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The War to Attract and Retain Sales Talent

Written by: John Brennan

Article Overview: The need for superior sales talent is increasing, but many big North American companies are fighting-and losing-the war to attract and retain it. The McKinsey Quarterly reports that a two percent economic growth rate for 15 years would increase the demand for executives by about a third. Meanwhile, supply is moving in the opposite direction: the number of US 35- to 44-year-olds will decline by 15 percent from 2000 to 2015. The report concludes that "Companies must make talent management a top priority, create and perpetually refine their employee value proposition, and source and, above all, develop talent systematically while removing underperformers."

The War to Attract and Retain Sales Talent

You might ask yourself what you are doing to develop leaders for tomorrow in your sales organization, or on your team.

Do your sales people have an individual development plan that identifies gaps in their competencies and includes a plan to close them?

Do you regularly coach your sales people to improve their performance?

Are you aware of all the educational and training resources available to your sales people and do you recommend appropriate resources to them?

Is every problem truly a learning opportunity? Do you first fix the problem, not the blame, and then involve your sales people in a root cause analysis to prevent the problem from recurring?

Can you "let go" your disappointment and frustration when a sales person is the problem and deal with them in an objective and fair manner?

When a new project comes your way do you ask yourself what parts of it you can delegate to develop your sales people? Do you delegate autonomy and responsibility while retaining adequate control?

Do you regularly "catch your sales people doing something right" and praise them for it? Do your sales people feel valued and respected?

Could your organization compete well in a "Best Places to Work" contest?

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Article Tags: economic growth rate, hiring, recruiting, superior sales



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