| Turnover is one of those words that make sales managers tremble. Always time consuming and demoralizing, the loss of employees is increasingly expensive as well. Sales employee turnover may be one of a company's most controllable expenses, and yet many business owners and managers ignore its devastating impact on their bottom line. Others treat turnover as an unavoidable cost of doing business and watch helplessly as their companies become revolving doors for today's increasingly transitory work force. Sales managers and researchers seem to agree that sales force turnover often reaches substantial rates, and that it is dysfunctional and costly to sales organizations. In spite of these high cost estimates few organizations seem to have developed systematic procedures and policies for keeping sales force turnover under control. Because of the negative impact a company must embrace with a high percentage of employee turnover, this researcher is concerned with the impact of organizational practices and processes that may preclude the tenure of successful employees. The purpose of this study was to describe the organizational factors that may contribute to a high voluntary turnover rate ;There were three general findings regarding the level of job satisfaction among the sales employees. First, it was determined that the majority of the respondents did not feel that the rewards (base pay, commissions, promotions, benefits, training, trips, contests, etc.) was equitable for the effort necessary to succeed in the job. The primary reasons were insufficient pay structure, few opportunities for advancement, and lack of training.;Second, the majority of the respondents were very satisfied with the respect (degree of feeling valued) they garnered from the organization. Their field managers were held in esteem for listening, coaching, and supporting their efforts. Frustration was centered on issues that they knew to be outside of the their immediate manager's control. Thirdly, the majority felt that the requirements and demands of the job were higher than the rewards and/or respect they received in return.;Based upon the findings, recommendations were made outlining specific strategies for reducing sales employee dissatisfaction in these areas in the hope that turnover would decrease. |
