This announcement comes as EY looks to roll out their Ulster Rugby Career Development Programme, a unique mentoring initiative aimed at supporting Ulster Rugby players as they plan their future careers after retiring from the game.
Taking a holistic approach that includes business workshops, work experience, business network development as well as personal and professional mentoring, the Ulster Rugby players participating in the programme will be paired with EY’s senior leadership team as well as with entrepreneurs and business leaders within the influential EY network in accordance with their areas of interest and post-rugby career aspirations.
EY’s ability to attract talent is centred on creating an environment where employees can develop their careers and work within highly engaged teams. The three-year partnership with Ulster Rugby expands on EY’s strategy to build the highest performing teams within the firm by extending this focus to strategic alliances in the sporting arena - evident in their sponsorship of the 2014 Commonwealth Games as well as their support of the winning team at this year’s Ryder Cup as official European partners.
Stressing the importance of forging strategic partnerships between business and sport, Michael Hall, Managing Partner, EY Northern Ireland, commented: “We are looking forward to continuing our work alongside Ulster Rugby as official sponsors of the team, not only to support the players’ sporting careers but to also assist them in clarifying their professional aspirations after rugby. By opening up our networks, providing relevant advice and facilitating immersive learning experiences, we are furthering our strategy to support and develop talent in business and sport throughout the island of Ireland.”
Having started with a team mentoring session with former EY Entrepreneur Of The Year finalist Peter Boyle of Argento, the mentoring initiative is set to ramp up with a series of sector-focused workshops to enable the players to identify business opportunities that interest them and isolate any skills and experience gaps before they map out their individual strategies to achieve these ambitions. Personal and business mentoring will be provided throughout the process to help the players put their post-rugby career plans into action, the first step being to initially run their new endeavours alongside their current sporting careers where possible.
Phillip Polack, Business Development Manager at Ulster Rugby commented, "Ulster Rugby is delighted to extend our relationship with EY, a professional brand known all over the world, and for Ulster Rugby to continue its association is yet another step forward for our organisation. We are excited to be working with Michael and the EY team and look forward to exploring these opportunities over the coming years.”
Hall concluded: "Professional sport is a powerful metaphor for business. Facing fierce competition, building effective teams and developing both long and short term strategies are just some of the key areas where business and sport overlap and, through this mentoring initiative, we hope to capitalise on these similarities to make the transition to a career off the pitch as smooth as possible for the Ulster Rugby players.”