PLEASE VISIT OUR SPONSORS

---

Talent Management Perspectives

Published June 2009

Are Millennials Surprisingly Effective in Sales?

  Joe DiMisa and Dennis Spahr

Contrary to popular opinion, the Millennial generation — 76 million Americans born between 1978 and 2000 — are not generally needy and unfocused. If managed properly, they can be an organization's overall best employees. In fact, Millennials are surprisingly effective in one critical area of corporate America: the sales force.
 
A just-completed Sibson Consulting survey of large, national corporate sales forces found Millennials are:

• More productive and work more efficiently than initially perceived by employers.
• Highly motivated and strive for success.
• Very goal-oriented and ever-critical of their own performance.
• Interested in a career in sales.

Further, they:

• Strive in an environment in which team goals are infused with individual performance linkages.
• Achieve sales performance equal to or greater than that of other generations.

The news is not all good. The survey also found a divide between employers and Millennials when it comes to customized, digital communication. Many employers also fail to create generational harmony within their organizations, which fosters a lack of understanding between generations, ultimately leading to missed opportunities.

Further, most organizations are not properly aligning their internal talent strategies to attract Millennials, though Millennials are entering the workforce in increasing numbers. Their population already is greater than most employers perceive it to be.

Mind the Gaps

There is a significant perception gap between employers and Millennials. Whereas 92 percent of employers said Millennials are just as good as or better than non-Millennials at attaining their sales goals, only 79 percent of Millennials think their sales performance is as good as or better than that of other employees.

An even larger gap exists regarding how willing Millennials are to work long hours. Although 47 percent of employers reported Millennials are below average in this area, only 15 percent of Millennials agreed.

Perceptions about turnover also differ: 63 percent of employers think turnover is the same for Millennials and non-Millennials, but nearly 80 percent of Millennials indicated turnover in the generation is higher than for others in sales organizations. Interestingly, almost half of employers and nearly 90 percent of Millennials believe Millennials are more likely than other generations to change jobs.

Why do Millennials leave? While ambition was the top reason they mentioned, most employers cited a lack of advancement opportunities and loyalty.

Communication between employers and Millennials clearly is a problem. A large majority of employers reported doing nothing new to reach Millennials who are being recruited or are currently employed. For example, while all Millennials use text messaging, relatively few employers text with their employees. And Millennials don't pay as much attention to traditional corporate communications tools as older staff do. Employers need to adopt new technologies if they want effectively to reach the Millennials in their midst.

---

 

---