Rookie Reps LEAVE

Yes they do.

“Rookie reps leave” or “Rookie reps don’t stay” is often given as a reason not to employ rookie reps.

Let’s look at why rookie reps leave. I need to add here that not all rookies leave and experienced long-serving employees also leave.

5 reasons why rookies leave

1.      Lack of Mentorship

Rookies join companies, often with a qualification but no idea of how to apply that qualification. They may also join without the certificate. They may have very little knowledge of sales, the industry, the product range, the client or customer, or the company culture and other employees. They may join a company which offers very little or no on-boarding and they are left to sink or swim in the deep end. Many rookies do find a way to swim, which may not be the correct way, but they do not drown. As I have said before, managers do not always want to mentor and train, they may not know how and they may also not have the time to hand hold, show the ropes or nurture. Rookies stay long enough to gain enough experience to be able to source the next job.

2.      Lack of a Plan

Too often a rookie joins a company and there is no known plan to move that rookie from their rookie title and rookie salary to a junior rep or any other title and salary. I know that the rookie reps in my past may have joined on a lower salary and that they weren’t given the title of rookie, but they certainly did not get a rookie area or rookie product range or rookie budget.

How long will the rookie be a rookie for? Is there a plan to train and mentor and transition the person into the next stage? Is their salary ever adjusted out of rookie status? When you start on a much lower salary, you can never catch up via annual increases. You can only catch up if your salary is adjusted and maybe more than once. It takes a manager to fight for that if this isn’t ingrained in the company culture.

3.      Lack of Recognition

The rookie joins and before long they have found their feet, have developed relationships, are making sales and meeting budgets. They have acquired product knowledge and are team contributors. They are patient and understand that they have been given an opportunity to gain the much-needed experience, BUT for how long must they be patient? In the absence of a spoken about plan and visible mentorship, it does not take long for the person to feel undervalued and taken for granted. They start to become restless and suddenly the CV is updated and they start to look for another job. They then become “rookies don’t stay”. Let me add here that there are sales managers and product managers who give their everything to grow the new kid on the block, but the company does not detail a career path or adjust the salary. With each rookie who leaves, the manager feels more and more deflated and may even start to adopt the approach of there is no point to putting in the effort.

4.      Rapid change    

We live in a VUCA world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity and let’s face it how realistic are we to expect that people will stick it out for the gold watch and the thanks-for-the- 40-years party? We jump up and down and lament that there is no more loyalty to the employer, but loyalty sort of lost its luster with retrenchments, down-sizing, right-sizing and correct-sizing. Mindsets are also different now, something brought home to me as a Coach as I observed learners in the retail industry. They told me that they did not need more than two weeks in each section and they could always come back to that section. Here I was thinking that I would need to spend two years in the Bakery to learn the ins and outs of all that baking and for me to feel confident in my ability. Does it make sense for people to say, “But in my day, we spent x years acquiring skills and knowledge and experience” when it isn’t our day anymore? Indeed our world is so much faster and very different because of it being the digital age. Our thinking from “our day” won’t allow us to thrive in today’s world.

5.      Lack of ability to overcome obstacles

Too frequently, rookies get to an obstacle in their journey and they do not know how to overcome that obstacle. What can they do? In the company where there is mentorship and a plan, they can ask and observe and learn and be taught. When they are swimming in deep waters on their own, the temptation is to often sit down at the obstacle. I certainly am mixing my imagery, but picture the person sitting on the side of the pool staring at the obstacle. The mind starts playing tricks and suddenly the obstacle has been placed there on purpose for them to fail, to not succeed, as a trap, and they are not respected and not valued and they question why they should stay somewhere where they are taken for granted and treated badly. The mindset that can adapt to the VUCA way and accepts change as being a given, does not always know how to think critically, use creativity and knowledge of self to hang in there and find a solution. Tenacity and grit are not always present and so the person leaves the pool and the situation and the company with the idea that there will always be more pools to swim in. Unfortunately, the person misses out on the learning of how to go under, over or through that obstacle. As we all know, obstacles have a way of popping back up with monotonous regularity until we learn the lesson.

How do we get rookies to stay – for as long as possible?

Have a long, hard and honest look at your on-boarding, visible and spoken about career plan and if you have mentorship and learning opportunities in place. Are you growing them and you? Do you have salary adjustments and do you regularly sit with your rookies to recognize how far they have come? Are your rookies able to approach you when they get to the obstacle knowing that you will be patient and guide them, or do they fear being ridiculed? Do you show tenacity and grit and act as a role model? Remember that career plans no longer have the ladder, but now look more like a jungle gym. People can go sideways or into another department or become part of another project. Do you know how to talk about this? Keep in mind that they would like to work somewhere that provides meaning and that they get to use their strengths and live their purpose. It is not always about the title, but recognition of their growth and a plan that is executed and not only spoken about, is vital.

You aren’t a rookie

You may have read and resonated with what I have written and be thinking, “But I am not a rookie.” The truth is that it applies to everyone, not only rookies.

Book a Chat with Me

You are welcome to give me a call and let’s talk about being a rookie or employing rookies. Let’s chat about employee retention. There is no need for you to swim in the deep end on your own.

Colleen Qvist is a Life Coach, Business Coach, Facilitator and Speaker and owner of CQ Consulting.

You are welcome to give her a call and organize a no-strings attached coffee chat.

Cell +27825503568

Email colleen@cqconsulting.co.za

Website www.cqconsulting.co.za