AFLW clubs with the best workplace culture are the ones playing finals
Clubs with the strongest workplace culture in the AFLW are the ones still playing in September, according to new data from the AFL Players Association. Five of this year's finals teams ranked in the top seven for overall workplace culture.
Workplace culture is the day-to-day environment a club creates for its players. The players' union measured six things: how well the club looks after people, whether players get mental breaks, what the club expects of them off the field, the relationships inside the group, how flexible the schedule is, and how well the club supports study or work outside football. The data was collected around the middle of the season.
Four AFLW clubs were assessed as having the best workplace culture on record this year. Four were assessed as the worst. The union's chief executive, James Gallagher, said clubs with the strongest workplace environments are much more likely to be successful, and the finals series reflected that.
The gap is growing. Gallagher told ABC Sport there is a widening distance between the top of the culture data and the bottom end.
The finals line-up came from North Melbourne, Geelong, Melbourne, Carlton, Gold Coast, Sydney, Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn. At the other end of the ladder, Collingwood and St Kilda each won one game this season. GWS and Essendon won two of their 12.
Those four bottom clubs have responded in different ways. Collingwood, St Kilda and Essendon all parted ways with their head coaches. GWS kept its coach. Collingwood and St Kilda will each run an external review of their women's programs. Essendon has opted for an expanded internal review instead.
Culture is not only a club matter. Half of all AFLW players said they felt their men's and women's programs were aligned. That is a useful number for anyone wondering whether the women's game sits inside its club or beside it.
For a newcomer, the takeaway is simple. Wins on the field and the way players are treated off it appear to travel together, at least in this season's numbers. Whether the gap between the best and worst clubs narrows is the question the next few seasons will answer.
