While many great cities boast a top flight football club, there are very few villages that can say the same. Hoffenheim (population 3,191) is an exception. The reason for it is TSG’s unique attitude (and mindset), which combines social value and the development of the club. This leads to a sustainable strategy on an individual, organizational and societal level. We call it the “common value approach”.
Jan Mayer, Managing Director at TSG Hoffenheim says that when a business wishes to buck a trend, it can’t be business as usual. “We compete with world cities – and talents choose Hoffenheim. How is that possible?” he asks. “How can such a small village keep up?”
Copying other clubs, he says, is not an option:
“Hoffenheim can compete because we don't use the same methods that might work in other clubs, which means you have to rethink football here. You can't compare us to a club that is located in a city of millions. It won’t work to say we'll just do it like them, we'll manage somehow.”
Mayer believes that there needs to be a compelling reason for talent to prefer Hoffenheim over other clubs:
“The big unlock was that the club will only work successfully if we have an optimal talent development philosophy. TSG Hoffenheim then developed a very special method, namely a data-based and individualized approach. We do a lot of physiological and psychological diagnostics to know exactly what the individual player needs.
The players, such as the 16-year-old Tom Bischof, are finding that the Bundesliga club’s approach is giving them an edge on the field:
“In general, there are many things in Hoffenheim that do not exist at other clubs. Everything is thought of, I think that the whole body is engaged here. And I think that's the big difference.”
Engaging the whole body, Mayer says, means exactly that: identifying strengths and areas for improvement and creating bespoke training for each player’s needs:
“If you see that a talent is not so fast in processing information, you can either say: okay, that's not someone we can have on the team. Or you can find ways to improve his weaknesses to ensure that he can nevertheless play good football.”
To achieve this, the club has embarked on a program to measure the performance of each player at a granular level: when it comes to processing speed, for example, how is it measured? And what methods can be used to promote improvement?
Mayer says that looking after the club’s players is much like looking after any other commodity:
“The work we undertake is always for the purpose of looking after our own resources and making sure that relationships are stable. Actually, one can speak of a sustainable culture of excellence. That's the only way to unleash a talent’s full potential over the years, so that it can deliver top performances at the highest level, week after week.”
It is an approach that has paid off with Bischof:
“It was always my dream to get my first Bundesliga call-up at TSG Hoffenheim. And when I saw my number, it was an indescribable feeling. Because I've been with Hoffenheim from the beginning, until now – I was just eager to go on the pitch.”
Bischof’s talent had also been spotted by other top clubs, but as Mayer says, Hoffenheim’s approach was unique:
“Why is he staying with us? Because he trusts that we will deal with him in such a resource-oriented and sustainable fashion that he will find his way. Being able to attract, nurture and retain such a talented player is both a joy and ultimately further confirmation of the approach we have.”
The approach has applications beyond the club itself, with the practices pioneered at Hoffenheim being used elsewhere, such as within the Common Value Club Alliance which unites clubs from different continents in support of the same mission for player development and welfare.
Outside football, Mayer says the club’s not-for-profit research laboratory deals with many questions outside of football:
“They are looking at whether firefighters can also benefit from perception training, or stroke patients may benefit from information processing training.”
The approach - of constant improvement wherever possible and pushing the boundaries on what can be measured and understood, is a key part of the Hoffenheim brand with the club adopting a similar methodology for all staff and ongoing efforts to achieve a zero-waste stadium.
Jan Mayer says that the difference is cultural; and when culture comes into play, the values you wish to promote come naturally:
“You don't need any directives from third parties, with the right culture, the behavior you wish to encourage happens intrinsically. For example, we instilled our climate goals and are now climate neutral. This has to do with the fact that you have an attitude in which a resource-oriented approach is seen as crucial. If that’s the case, then everything you wish to achieve is automatically on the table.”
