Why company mission is key to attracting and retaining talent today

We are gradually emerging from the worst of the crisis. Although, at the time of writing this post, there are fears of a resurgence. However, businesses are beginning to return to some sort of normality. But a reality is beginning to emerge, and it is not an easy one to deal with. Sales transformation programmes can help. Let me explain.

Typically, when I talk to a business leader or VP of Sales, I try to understand if there are dynamics within their sales team that they are not satisfied with and would like to improve. What I often hear about are teams that struggle to step outside their comfort zones, or are bored by too much negotiation and discounting. Some even tell me that they don't have as many opportunities as they would like. But increasingly, what I'm starting to hear in this post-Covid world is that they are unable to recruit salespeople. They can't find candidates. And that's not only frustrating, but it also costs them time (to find them) and money (fewer prospects managed).

Motivation X, Y and Z

Let's be honest with each other. People who work for an organisation do not do so for the good of that organisation. The famous theory of three motivations (X, Y, Z) explains that after their basic needs have been met by their salary (motivation X), what matters to employees are the people they work with, whether they are colleagues, customers, suppliers, etc. We are social animals. The ability to provide a pleasant working environment depends heavily on the people we interact with. This is motivation Y.

But the most powerful motivator for retaining employees is neither money (X) nor people (Y). No. What motivates employees most strongly to invest themselves and stay with a company is what they develop. As the British say, they look at "the big picture". "What I am striving for".

To put it bluntly, when I talk to people who have worked in banking and switched to the education sector, they tell me that they are much more fulfilled and happy. Even if they earn less money (Z beats X hands down!). But, and this is very important in our current context, this motivation to develop what they are doing is also about them. We aspire to become better.

Motivation Z and the recruitment and retention of your sales representatives

Well, salespeople are just like everyone else. Yes, making money is important. Yes, they are social animals, so working with pleasant customers and colleagues is important to them. But what they develop, particularly their ability to improve, is also something that, if they are in a job, is important in their decisions to stay with the company. And if you are looking to recruit them, your ability to demonstrate that their personal development is important to you can make the difference in their decision to join your organisation or not.

Whether you work with me or with a colleague, that is not the issue here. But in these times when accessing candidates is becoming increasingly difficult, have you considered implementing commercial transformation plans, not only to solve commercial efficiency challenges, but also, and above all, to make your recruiters' lives easier?