Three Tips For Leaders To Invest In The Employee Experience

Alyssa Merwin is Vice President of Global Sales Solutions at LinkedIn.

As the labor market continues to see the impact of the Great Reshuffle and the prevalence of Gen-Z in the workforce, one trend is clear: company loyalty among workers and multiyear tenures are becoming increasingly rare.

Gen-Z employees are 32% more likely to leave a job than millennials, according to Great Place to Work. And Microsoft’s Work Trend Index found that 58% of Gen-Z employees are considering changing jobs this year versus 43% of workers overall. This nomadic and opportunistic mindset poses a significant threat to sales organizations that rely on rep tenure as a core foundation of their business model.

With Gen-Z increasingly representing most individual contributor roles, it’s imperative for sales leaders to rewrite the playbook, starting with an intense focus on enabling seller success rather than just customer success. It’s time for companies to think about seller success beyond just better sales results.

Today’s shifting job market, the abundance of open opportunities and decreasing loyalty among Gen-Z employees mean that companies that don’t invest in the employee experience as a first priority will face far-reaching and long-term business consequences. Here are three must-dos for leaders in today’s labor market.

1. Drive connection and community as first priorities.

A great onboarding experience for new hires is a must-do for any company, but today’s hybrid work model requires leaders to be more intentional in creating ongoing connection and recognition. Design opportunities for your team to learn and grow through continued training experiences, buddy or mentoring opportunities and feedback sessions about what they need to be successful.

At LinkedIn, a few examples of how we’re continuing to foster connections among team members include:

• Monthly virtual “coffee chats” where team members are paired to get to know one another better.

• A newsletter focused on our team’s “human” side to promote more connection.

• “Office Hours” or “Ask Me Anything” chats to create a more informal dialogue between leaders and team members.

• Career transformation panels to help individuals learn about potential career paths.

With many of us starting year three of remote work, there’s a lot we can do better to re-engage our employees and make them feel seen and supported.

2. Give your teams the tools to succeed.

For the first time in many years, sales leaders are looking to evaluate technology investments through the lens of how they can make employees’ lives easier and better, not just drive productivity and more sales.

This is a subtle but important nuance. Today’s modern selling environment is drastically different from a few years ago, and it’s imperative that leaders understand how much access to the right tools is linked to seller satisfaction and success.

With nearly all selling activities—identifying, understanding and building relationships with customers—happening in virtual settings, tools are no longer a complement to in-person activities; they are the driving force for customer engagement.

Another interesting development is that in speaking with our customers on this topic, it’s become a case of not only providing the right tools but also providing training and support—a roadmap of sorts—to use the tools in the most effective way. While Gen-Z is bringing digital savviness to their roles, most organizations sit squarely in a multigenerational workforce with different experience levels, so training is key to ensure all sellers are maximizing productivity and efficiency.

For many sellers today, technology and having the right resources are table-stakes expectations. They’re looking at how they’ll be set up for success as one of their evaluation criteria, so it’s time for sales leaders to start thinking about their tech stack as part of the sales employee value proposition.

3. Put purpose first.

It’s rare to find a company these days that isn’t focused on culture, but those getting it right are going further by talking about purpose. A strong purpose may be even more powerful for some than company culture or perks. Studies like Great Place to Work’s show Gen-Z cares more about the deeper meaning of work than other generations, so clearly articulating how sellers’ efforts support your organization’s purpose is critical to stand out today.

If you aren’t already, help your team gain a deep understanding of the challenge your product or solution solves, the difference it can make in customers’ lives and stories of shared success. Find different ways to communicate impact—go beyond emails and spreadsheets to point out the power of the team’s work.

For example, ask customers to join your town hall meetings periodically to share the impact they’ve seen with your solutions, start team meetings by recognizing key wins and the impact they’re making on your customers and celebrate the value you’re driving, not just deal size.

Welcome to the seller’s market.

While company loyalty and longer tenures were once the norms, the current pace of change across the labor market is introducing new challenges that we’re just starting to appreciate with huge implications for sales teams.

Leaders that continue to have transactional relationships with their sales teams will no doubt continue to see a revolving door of talent. But leaders who understand this is a seller’s market and invest in their success by understanding what they need and expect can emerge as the next generation of employers of choice.

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