable to do what he wanted. During the match against Liverpool, some players did not follow the instructions of the manager to play. This is enough to prove that Rangnick failed to gain the trust and support of the players. Ronaldo pointed out that after half of the season, Manchester United's performance was disappointing. In the last game, they lost 0:1 to the 12th-ranked Crystal Palace, barely maintaining sixth place.

Ralf Rangnick, former Manchester United interim manager

Whether Rangnick is not qualified for the role of Manchester United manager as Ronaldo said, it is left to the analysis and judgment of the fans. However, it is obvious that Ronaldo had a bad impression of Rangnick from the very beginning. It actually involves mutual trust and respect between Ronaldo and the management.

Engage employees and listen to them

Some managers think that they are at the helm of the enterprise and understand the situation of the enterprise, so they ignore the opinions of employees on the operation of the enterprise. This not only has the opportunity to jeopardize the company's operations and business results but also affects the engagement of employees.

One of the most important elements for employees to have enthusiasm for their work and to devote themselves to their work is to help employees build trust in the company and management. When companies face some important decisions, if employees can express their opinions and participate in them, they will feel valued. Because of your own participation, the sense of ownership will increase accordingly. Employees will feel that they are part of the company's prospects and see the company's performance as their own achievements. In the long run, employees will be more willing to express their opinions and devote themselves to their work. From the perspective of the company, employees are at the forefront to deal with daily affairs, and the subtleties of decision-making can have a great impact on their work. Ignoring their opinions may make their work unsatisfactory and even make them feel frustrated, greatly reducing work efficiency and productivity.

The club facilities have been stagnant for years

The swimming pool at Manchester United's Carrington training ground, photographed when it opened in 2000

Ronaldo left Manchester United in 2009 and returned in 2021. In the past 13 years, he has played for the top clubs in Europe, Real Madrid and Juventus, and won various championships. When Ronaldo returned to Manchester United in 2021, he resolutely found that the facilities in the club were exactly the same as when he left, without any change. Amenities include the swimming pool, exercise room, and more, and even the windows have not been changed. Time seemed to stand still for Manchester United. In Ronaldo's view, Manchester United has completely fallen behind the world-class clubs.

Competitive Work Environment

The football world is as competitive as the commercial market. Just imagine that the facilities mentioned by Ronaldo are product laboratories, production lines, and even computers, software, and tools used by employees in their daily work. These investments in money-generating tools directly reflect the thinking of management, and employees can feel it. For example, the employee's computer is too slow, and the company is unwilling to replace it. All he can do is be patient and slow down his work pace, or buy some parts to increase the speed of the computer, but how many people know or are willing to do this?

Employee's equipment — If the computer is too slow, employees tend to slow down

Every little bit of this will make employees feel that the management is stagnant and consistent for years, and no matter how motivated employees will lose their fighting spirit. Therefore, managers should not underestimate the importance of the working environment to employees, it will definitely affect the degree of dedication of employees to work.

I had an experience. My previous job required frequent trips to and from offices in the Mainland, about three to four days a week. After arriving, I saw a thick layer of dust on the desk, so the first thing I would do every time was to clean the dust on the desk. This incident was a trivial matter at the time, but it also caused a topic among colleagues on business trips and left a bad impression. With the improvement of people's awareness of hygiene in recent years, if the same thing happens as usual, its influence cannot be underestimated.

Employee Engagement - Open office design — Open office design

Another example is that many companies adopt an open office design where the partitions between employee seats are removed. Its advantage is that colleagues can communicate without hindrance, promoting employee communication and achieving efficient operation. However, this design also has its disadvantages, that is, the privacy of employees becomes very low, and it increases the constraints on employees' work. Just imagine if your work requires a quiet space to think, while the colleagues next to you need to frequently talk to customers on the phone. This design will make employees at a loss.

In recent years, due to the epidemic situation, companies have accelerated the use of online meetings instead of physical meetings. I have noticed that more and more companies have prepared several phone booth-like spaces in the office, allowing 1-2 employees to conduct online meetings. This arrangement not only improves privacy but also considers the need for epidemic prevention.

The convenience and comfort of an employee at work are one of the factors that affect his work performance and happiness. The above are some places that enterprises can pay attention to in terms of hardware. Next time, when the company changes the working environment, it may wish to consider the daily operation of employees and adjust some supporting facilities to make their work more convenient and enjoyable. In terms of software, companies can provide different types of regular training for employees in response to the opportunities and challenges they will encounter in the business environment. This investment in human resources can not only enhance the competitiveness of the company, but also make employees feel valued, and they will be more active in serving the company.

Club executives have no sympathy

In April of this year, Ronaldo sadly announced that the twin baby boy conceived by his girlfriend Georgina had unfortunately died. When the fans were worried about Ronaldo's mood and state, he found the strength to continue playing. Among them, he received huge support from the fans. In an away game without Ronaldo, fans of Manchester United and rival club Liverpool sang "You will never walk alone" in the seventh minute of the game (representing Ronaldo, because he wore the number 7 jersey) to support him. In addition, Ronaldo also received a personal condolence letter from the British royal family, which surprised and moved him.

However, what shocked Ronaldo was that while he received encouragement from the fans and the royal family, he did not receive the support of his own club. He accused the club of lacking "compassion". When his three-month-old daughter was hospitalized in July, he couldn't make it back for pre-season training because he wanted to be with his girlfriend and daughter. Ronaldo said that when he explained why he could not participate in pre-season training, some Manchester United executives would doubt his reasons, which made him feel "hurt" and "bad".

Have empathy for employees, employees will treat the company with heart

Some managers will think that the private affairs of employees are their own affairs, which should not affect the operation of the company. On the contrary, if the company can be considerate of the personal situation of its employees and provide appropriate encouragement or support, this action of giving charcoal in a timely manner will definitely effectively enhance the employee's sense of belonging to the company. In the future, when the company encounters difficulties, he/she will also help the company to tide over the difficulties.

Work from Home — Many companies allowed parents to work from home during the epidemic

In response to the epidemic in recent years, students often have to accept suspension of classes or half-day teaching arrangements, which adds a lot of trouble to parents in terms of care arrangements. Fortunately, many companies in Hong Kong can make flexible arrangements, allowing parents to work from home, or allowing them to bring their children back to the company, and some even provide childcare assistance. These elasticities greatly enhance employees' sense of belonging to the company, allowing them to work without worries and give back to the company with actions.

In addition, some companies will care about the physical health of their employees, and arrange sports competitions or regular sports exercises for employees, such as yoga classes. In recent years, in addition to physical health, more and more companies pay attention to the mental health of their employees, so they hire tutors to regularly arrange some workshops for employees to improve their mental health, such as positive psychology, Zentangle, Laughter Yoga, mindfulness, etc. The purpose is to help employees become more positive and happy, and improve their ability to resist adversity and reduce stress.

Postscript:

Is Ronaldo's accusation against the club and the manager justified in the interview? Or is everything just out of self-interest? This is left to the fans to analyse and judge by themselves. I think everyone can have different ideas and opinions, and have the right to express them. We should respect each other's ideas. This is the value of a pluralistic society. I am a fan of Manchester United. I respect Ronaldo's freedom of speech, but I'm disappointed in the timing of his choice to make that remark. When Ronaldo was interviewed and broadcast, he was still a player at Manchester United. I cannot accept that he receives the club's salary on the one hand, and on the other hand, he publicly criticizes his own club and manager. This is extremely harmful to the club and even Manchester United players. Or a more ideal approach is for Ronaldo and the club's senior management directly reflect their opinions.

2022 is about to pass, and the new year is coming. While planning the company's new year's development, HumanBond hopes that the management will also consider the plan to enhance employee engagement, which will bring twice the result with half the effort to the company's development. Last but not the least, we wish you all a Merry Christmas, a prosperous New Year, and good health physically and mentally.

Reference and photo sources

Piers Morgan’s Youtube Channel. The FULL Cristiano Ronaldo Interview With Piers Morgan. Retrieved from www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk9uJRMvBIA
Team Talk. Ralf Rangnick names top Man City target as player he could pursue in Man Utd consultancy role. Retrieved from www.teamtalk.com/manchester-united/ralf-rangnick-names-erling-haaland-pursue-consultancy-role
Yahoo News. 若然冇C朗，曼聯排第幾......？Retrieved from hk.sports.yahoo.com/news/%E8%8B%A5%E7%84%B6%E5%86%87c%E6%9C%97-%E6%9B%BC%E8%81%AF%E6%8E%92%E7%AC%AC%E5%B9%BE-003024740.html
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