Steve Rothberg over at collegerecruiter.com provides one of the clearest posts I have read regarding Gen Y and their job-hopping ways. This is Steve’s area of expertise and this post lays it out in simple terms. An excerpt (emphasis mine): Gen X’ers like me who attended college two decades ago received our education for far less money than Gen Y’ers are paying. I paid $3,500 for tuition my last year in school. If the cost of that tuition were to double every seven years, that means that today’s student in that same program would pay $28,000. That’s disgusting. I graduated with about $20,000 in student loan debt. A Gen Y’er… Read More
Continue ReadingWall Street Turnover
If you think you are experiencing hiring difficulties, be happy you are not on Wall Street: Fresh off some of the richest bonuses ever handed out, investment bankers and traders, especially those who deal with leveraged debt, are in high demand. In some cases, bidding has driven newly hired employees into the arms of a rival in mere weeks. That statement seemed like hyperbole until later in the article: Securities-industry employment rose to 804,000 at the end of 2006 after a third consecutive year of increases. The employment figure is just 4% shy of the all-time high set in 2000, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. The… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Biggest Hiring Challenge
No surprise here: Finding qualified people to work as sales representatives is the biggest hiring challenge for global employers for the second year in a row, an annual talent shortage survey reported Thursday. Sales reps top the list of hard-to-fill jobs in the United States, Japan, Hong Kong and in five other countries… The CNN/Money article goes into detail about CEO’s focus on growth and the lack of salespeople available to power that initiative. We are experiencing it first hand as our sourcing times have been extended. In fact, we are making adjustments today to pour more resources into our sourcing channels. Strong sales candidates require extra work to locate… Read More
Continue ReadingFixing A Dis-incentive Plan
OK, the Rock Star really hit a nerve with his recent post – A Commission Plan Gone Bad. I’m having flashbacks to a comp plan that still makes the hair on the back of my neck bristle. When a comp plan becomes counter-productive -and the sales team is talking – you’ve created a monster. I can only think of one thing worse – have the paychecks bounce! The profile for the most productive sales people tells us that messing with compensation and the perception of deception is the beginning of the end for retention. Sales people want and need to believe that they are being treated honestly, fairly and with… Read More
Continue ReadingA Commission Plan Gone Bad – Update
The saga continues. My friend as gotten to be a great resource for me on what not to do for sales management and incentive plans. Just after the last post a new turn of events transpired in regards to this latest contest. As I mentioned, her team was challenged to sell 2 specific add-on services (both truly commodities). Extra spiff’s were added by the manager to “motivate” the sales team. One of the team members actually went out and sold 10 of these services which should have entitled them to a half day off (and no small feat to accomplish these sales). Yet, the weekly report listed only 1 sale.… Read More
Continue ReadingSales Traits Series – Emotional Control
Sales can be an emotional roller coaster. Sales can be frustrating and anger-inducing. Conversely, sales can be joyful and exciting. But what about salespeople who allow these emotions to rule their behavior? Successful selling requires poise in the midst of an emotionally-charged environment. This week we look at one of the top 10 traits for sales success. Emotional ControlThis is the ability of a salesperson to maintain rational and objective actions when experiencing strong internal emotions. This trait measures one€™s ability to control their own internal emotions and prevent them from affecting their actions, logic, objectivity, etc. Emotional Control deals with keeping internal emotions in instead of letting them get the better of the salesperson. A salesperson… Read More
Continue ReadingWhat Gen Y Wants
SHRM’s recent newsletter (membership required) contains an article discussing what Gen Y’ers are looking for in their lives. In a recent survey conducted by Pew Research Center here is a wish list of what the Gen Y’ers want. Life goals are geared strongly toward getting rich (81 percent) and famous (51 percent). Their Generation X predecessors, by comparison, place less importance on these goals, with 62 percent seeking riches and just 29 percent seeking fame. Thirty percent of respondents indicated that finances and debt were the most important personal problems they were facing. Education was a distant second at 18 percent, followed closely by career and job concerns at 16… Read More
Continue ReadingShow Me The Time Compensation
In the 1996 movie Jerry Maguire, Tom Cruise made the phrase “Show me the money” famous. In fact, the phrase has become an American icon in several ways. Eleven years later, it appears candidates are saying “Show me the time.” Time off for family, friends and fun. According to a recent survey by the Association of Executive Search Consultants, 85% of recruiters have seen candidates reject a job offer because it wouldn’t include enough work-life balance. And 90% of recruiters say work-life balance considerations are more important now than they were five years ago. Information from other levels of employment – not just the executive levels – suggest exactly the… Read More
Continue ReadingDoes Gloomy Weather Impact Productivity?
Yes, according to an article on CareerBuilder. There are more numbers and stats in the article than you can shake a stick at, but I thought I would share a couple with you (FYI, it is cold and rainy here in Minnesota today). One-in-ten workers say that they tend to be less productive when there is gloomy weather outside. Inclement weather can also result in higher absences. One-in-five workers (21 percent) have called in sick because of not wanting to travel to work in bad weather. Workers in the Northeast were the most likely to call in sick due to bad weather (32 percent) compared to the South (21 percent),… Read More
Continue ReadingC.Y.A. Excuses
Clayton at Salesopedia has a short, entertaining post that provides 5 excellent excuses to use if you are caught napping in a meeting (I have been). Read the post, I guarantee you will laugh. My personal favorite: €œThey told me at the blood bank that this might happen.€
Continue Reading