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How to Manage a Multi-Generational Sales Team
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Do you remember going cruisin’?
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How about listening to LPs?
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Can you name every song on Michael Jackson’s Thriller album?
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Does PDA still mean “public display of affection” to you?
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Do you remember when a quarter was a good allowance?
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Did you spend hours playing your Atari?
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Do good benefits define “a good job”?
If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, and you manage a multi-generational sales team, you’d better keep reading!
The retirement of the largest generation in American history – the Baby Boomers (born from 1946-1964) – has begun, and its effects are already being felt. In the coming years, many companies will find that they’re losing their most experienced, knowledgeable and productive salespeople not to competitors, but to retirement. By many estimates, the United States will be short 4.7 million workers by 2010.
Falling into this gap left by the Baby Boomers will be Generation Xers (born from around 1965-1980) and Millennials (1980+).
What does this mean for us as sales managers? Well, first, it requires us – many of whom are likely Boomers yourselves – to manage people whose expectations and requirements of the work environment are very different from our own. Did you know that in their lifetimes, Boomers change jobs multiple times, but rarely change careers, while Gen Xers may already have changed careers three times? Can you see how that might affect how we interact on the job? We’ve got to find ways to insert ourselves productively into the mix, figuring out how to motivate and retain all of our best salespeople, whether they are 60 or 26.
We need to encourage teamwork and implement systems that enable our new salespeople to benefit from the deep knowledge that our retiring salespeople have acquired over their years in the profession.
And we need to do this starting immediately. First, we must find systematic ways to capture knowledge that our experienced sales reps have in their heads:
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Ensure experienced salespeople serve as mentors to newbies.
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Require that documentation of procedures and policies be put online.
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Consider hiring retirees on as contract employees.
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Involve senior salespeople in efforts to document their knowledge… interview them in front of a camera, ask them to help create training materials, etc.
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Require new hires to spend time observing experienced salespeople in the field.
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Get your team in the habit of online collaboration – project tracking, automating common tasks, etc.
We’ll need to spend more time and other resources on training.
Most of us feel pressed for time already, so spending more time on training is a less-than-attractive prospect. But in the coming years, not only will we be losing some of our best talent, but we’ll be hiring young people who need effective coaching and training in order to be productive. They’ll need not just initial orientation to the world of sales, but they’ll need constant on-the-job coaching. Here are just a few of our recommendations:
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If you don’t already have a solid, comprehensive orientation program for new salespeople, develop one and begin using it as soon as possible.
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Establish a mentoring program, pairing more experienced salespeople with less experienced ones.
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Ensure that your sales team embraces a linked, sequential selling process. Train new hires on it, and reinforce it in every meeting you have with your team.
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Begin thinking of yourself as a coach, not a sales manager. Get out from behind your desk to go on sales calls with your new salespeople.
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Accept the fact that Millennials often need serious coaching on life skills: professional courtesy and manners, how to dress professionally, time management skills, and much more. (Guess what? They weren’t taught those things by their Boomer and Xer parents!)
We must bring all of our patience to bear as we manage intergenerational teams made up of individuals with incredibly diverse expectations and talents.
In many sales teams, there are senior employees who grew up children of the Great Depression, working side-by-side with twenty-somethings who don’t remember a life without computers… and don’t forget Gen Xers, who are usually fiercely independent. To call managing this motley crew a challenge seems like an understatement.
So what can you do? In addition to addressing training, mentorship, and knowledge transfer issues, we can learn about what makes typical members of each generation “tick.” Understanding the unique mental state of each generation can help us as managers when we have to help our employees negotiate competition, stress, and teamwork on the job.
Recent analyses have shown that in general:
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The World War II generation (the “Matures”) – people now 65-75 years old, expect to be rewarded for honor, doing their duty, and conforming to norms. They grew up in a world where they worked for one company all of their career… and they were happy about it. They have a strong sense of duty and identification with the company they are employed by.
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Boomers respect rules, but they are a lot more likely to challenge authority, expecting everyone to be able to make their own choices. They grew up in the midst of the Post-War economic expansion, and have closely identified themselves with their jobs. However, as they age – and many are in good health – they are looking at funding and enjoying full lives in retirement.
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Generation X employees are looking to move up in the corporate world, but they are also motivated by opportunities to improve their work/life balance. Many believe Xers have paid a price for their parents’ devotion to the workplace. They are often described as willing to play the game if it suits them, but willing to change (or break) the rules if need be. They believe in efficiency and quality of work, not sheer hours spent on the job.
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Millennials are the ones who’ve never known life without cell phones and the Internet. They were totally electronically savvy by the age of five years. They expect to succeed, and they want to be at the top of the financial ladder, not years from now, but tomorrow. They have high expectations, and they need constant feedback. But it’s worth noting that they are a large generation (almost as large as the Boomers), and they’ll face serious competition as they try to advance in the workplace.
We must work hard to find salespeople today – or even hire potential salespeople into different roles – and do everything we can to keep them.
The employee shortage will hit some industries significantly harder than others. For example, the healthcare requirements of the Boomer generation will ensure a job for virtually every skilled nurse, pharmaceutical salesperson, and physical therapist on the planet… but there’s already a shortage of nurses today. Where will managers in the healthcare industry find new talent?
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Look in unrelated fields to find talent. Just because an applicant has past experience in heavy equipment sales doesn’t mean she couldn’t be an effective salesperson for your propane tanks. And don’t forget: just because someone has past experience selling propane tanks for someone else doesn’t mean he will be great at selling propane tanks for your company.
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Consider hiring less experienced personnel into entry-level jobs, but design a promotion plan for them. For example, you could hire a recent college grad whom you believe has potential in your organization as an entry-level customer service rep. While he’s succeeding in that role, begin coaching and mentoring him to move into a more senior position, and then eventually into the sales role. The knowledge he’ll have gained working directly with customers and experiencing the organization through a mentor’s eyes will be invaluable.
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If you have a motivated, successful younger employee, do everything you can to keep him or her. Remember, it may not just be about money. Younger Boomers are often concerned about security in retirement while staying competitive with younger folks. Gen Xers are famous for wanting on-the-job flexibility and time off. Millennials appear to be more concerned with status and prestige than prior generations. See if you can structure rewards that suit the individual – don’t try to apply a one-size-fits-all rewards program.
No matter what generation you are part of, today’s workplace is challenging in large part because of the huge diversity in motivation, work ethic, financial expectations, and other factors. Whether you are a Boomer managing a young team of Millennials or an Xer managing a seasoned salesforce of Boomers, being aware of generational differences can make the difference between your success and failure at sales management. |
