Attracting talented salespeople: the case of the Millennials

Most companies need to attract talented young people in their Sales Departments, but have a hard time doing so. This happens both because it’s complicated to understand what aspects of a job offer in sales Millennials would find tempting, and because when recruiting salespeople, companies don’t know how to stand out from the crowd in the eyes of younger generations.

Adding to the confusion, studies on Millennials come up with contradictory findings. Some show that economic remuneration represents the most important consideration for this generation when job hunting; others instead point to work-life balance as the key deciding factor. What’s more, extant research does not explore the motivations that prompt Millennials to take jobs specifically in sales.

In fact, these motivations may differ from other generations since a sales position has certain characteristics that differentiate it from other corporate roles: greater autonomy, higher stress levels generated by an intensely performance-orientated job; extreme accountability linked to hitting short-term individual targets; highly variable and unpredictable remuneration. And finally, rightly or wrongly, economic compensation is often considered the biggest motivational variable for sales people.

But what’s really important for Millennials as far as work? What are they looking for when they’re job hunting? Are economic aspects top of mind or do other things count too?

Based on a sample of 106 Millennials potentially interested in pursuing a career in sales our study examined various types of Flexible Working Arrangements (FWA), which allow employees to choose when and where they work, and give them the option to take periodic sabbaticals. We assessed how much these factors contribute to making job offers in sales attractive for younger generations, compared to simple economic remuneration. Also we measured the portion of their wages Millennials would be willing to give up to have greater flexibility in their jobs.

Here’s what we found:

• Economic compensation (that is, the starting salary on a job offer) impacts 42% on the overall intention of Millennial candidates to accept employment positions; flexibility in work hours and location contribute by 26% and 19% respectively, while the possibility to take a year-long sabbatical accounts for the remaining 14%.

• Flexibility in work hours, in general, is the form of FWA for which interviewees said they would be most willing to forgo a portion of their pay. Specifically, to have unlimited freedom in choosing work hours, Millennials would be willing to give up over 5,500 euro on their annual salaries, while they would sacrifice 5,300 euro for more limited flexibility on this score.

• In terms of flexibility on where they work, Millennials are willing to sacrifice a smaller share of their salaries, but there is a significant different between unlimited and limited flexibility, which we quantified annually at 4,000 euro 2,500 euro respectively.

An FWA can be a useful and powerful tool for competitive differentiation to attract talented Millennials to the Sales Department. Although economic renumeration is the most important factor that potential candidates consider, our research demonstrates that flexibility in when and where they work is, overall, more relevant than their salary.

The possibility to enjoy sabbaticals, instead, represents a benefit with a more long-term orientation, one that isn’t linked to daily work. This too was an option that Millennials appreciated, most likely because it satisfied their need for growth opportunities and intellectual stimulation over time.

Space-time flexibility instead fulfills the need for work-life balance that this generation typically prizes. A salary ensures that needs such as recognition and instant gratification are met for a generational cohort that wishes to do profoundly meaningful work, but is at the same time disillusioned by work. This sentiment often originates in what their parents experienced, as they were forced to live to work rather than work to live.

Summing up, then, to attract talented young people in the Sales Department, companies need a mix of diverse ingredients, and FWAs are key. When building a recruitment process for this target, companies must not only pay meticulous attention to even the smallest details, but also communicate and promote this process effectively through clear and effective job descriptions.