Empowerment: An Essential Ingredient in Modern Salesforce Management

Abstract

Most organizations run on ruling that are passed down to the salespeople from top management; this can be demotivating. In contrast, delegating powers traditionally kept at the top can motivate and raise salesperson’s level of performance. The study was guided by the Behaviour model of consideration and initiating structure which suggests that a manager trusts, respects, care about the subordinate raises level of performance. A sample of 350 Salespeople and managers in selected multinational firms in Nigeria was determined using a mean. The hypothesis was tested using the Multiple Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) statistics to obtain the result that gives high F-values and P< 0.000, which shows that results generated are not due to chance, thus are correct and significant. Also with r-square values that are at least 0.839, a very strong relationship is established between the research questions. Having r- square values that are at least 0.837, it is determined that at least 83.7% chance is caused by the independent variable. Based on this, the null hypothesis is rejected, indicating that expanding a salesperson’s tasks and responsibilities increases a salesforce involvement, motivation and commitment, and raises everyone’s levels of performance. This suggests that salesforce empowerment encourages the following beliefs among salespeople: they perceive meaning in their work, meaning that their job fits their values and attitudes; they feel competent, or capable of performing their job with skill; they have a sense of self-determination, of having some choice over the tasks, methods, and pace of their work; and they have an impact-that is they have some influence over important strategic, administrative or operating decisions or outcomes on the job. It is recommended that to foster salesforce empowerment, management must create an environment in which every salesperson feels they have real influence over performance standards and business effectiveness within their areas of responsibility. An empowering salesforce environment should provide salespeople with information necessary for them to perform at their best, knowledge about how to use the information and how to do their work, power to make decisions that give them control over their work, and rewards they deserve for the contributions they make.

Keywords: Empowerment, Salesforce Management, Behaviour Model, Self-Managed Teams, Multiple Analysis of Variance, Effective Leadership, Encouraging Input, Delegating Powers.