Examining Career

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Examining career development programs forthe sales force

Donald W. Jackson Jr, Thomas Hollmann and Andrew S. Gallan

W.P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA

AbstractPurpose – The purpose of this article is to explore career development programs for the sales force including benefits, implementation and managerialimplications.Design/methodology/approach – Career development programs are viewed through a conceptual model consisting of assessment, direction anddevelopment.Findings – This paper provides a comprehensive list of the benefits of a career development program for sales forces.Practical implications – The conceptual model can serve as a checklist for sales managers to evaluate, add to or modify their programs. Theconceptual model also provides a framework for tying together many disparate areas of career development that have been handled separately orignored in the sales management literature.Originality/value – This paper provides a comprehensive conceptual model of career development that has not been present in the salesmanagement literature. This should be useful to sales managers in evaluating their own career development efforts. The framework should also beuseful to sales management scholars who teach and do research in this area.

Keywords Career development, Sales force, Sales management

Paper type General review

An executive summary for managers and executive

readers can be found at the end of this article.

A career development program is a planned process for

linking salespeople’s career needs with their organization’s

employment needs. Therefore, career development needs to

be understood from both the organization’s as well as the

salesperson’s perspective. Career development helps

salespeople plan their career in concert w ith the

organization’s workforce needs. Career development thusincludes multiple options beyond just getting promoted; these

include improving skills, enriching the present job, remaining

current and preparing for the future (Gutterridge et al.,

1993). Career development for salespeople also involves

helping them develop goals, skills and habits beyond those

necessary for their present jobs (Dalrymple and Cron, 1998).

Career development programs may provide significant

benefits to the sales manager and the firm: first, such

programs may effectively reduce turnover, and second, since

qualified sales representatives are often difficult to find and

recruit, career development programs may increase retention

of key sales personnel. In addition, the components of a career

development program have not been systematically dealt with

in the sales management literature.There are several reasons why companies invest in career

development programs. These include: improving

salespeople’s performance, developing their own managers,

socializing salespeople into the sales force or corporate

culture, reinforcing key values, assisting salespeople in getting

promoted and advancing their careers, and serving as a form

of compensation (Lees, 1992). Firms may also invest in career

development programs to manage incurred costs, such as

assessment and training programs, as opposed to opportunity

costs, such as turnover and dissatisfaction (Feldman and

Weitz, 1988).

Companies that help their salespeople plan their careers will

often gain a more loyal and productive sales force (Hite and Johnston, 1998). In this way, then, career development

programs may also increase retention rates of key personnel

(Sager, 1990). As can be seen from the list below, career

development programs benefit salespeople, sales managers

and the organizations in which they are implemented. The

major downside of career development programs, beside the

time and cost of the programs, is that if expectations are

raised without being accompanied by career progress, morale

may suffer. This may negatively impact job satisfaction as well

as organizational commitment, which may result in increased

turnover.

(1) Benefits for salespeople:. assistance with career decisions;. enrichment of present job;. increased job satisfaction;. better communication with management;. more realistic goals and expectations;. better feedback on performance;. greater sense of personal responsibility for managing

career;. better career prospects; and. increased ability to move laterally.

(2) Benefits for sales managers:. increased skill in managing their own careers;. greater retention of salespeople;. better communication with salespeople;

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

www.emeraldinsight.com/0885-8624.htm

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing

21/5 (2006) 291–299

q Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 0885-8624]

[DOI 10.1108/08858620610681597]

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. more realistic succession planning;

. more productive performance appraisal discussions;

. increased understanding of the organization;

. increased reputation as a people developer;

. increased motivation for salespeople to accept new

responsibilities;. build talent inventory for special projects; and.

clarification of fit between organizational andindividual goals.

(3) Benefits for the organization:. better use of employee skills;. increased loyalty and better retention;. b et te r d is se mi na ti on o f i nf or ma ti on a nd

communication;. expanded public image as a people developing

organization;. increased effectiveness of personnel system; and. clarification of organizational goals (adapted from

Leibowitz et al., 1986).

Although career development programs are beneficial, they

are not discussed very thoroughly in the sales managementliterature. There are isolated discussions of various

components of career development programs such as

mentoring and career paths in the sales management

literature. Discussions with sales managers indicate that

many firms have such programs for their sales forces.

Furthermore, a clear conceptual definition of career

development has not been established in the sales

management literature. Although some aspects of career

development are present in the sales literature, an attempt to

combine and integrate them is lacking.

Thus, the purposes of this article are to define career

development programs in a sales force context, describe the

elements of career development programs, discuss the

benefits and drawbacks of career development programs forsales forces, explore how to implement successful career

development programs, and discuss the managerial

implications of career development.

The first major contribution of this article is closing the gap

between what may be found in the existing literature and what

is clearly being done in practice. The components of a typical

career development program are delineated and some

suggestions for implementing a successful program are

discussed. T he second m ajor contribution is the

development of a conceptual model of a career development

program. This model helps to establish a clear conceptual

definition of the career development process and its

components.

Development of a conceptual model

Based upon a review of the literature and practical evidence, a

conceptual model of career development is proposed. This

comprehensive model provides sales managers with

components of a career development program, which can be

used as a checklist for program development or refinement.

This model provides a framework that may facilitate further

research and discussion of the components and their effects

on career development.

As can be seen from Figure 1, career development is

conceptualized as consisting of three components:

assessment, direction, and development (Gomez-Mejia et al.,

2 00 1) . A ssessm ent is concerned w ith evaluating a

salesperson’s strengths and weaknesses. Direction involves

determining the type of career that salespeople want and the

steps they must take to reach their career goals. Finally,

development consists of taking actions to increase

salespeople’s skills and preparing them for future job

opportunities (Gomez-Mejia et al., 2001).

Assessment

The first component of the career development model is

assessment. Assessment involves determining salespeople’s

strengths and weaknesses and may be accomplished through

self-assessment or organizational assessment. Organizational

assessments may be performed in assessment centers, through

psychological testing or performance appraisal, or through

succession planning.

Self assessment

Self assessment is a detailed analysis of a salesperson’s

background, interests and aspirations (Powell, 2000). The

purpose of self-assessment is to help salespeople choose acareer direction that is appropriate and to determine the

weaknesses they need to overcome to achieve their career

goals. According to one source:

What motivates salespeople most is not company-set goals, but their own

personal goals for job satisfaction and career development (Keenan, 1994,p. 33).

Self assessment can be done through workbooks or

workshops, skills assessment exercises, completing interest

inventories or clarifying salespeople’s values (Haskell, 1993).

Career workbooks contain information on career paths

available in the organization. Career planning workshops

also may make salespeople aware of career options that are

available in the organization. Skills assessment exercises are

designed to identify the salesperson’s skills. Interest

inventories measure the salesperson’s occupational interests.

Finally, value clarification involves prioritizing the

salesperson’s personal values.

Organizational assessment

Organizational assessment utilizes various tools to aid

the organization in evaluating salespeople. These can

include assessment centers, psychological testing,

performance appraisal and succession planning.

Assessment centers

Assessment centers allow salespeople to be evaluated as they

participate in a series of exercises that resemble what they

might encounter in their careers. Assessment centers offer an

excellent opportunity for salespeople and sales managers to

gain insights into salespeople’s capabilities. Salespeople can be

provided with feedback to improve their performance and also

experience conditions that reinforce competencies, which are

beneficial to professional development (Cook and Herche,

1992).

Although assessment centers are typically used for selection

purposes they may also be used for career development. The

exercises that the salespeople complete may involve role-

playing, case analyses, leaderless discussion groups, business

games, or individual presentations (Spiro et al., 2003).

Evaluation of these exercises gives salespeople feedback about

Examining career development programs for the sales force



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their strengths and weaknesses in the areas covered by the

exercises.

For the organization, assessment centers provide a means of systematically gathering and processing information

concerning the promotability as well as the development

needs of salespeople (Heneman et al., 1989). According to

Boehm there are several applications of developmental

assessment centers (Boehm, 1985). First, the feedback

session itself provides insight and formulates developmental

strategies. Secondly, the early identification of talent prepares

the identified individual for rapid advancement. Third, the

identification of strengths and development areas for

salespeople insures that individual training and development

programs can be formulated for them. Finally, the assessment

center also allows sales managers to gain development

experience by getting observer training.

Psychological testing Psychological testing utilizes written tests to help salespeople

determine their occupational interests, personality types and

other personality characteristics that provide insights not

supplied by other planning activities. These are often used

along with career counseling as a means of assessment

(Scarpello and Ledvinka, 1998). Two examples of these tests

are the Strong Interest Inventory and the Myers-Briggs Type

Indicator. The Strong Interest Inventory measures

salespeople’s interests and how they compare with the

interests of people successfully working in a wide range of

occupations. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is a

personality assessment that helps identify work style

preferences. This can help salespeople identify their

strengths and the type of work they might enjoy and besuccessful doing (Career Testing Services, 2002).

Performance appraisal

Performance appraisal is primarily concerned with assessing

salespeople’s performance on their current job. However, the

performance appraisal process should also be concerned with

career development. Here, the sales manager can evaluate the

professional development needs of salespeople and their

strengths and areas where they need improvement, based on

their actual performance in the most recent period. Many

sales organizations appear to incorporate multiple

professional development criteria with their salesperson

perform ance appraisals. T his is appropriate since

salespeople have control over the development of personal

characteristics related to success in their selling situation(Ingram et al., 2006). Professional development criteria might

include such things as product knowledge, communication

skills, selling skills, and planning ability (Morris et al., 1991).

Succession planning

Succession planning is often seen in the limited perspective of

preparing people to fill executive positions (Gomez-Mejia

et al., 2001). There is, however, also a need to broaden

succession planning to a wider group of positions, especially

those in the sales force. Succession planning here entails

identifying those salespeople who have the skills to fill key

positions within the selling/sales management organization. In

order to be successful in succession planning it is necessary to

identify and analyze key positions, assess candidates against

these positions, create individual development plans forsalespeople, and select the salespeople or sales managers who

are to be promoted (Buckner and Slavenski, 2000).

Succession planning may be informal or formal. If it is

informal, it typically involves an individual sales manager

identifying and grooming his or her replacement. If it is

formal, it takes organization-wide needs and plans into

account. It identifies candidates for key positions and also

plans for their development in order to increase their potential

for successful advancement (Leibowitz e t al ., 1986).

Succession planning has advantages for both sales managers

and salespeople. Sales managers who plan for their own

professional development as well as for key employees are

positioning their departments for continued success.

Succession plans also provide salespeople with defined

career paths and encourage loyalty (Milne, 2002).

According to one study, sales management succession is

important not only for individual development but also for

corporate effectiveness (Pecotich and Crockett, 1987).

Candidates for selling or sales management succession may

come from inside or outside the organization. Insider

succession represents a maintenance strategy and shows

support for the development of internal candidates. On the

other hand, outsider succession is associated with change

since insider candidates are passed over for positions

(Pecotich and Crockett, 1987). Outsider succession

planning can create morale problems.

Figure 1 The components of career development




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Direction

The next component of the career development model is

direction, which is the information salespeople receive on

career opportunities within their firm. Direction may include

socialization, career workshops, individual career counseling

and career information services.

Socialization

Socialization provides salespeople with information to

acclimate successfully to their new organization (Dubinsky

e t al ., 1986). Socialization provides salespeople with

information about their company, their work units, and

their specific jobs. The goals of socialization include: fostering

pride in belonging to the company, creating an awareness of

the scope of the company’s business, and decreasing new

salespeople’s concerns associated with their new job

(Kleiman, 2000).

The need for sales force socialization is especially likely to extend beyond theinitial training period. This is particularly true if sales force members havelimited personal contact with peers, managers and other company personnel

(Ingram et al., 2006, p. 160).

Career workshopsCareer workshops incorporate elements of assessment,

direction and development. A career workshop can help

salespeople manage their own careers. It can help them learn

how to make career decisions, set career goals, create career

options, and seek career planning information (Haskell,

1993). Career workshops allow salespeople to assess their

skills, values, and interests. They can also practice

networking, writing resumes and letters, and interviewing.

Finally, they can develop career action plans where they

outline the steps they will take in their own career paths

(Haskell, 1993).

Individual career counseling

Career counseling allows salespeople to discuss with theirsales managers their personal and career interests and goals,

their personal skills and abilities, their preferences, their

values, their life concerns, and suitable career development

objectives (Feldman, 2001). In their role as career counselors,

sales managers help salespeople to think more deeply about

their careers and opportunities. In addition to pointing out

new directions and new trends, sales managers must also aid

salespeople in gaining personal insights that help match trends

with career implications (Colombo and Werther, 2003).

Career information services

Career information services provide career development

information to salespeople. The most common services

provided are job posting systems, skills inventories, career

paths, and career resource centers.

Job posting systems

Job posting systems allow salespeople to be aware of job

openings within their organizations. This lets organizations fill

job positions with their own employees, thus saving recruiting

costs, helping to develop salespeople’s careers, and building

loyalty (Tarrant, 1994). These job posting systems can be

manual, computerized, or posted via the company’s intranet.

The objective of these systems is to give salespeople maximum

awareness of potential job openings. This encourages

promotion from within and gives salespeople awareness of

new positions that might fit their career plans. Sales managers

can thereby keep salespeople aware of opportunities for

advancement (Hite and Johnston, 1998).

Skills inventories

A skills inventory is a mechanized listing of salespeople’s

interests, talents, and experience (Martin, 1967). It is

developed by having salespeople fill out detailed

questionnaires which specify their experience, interests, and

talents. When sales managers are looking for candidates to filla particular position they can use the skills inventory to

identify salespeople with the required skills rather than relying

on their own memories or opinions. Reliable up-to-date skills

inventories enable sales managers to take full advantage of the

talent in the sales force and can be used in making short-term

project or rotational assignments. This can benefit both the

individual salesperson and the sales organization (Leibowitz

et al., 1986). The skills inventory is available to sales managers

when searching for people to fill job openings or looking at

areas where their salespeople need development. The output

of this process can be used to identify training needs and to

make decisions about individual or group training needs

(Lawrie, 1987). For salespeople, assessment of their

competencies provides a way to help them understand theirown skills set. Using the skills inventory they can gain more

detailed knowledge of their own strengths and weaknesses.

They can use this to plan their careers and pursue on the job

development (Brown and Barborek, 1999).

Career paths

A career path is a chart showing the possible directions and

career opportunities available to salespeople in an

organization. Career paths acquaint salespeople with

potential routes for the development of their careers.

Salespeople begin to dropout when their values are not being

met by well-ordered career paths (Chary, 2002). Career paths

should include the skills, behavior and performance necessary

to pursue various paths (Ingram and LaForge, 1992).

An increasing number of companies provide a Y-shapedcareer path for salespeople (Jackson et al., 1988).

As can be seen in Figure 2, one branch of the Y is a sales

career avenue and the other branch is a sales management or

management career track. Along the sales career track it has

been suggested that salespeople can be promoted to more

lucrative territories with concurrent increases in compensation,

job title, personal recognition, communications, incentives and

perks (Pearson, 1966).

Career resource centers

Career resource centers are multimedia sources of career

information. There are many names for such centers

including career center, career resource center, career

development center, and career information center (Mossien

and Fram, 1973). A career resource center can be an officewhere salespeople can search for jobs, browse through career

development materials such as workbooks, videos or books, or

do other career planning and preparation. Alternatively it can

be a web-based site where they can pursue the same activities.

They can use the career resource center for obtaining credible

assistance in finding a meaningful career and to better

understand career options (McDaniels and Gysbers, 1992).

Development

The third and final major component of the career

development model is development. Development is the




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process of trying to build on strengths and overcome

weaknesses by taking actions to ensure salespeople’s success

and preparing them for future opportunities. Development

might include mentoring, job enrichment, coaching, training

programs, job rotation, and tuition assistance programs.

Mentoring

Mentoring occurs in the sales force when a more experienced

person takes responsibility for the development and guidance

of a less experienced salesperson. Fine and Pullins developed

five sets of behaviors for mentors of salespeople: developing

selling skills, counseling, providing exposure, coaching, and

role modeling (Fine and Pullins, 1998).

There are several different forms of mentoring. First, there

are formal mentoring programs. These are mainly intended

for new hires. These programs have been particularly aimed at

women and minorities with a goal of making them feel at

home in their new jobs, teaching them the corporate culture,

and giving them someone to go to for advice (Bragg, 1989).

There is some controversy as to whether senior salespeople

or sales managers make the best mentors. There are situations

in which a sales manager may be a better mentor. For

example, when a high potential salesperson is being groomed

for a sales management position (Campbell, 1997).

Alternatively, some firms find that having peers do the

training and counseling of new salespeople is an effective

way t o te ac h sa le s s ki lls b ec au se o f t he ir u ni qu e

knowledge of customers, products, and services and

selling skills (Zimmerman, 2003). Sales forces often use

co-worker mentoring as a form of training. Newly hired

salespeople are paired with veteran salespeople who give

them product knowledge and show them how the sales

process works (Bragg, 1989). One argument against having

salespeople mentor salespeople is that new salespeople can

learn bad habits from their more experienced peers

(Evered, 1989).

On the other hand, some firms feel that experiencedsalespeople are excellent mentors who can offer valuable

information to newly hired salespeople. Peer mentoring may

also have benefits for the mentor.

For example providing a protege with exposure to others in the organization

rejuvenates the mentor’s career and improves some aspects of the mentor’s

satisfaction. Helping the protege with his or her selling skills has a positive

impact on several aspects of the mentor’s own performance (Pullins and

Fine, 2002, p. 259).

Furthermore, there is informal mentoring where managers

may select salespeople and groom them to become managers.

Alternatively, a senior salesperson may informally help new

Figure 2 Career paths for salespeople




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salespeople to teach them the ropes. These informal systems

rely on luck and thus are often inconsistent.

Recently, mentoring has become considerably more overt,

structured, and formalized, thus emerging as a significant tool

for management (Nankivell and Schoolbred, 1997).

Mentoring programs can cut training costs, instill loyalty,

provide a recruiting benefit and help to develop future sales

managers (Cholewka, 2002). In order to make formalmentoring programs work, management must make them a

priority and view the mentoring program as a significant part

of the company’s strategy (Gilbert, 2002).

Job enrichment

One way to challenge and motivate salespeople is job

enrichment. This involves increases in responsibility and

variety in the salesperson’s job (Spiro e t a l., 2003).

Consultancies and temporary assignments are two forms of

job enrichment. Salespeople may be used as consultants to

solve organizational problems. Salespeople possess sales skills

and knowledge of customer operations and this gives them a

unique perspective. These temporary consultancies can solve

important problems and energize the salespeople at the sametime. Salespeople’s unique perspectives may help solve

distribution problems, inside sales issues or operating

problems (Quick, 1990).

Assigning salespeople to temporary assignments such as

task forces is another way to broaden their perspective on the

company, enrich their jobs or prepare them for sales

management responsibilities. Having salespeople serve on a

task force to develop a new compensation program or having

them assist in college recruiting are two ways to solve

problems and enrich the salesperson’s job at the same time

(Quick, 1990).

Coaching

Coaching is much more narrowly focused than career

counseling. Career counseling is intended to help

salespeople look for opportunities in the entire organization.

In contrast career coaching focuses on the salesperson’s

current role (Feldman, 2001). In career coaching, the sales

manager and sales person work on the knowledge, attitudes,

habits and skills that the salesperson will need to succeed in

sales. Salespeople need to understand that before they can get

ahead they have to succeed at their present jobs (Hughes et al.,

1999).

In their coaching role sales managers concentrate on the

continuous development of their salespeople (Ingram et al.,

2006). They do this by assisting salespeople in identifying

strengths, weaknesses, interests, and values. Sales managers

must maintain open communication, listen and provideencouragement to salespeople (Leibowitz et al., 1986).

According to Thach and Heinselman career coaching

consists of three key elements: it consists of one on one

interaction about work-related issues, its focus is on providing

salespeople with feedback on their strengths and weaknesses,

and its goal is to improve salespeople’s work effectiveness in

their current positions (Thach and Heinselman, 1999).

Career coaching is used to turn around differences in

salespeople’s current performance or to strengthen

underdeveloped skills. Career coaching is also used to

groom salespeople for advancement (Tyler, 1997).

Training programs

Training programs can not only train salespeople for their

current positions but can also provide them with the skills and

competencies they need for their next position or other future

positions. When salespeople or their managers identify

weaknesses that the salespeople possess or competencies

that the salespeople need to develop, these can be addressed

by company sponsored training programs that the salespersoncan attend. Training might consist of seminars, workshops,

conferences, or on-line courses (Lam et al., 1999). Powell

suggests that regardless of current career status the individual

has to make a commitment to the concept of continuing

education (Powell, 2000).

Job rotation

Many firms expose their salespeople to a variety of different

jobs in their training. Salespeople may serve time as customer

service representatives, distribution clerks, inside sales or

other functions (Ingram et al., 2006). The major advantage of

job rotation is that it gives salespeople a perspective about the

other functions in the business. On the other hand, the major

disadvantage is the time it takes to implement the program

(Hite and Johnston, 1998). Because of the exposure to

different aspects of the firm and the additional responsibilities

and skills acquired, “Job rotation is frequently used to groom

salespeople for management positions” (Ingram et al., 2006,

p. 173).

Tuition assistance programs

Many firms offer tuition assistance programs to support their

salespeople’s education and development. These firms pay

tuition and other costs of education programs ranging from

seminars, workshops and continuing education programs to

degree programs. There is some debate as to whether

salespeople benefit more from executive education or formal

degree programs such as MBA programs. It seems that it

depends on the company, the position sought and theindividual as to which is the most appropriate for the

salesperson (Rasmusson, 1997). Tuition for these programs

may be fully paid, partially paid or paid only upon receiving

some level of satisfactory performance in the program

(Wiesendanger, 1993).

Suggestions for insuring a successful program

There are several things firms can do to ensure successful

career development programs for their sales force. First,

perhaps the most important factor contributing to the success

of any career development program is top management’s

commitment and support (Lam et al., 1 99 9) . Top

management must encourage sales managers to develop

their salespeople and must develop a culture that is supportive

of career development.

Second, in order to be successful career development needs

to be a responsibility shared between the company, the sales

manager and the salesperson. Salespeople must take

responsibility for managing their own career development.

They must set goals, be aware of opportunities, and actively

manage their own careers. Managers must also act as coaches,

counselors, appraisers, and confidants. Finally, the company

must offer a culture which supports career development and

must invest in programs such as training which support

development.




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Third, sales managers need to receive training in career

counseling and coaching. They should be trained in how to

discuss career-related issues with their salespeople such as

current job activities, performance, career interests, personal

skills, career development objectives, and the actions

salespeople plan on implementing to reach their objectives

(Giles and West, 1995).

Fourth, sales managers must be held accountable for careerdevelopment as part of their evaluations. For a career

development program to be effective a company must reward

sales managers for developing their salespeople. Without these

rewards sales managers may have a tendency to hold on to

good salespeople rather then develop them for other positions

(Dalrymple and Cron, 1998).

Fifth, firms need to make the professional selling side of the

career path more attractive so that advancement can be seen

more in terms of increased responsibility and earning power

than necessarily in terms of advancement into managerial

positions. This can be done by giving salespeople increased

responsibilities, more perks, more money, and better titles as

they progress in to more advanced sales positions (Mossien

and Fram, 1973).Sixth, it is important to integrate career management

processes with other sales management processes such as

perform ance evaluation, recruiting, staffing, and

compensation (Lam et al., 1999).

Finally, according to Griffin it is necessary to develop a

tailored approach to career development (Griffin, 2003).

What works with one person may not be appropriate with

another in fact it may backfire and be counter-productive.

Thus, salespeople should have their own career development

goals and their own plan for reaching these objectives.

Implications

First, this article provides a comprehensive list of the benefitsof career development programs. Sales managers within firms

that do not have a formal career development program

currently in place should evaluate their needs for such a

program in light of these benefits. Additionally, sales

managers within firms that do currently have career

development program s in place m ay use the l ist to

reevaluate the extent to which their current programs are

meeting expectations and goals.

Second, sales managers may utilize the conceptual model of

a career development program and its components as a

checklist to evaluate areas where they may add to or modify

their programs. Results of a career development program may

be enhanced through changes and redirections in strategy and

expenditures.Third, this article provides a framework for tying together

many disparate areas of career development that have been

handled separately and independently in the sales

management literature. The proposed conceptual model of

career development may help the manager to tie together

these components and see their interrelationships.

Finally, the conceptual model of career development should

provide a useful framework for sales management scholars

since it ties together a number of concepts that had not been

presented in a comprehensive manner. This should aid in

teaching and research in the area.

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Corresponding author

Donald W. Jackson Jr can be contacted at: donald.jackson@

asu.edu

Executive summary and implications formanagers and executives

This summary has been provided to allow managers and executives

a rapid appreciation of the content of the article. Those with a

particular interest in the topic covered may then read the article in

toto to take advantage of the more comprehensive description of the

research undertaken and its results to get the full benefit of the

material present.

Sales people know the benefits – well at least some of them –

of having a career development plan. It can help them do their

job more skillfully and self-confidently which can only make

working life better, and it can lead to higher pay and

promotion.

Organizations also understand the benefits – at least some

of them – such as improving salespeople’s performance,

identifying and attempting to address weaknesses, succession

planning, and hopefully retaining a competent workforce

which might be difficult to recruit from elsewhere.

Although both parties might approach the subject from a

different perspective, a structured career development

program should be a planned process f or l inking

salespeople’s career needs with their organization’s

employment needs. That does not mean to say salespeople

should not keep open the option of jumping ship somewhere

along the journey. And it certainly does not mean that

companies should be reluctant to help their staff improve and




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develop to the best of their abilities, lest a rival subsequently

benefits.

On the contrary, it should be seen as a good investment in

nurturing talent and helping people set and achieve goals

within the organization by partnering the employer in a

coherent and constant process of appraisal and improvement

with the benefits to both parties clearly identified and

understood.Donald W. Jackson, Jr, Thomas Hollmann, and Andrew

S. Gallan provide a comprehensive list of the benefits of a

career development program for sales forces, and ways to

achieve it – a conceptual model that can be useful as a

checklist for sales managers to evaluate, add to or modify. It

also provides a framework for tying together many disparate

areas of career development that have been handled separately

or ignored in sales management literature.

They say that more loyal and productive sales forces can be

the reward for organizations which help their salespeople

effectively plan their careers, but warn that morale may suffer

if expectations are raised without being accompanied by

career progress – something which may have a negative

impact on job satisfaction and lead to increased turnover.

Although promotion to a managerial role is often asalesperson’s goal, it might be detrimental for a company to

lose an excellent salesperson and gain a less effective manager.

The company should consider making the professional selling

side of the career path more attractive so that advancement by

way of increased responsibility and earning power can be an

alterative to becoming a manager.

Donald W. Jackson, Jr et al. suggest several actions firms can

take to ensure successful career development programs –

perhaps the most important factor contributing to success

being top management’s involvement and support. They say:

Top management must encourage sales managers to develop theirsalespeople and must develop a culture that is supportive of careerdevelopment.

Salespeople must take responsibility for managing their owncareer development, setting goals and being aware of

opportunities, because what works for one person might not

be appropriate with someone else and might even be counter-

productive. Managers must also act as coaches, counselors

and confidants – skills for which they should get training.

If the career development program is to be effective, sales

managers must be rewarded for developing their salespeople

– if not there is a temptation to hold back the development of

their best people, because they do not want to lose them.

It is also essential that career management processes are

integrated with other sales management processes such as

performance evaluation, recruiting, compensation and

staffing.A ssessm ent is the first com ponent of the career

development model, either through self-assessment or

organizational assessment, the latter being performed in

assessment centers, through psychological testing or

performance appraisal, or through succession planning.

The next component is direction, which is the information

salespeople receive on career opportunities within their firm.

Direction may include socialization, career workshops,

individual career counseling, and career information services.

The third and final major component of the model is

development, a process of trying to build on strengths and

overcome weaknesses by taking actions to ensure salespeople’s

success and preparing them for future opportunities.

Development might include mentoring, job enrichment,coaching, training programs, job rotation, and tuition

assistance programs.

There is some controversy as to whether senior salespeople

or sales managers make the best mentors. Where a high

potential salesperson is being groomed for a management

position, a manager may be the best choice. However, some

firms find that salespeople’s grassroots knowledge of

customers, products and services, coupled with their own

sales skills, makes them ideally suited to do the training and

mentoring of newcomers.

Skills inventories – listing people’s experience, particular

skills and interests – should also be considered in the process.

Reliable, up-to-date skills inventories enable sales managers to

take full advantage of the talent in the sales force – a valuable

tool not just for short-term projects or assignments, but for

finding suitable people to fill job openings.

(A pre cis of the article “Examining career development programs

for the sales force”. Supplied by Marketing Consultants for

Emerald.)




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