Speaking at the HR Forum on board the Oriana, the former England rugby coach and director of Olympic performance at the British Olympic Association, told delegates: "It is not enough to have talented people filling seats in your business. They have to be like sponges - ready to learn and soak up knowledge. It is not just about who is talented but who wants to be."
Woodward explained when eight out of 10 employees think they are in the wrong team doing the wrong job it is easy to become disconnected. "There is no doubt business has a huge fascination with sport and vice versa but I believe we underachieve as a nation," he said. "Talent alone gets you into a position but in order to be a champion a talented person has to be coachable. Everyone is a sponge when they join an organisation but as time goes on they can become set in their ways and turn into rocks. A rock will never be a champion."
The other key to success, Woodward explained, is pressure. He said business is at its best when it is under pressure - pressure makes champions if you know how to use it.
He advised in the current economic climate employers should plan in advance how to have "an obsession with excellence" adding it is a misconception that talent only lies at the top of an organisation - it should be everywhere within it.
Concluding, Woodward drew on a comment made by boxer Mohammed Ali in 1967, which, he believes, still rings true for business: "The will must be stronger than the skill."
Employees must have the will to learn, says former England rugby coach Sir Clive Woodward
Sir Clive Woodward warned HR professionals not just to consider the talent of employees when measuring the success of the organisation but also to look at their desire to learn and ensure they are connected with the organisation.
