Thomas International is proud to announce an industry first. As the only global provider of people assessments with dedicated divisions in the business and education sectors, Thomas International became the first company in its sector to launch a dedicated sports division, Thomas Sport.
At the Thomas International Sport launch event which took place on the evening of Tuesday 14th October 2014 in central London, a selection of high profile professionals across business and sport came together to discuss the importance of creating a winning mindset, both in the boardroom and on the pitch. Sir Steve Redgrave, one of the attendees, commented, “Whether athlete or coach or business person, it’s important to find out what makes that person tick.” He added: “Knowledge is everything; the more you know about yourself, the more you know about the people around you, the more chance you’ve got to be sympathetic to the way they respond and how you achieve.”
In preparing for this exciting business milestone, Thomas International, one of the most long-established psychometric assessment providers in the world, has harnessed over three decades of global business insight to create a dedicated suite of psychometric assessment tools, tailored for the world of sport.
Working alongside them has been a host of leading sports psychologists, elite athletes and professional sportsmen and women to ensure the products’ efficacy.
Thomas International was founded in 1981 and now operates in 60 countries, over 20million Thomas assessments have been completed during this time, with 1.5million people completing one this year.
Based on strong academic foundations, Thomas’s tools were designed to empower businesses to recruit, retain, develop and manage their teams as well as individual employees. Thomas International is therefore placed in a unique position, having built a bank of knowledge and experience around what it takes to makes businesses succeed, to shed a new light in the sports industry.
Supporting a holistic approach to high performance, Thomas International Sport enables coaches to understand their personal style and that of their athletes more fully. An increased self-awareness of communication style, motivation and emotional intelligence better places organisations, trainers and coaches to deliver more effective training programmes, supporting teams and helping athletes gain a real competitive edge.
Martin Reed, CEO of Thomas International said: “The first step to creating success whether on the pitch or in the workplace, is understanding the key motivators and fears, as well as strengths and weaknesses, of each team member or individual and from there knowing how best to manage them effectively for success. Our business insights apply direct to sport.”
This is supported by Paralympian Naomi Riches MBE, who firmly believes psychometric assessments helped her to become world champion. She said: “Psychometric testing I believe is part of the fantastic formula that got me that gold medal in London. It made me realise that without losing sight of who I was, I could still modify the way I behaved in certain situations to allow the people around me to get the best out of me – and for me to get the best out of them.”
Thomas International Sport is currently working with a number of high profile sports teams, such as London-based rugby team Saracens and Kent County Cricket Club. They also work with Southampton FC Academy. The academy’s lead sports psychologist, Malcolm Frame, uses Thomas tools as part of their research and training programme to develop its young footballers. Frame says: “The tools help us to explain to our athletes and coaches about psychological and behavioural flexibility, improving their self-awareness and helping them to adapt their behaviour where possible.”
Mike Walker, MD at Thomas International Sport commented: “Having played sport at a professional level and also coached, I know only too well how powerful these tools can be in helping athletes maximise their performance and in helping to build better team relationships. We are extremely proud to be launching with such an incredible group of partners and are excited by the level of demand we have seen from all sports. This bodes well for the growth of Thomas International Sport globally and we are confident that we can build a sports division that will mirror the success we have achieved in business over the last three decades.”