If you know me, you know I’ll find just about any excuse to talk about baseball. And if you’ve ever been in a workforce management strategy session with me, you also know I’ll find a way to make it fun…usually by finding any chance I can get to name drop Jason Varitek or Big Papi while we’re at it.
As someone who has spent two decades in this space, it’s impossible for me to not constantly draw parallels from my clients’ workforce management challenges to baseball and find an anecdote or two that somehow fits the situation perfectly.
That’s exactly what happened in our latest episode of our Workforce on Deck podcast. My trusty co-host/sidekick Vince Jackson and I were joined by our friends and colleagues Corey Cutler (UKG) and Eric Hoffmann (Improvizations), two gents who share our passion for both baseball and workforce management. Turns out I’ve been on to something, and the lessons from the dugout apply just as powerfully in the boardroom.
As I look back on our conversation leading up to the episode going live, here are just a few of my favorite takeaways and connections between Workforce Management and America’s Favorite Pastime.
You Win with Leadership AND Culture
Whether it’s Gil Hodges turning the Mets into champions or Terry Francona’s quiet brilliance in Cleveland (and Boston!), one thing is true is both baseball and workforce management: great leadership transforms teams.
We see this in workforce management every day. You can have the most high-tech tools and the best processes, but if your people aren’t empowered by authentic, human leadership then you're just managing, not leading.
And Corey, one of the best WFM practitioners in the game, reminded us that all the stats in the world can’t tell you if someone is having a bad day, or in a situation that isn’t helping them grow and thrive. It’s connecting with them – as a person, as a player – that makes the difference at work and in baseball.
I’ve staffed enough hospitals to know that workforce planning is equal parts science and art. Yes, you need forecasting tools and historical trends. But you also need leaders who know when someone is burning out, when a team dynamic is shifting, or when it’s time to change the lineup.
I’ve been fortunate to learn from some incredible leaders. The ones who stand out? They know how to read the room, not just the data. They know when to challenge the ump and risk getting tossed from the game in order to support their players, and also when to quietly pull a player aside with compassion. That’s real leadership.
You can feel it when a baseball clubhouse has the right energy. The dugout chemistry is there. Players cheer for each other, recover from losses faster, and step up in clutch moments. Our own organizations are no different, even if we don’t play ball for a living.
When the culture’s good - when people communicate, give credit, and laugh through the chaos regardless of what gets handed to them - you get stronger outcomes. People perform better when they feel like they belong, and leaders have a direct role in cultivating that kind of “clubhouse.”
Farm Teams, Not Just Free Agents
Eric said it best: Cleveland builds the Guardians from within because they have to. But I’d argue that’s not a limitation; it’s actually a strategy more of us should adopt.
I’ve spent most of my career thinking about healthcare staffing, where the stakes are high and the margin for error is slim. The organizations that thrive are the ones that develop their bench. These are the organizations that have prioritized mentoring junior staff- investing in training and building career paths that people can grow into. There’s a kind of loyalty that grows when someone sees their future inside your organization. It’s the difference between a transactional hire and a lifelong teammate.
This is just one of many reasons why I believe that Jason Varitek should be the next manager of the Red Sox.
How is that relevant, you ask?
Well, Tek spent his entire 15-year career with the Sox, then returned to Boston post-retirement as the Sox’s game planning coordinator. If I have my way (or when someone finally reads my strongly worded emails to the front office staff), we will watch Tek go from Captain to Skipper. See what can happen when you focus on young talent?
When to Build, When to Buy
Sadly, you can’t build everything from scratch. There are times when you need someone with 15 years of WFM experience under their belt to solve a complex problem, in the same way you need someone who’s been in the bullpen for a long time and can come in and deliver when you’re in the bottom of the 9th with bases loaded.
But that doesn’t mean you stop building. The smartest leaders create a hybrid approach, as Corey shared during our discussion: one that balances long-term development with targeted acquisition of talent to fill critical gaps.
It’s the same reason baseball teams scout top prospects and make strategic trades. One fuels sustainability and the other fuels momentum. You need both. Seek out the fresh talent, absolutely, but also please remember to embrace the beauty of the boomerang when you’re looking for that depth on the bench.
Let’s talk boomerangs. I’ve always believed that how you treat people when they leave says more about your culture than how you onboard them. Working for years under the amazing leader Aron Ain, we’ve all seen firsthand how powerful it can be to welcome someone back to an organization.
Maybe they needed to grow somewhere else.
Maybe they missed the culture.
Either way, a returning employee comes back smarter, hungrier, and often more loyal. But hopefully, they come back for a little longer than one day (looking at you, Evan Longoria.) And because I will never not bring it back to my beloved Red Sox… if Alex Cora can come back to Boston with all his baggage (and win), so can your former high performer.
Evolution Is the Only Constant
Walking through Fenway Park a few weeks ago, I was struck by how much has changed and how much it still feels the same. Over twenty years after my first Red Sox home game, the stadium itself feels like it hasn’t aged a day. But there is no mistaking the difference in the game. Bigger bases. Pitch clocks. More energy, more speed, a quicker pace. Baseball has evolved to keep pace with its fans.
WFM is doing the same: adapting to gig work, generational shifts, digital transformation, and rising employee expectations. And just like the MLB, organizations that resist change get left behind. What separates a good organization from a great one is how it adapts and molds itself to the needs of its customers, its employees, and the ever-shifting business landscape.
Do you cling to the old rules, or do you find a way to honor what works while evolving toward what’s next?
“In workforce management, conformity is the killer.” That’s Corey’s quote, but it bears repeating. If we want to build resilient teams, we have to reward innovation and be willing to change the playbook. In MLB, as in WFM, you innovate or you lose.
Final Reflections from the Mound (or the Podcast Mic)
As we wrapped up the podcast, I asked everyone to share a favorite baseball-ism that applies to both life AND workforce management. Mine is simple:
“Surround yourself with people who will charge the mound.”
To anyone leading a team right now: be the kind of leader your people would follow into a double-header (or a bench-clearing brawl - hypothetically speaking of course). Invest in them. Listen to them. Let them lead when the moment calls for it. And most importantly, let them play the game they love.
Thanks to Vince, Eric, and Corey for a conversation that reminded me why I love this work and this sport. I can’t wait for you all to hear this episode, and if I’m lucky, we can do ten more together and keep this conversation going.
About the Author: Dr. Sarah Inman is a lifelong Red Sox fan, which means she’s no stranger to heartbreak, optimism, and the highly strategic use of bullpen metaphors in workforce management. Read more (and maybe catch a few more baseball analogies) at her website. You can catch the Workforce on Deck podcast on your favorite podcast app.
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