Effective HR Management - Coursework Example

Effective HR Management Introduction: Sales managers are the backbone of any organization. Their position is unique in that they are in constant contact with the workers and hence represent workers to the management. As representatives of team managers, they direct and control the workforce. They are responsible to ensure effective utilization of the workers and get maximum efficiency and productivity by motivating the workers. The responsibility of the managers is to attain goals of their respective departments by proper management of materials, machines, money and people. Since management is getting things done through and by the people, the responsibility of the management of these people rests with sales managers. Attaining overall organizational goal is the responsibility of the manager through proper management of the people and with the help of the different heads of the departments. Hence they are responsible for managing the individuals of their respective sections in achieving their goals. According to the Definition Committee of the American Marketing Association “Sales management is the planning, direction and control of the personal selling activities of a business unit, including recruiting, selecting, training, equipping, assigning, rating, supervising, paying and motivating as these tasks apply to the sales force.” (Bose, 2002, p.456) The roles and tasks to be performed to achieve organisational goals which automatically come from clarity and in-depth understanding of the factors leading to achieve goals are being summarized in a well effective and efficient manner. Employees may have their own expectations from and perception about the role of the representative of the team and satisfying the multiple objectives of diverse groups productively is a major challenge faced by the managers. Managers guide and motivate their workers in the direction of established goals by clarifying role and task requirements. Major roles of Sales Manager: The sales managers objective is to attain the sales objective of the organisation. All managerial functions such as planning, organizing, direction, motivation and control are applied in sales management to attain the business objectives. Sales manager is required to cover major functions such as selling, advertising, sales promotion, transportation, distribution, financing and risk bearing. Sales manager is required to design his functions to achieve the best results through marketing. Sales management is applied for distributing goods from producer to the ultimate consumers. Sales management is apart of marketing management. Selling concept of marketing is the duty of the sales manager and it involves handling products, selling, promotional activities and creating profit through sales volume. The purpose of all marketing activities is to sell the goods. Sales manager is required to find the customers for transferring goods and services to them. In order to achieve effective sales, it is essential to motivate sales manager. An employer can motivate him by providing both financial and non-financial incentives. Sales manager is required to know his strong and weak points and it is helpful to avoid weak points. Sales manager is required to undertake self assessment for being an effective sales manager. He is the representative of the company. He is required to have a thorough knowledge of the market trends and business. He should know the objectives, policies and organisational structure of the company. Sales manager should have a complete knowledge about the products of the company, its features and uses. He must be able to answer the queries of persons within the organisation or outside the organisation. He must also have a complete knowledge about the products of the company’s competitors for making suitable promotional decisions. The sales manager assists the sales executives to increase sales and boost revenue of the company. Sales manager must possess excellent communication skills, both written and oral. “An effective, highly skilled sales manager can make a successful sales team unusually successful. And a poor one can totally destroy it. A great sales manager can make an average sales team perform to unusually high standards.” (Brooks, 2002). Responsibilities/functions of the sales manager: Generally sales manager is required to establish sales target and should be divided among his team members. He is required to motivate, and guide them in order to attain sales target. He is also required to provide facilities supporting in difficult sales and training to his team members. These are the main functions of the sales manager towards achieving the company’s target. Sales manager is required to assist and support the sales force for sales effectiveness in territory sectors, improving selling skills and development of key practices and application to the sales force. In addition, sales manager is also required to do some important functions relating to sales, which are explained below:- Sales Planning: Sales planning means deciding in advance what is to be sold and also deciding about targeted customers and distribution channels. Complete picture of the sales programme is required to be prepared by the sales manager. Sales Budgeting: Sales budgeting involves anticipation of future trends and cost variations. Sales budget is the main controlling factor in budgeting. Budgetary control is possible with anticipation of future sales and steps can be taken to increase sales and profit margin. Market Research: He is required to organise and manage marketing research ideas. Sales manager will get this information from market research employees of the organisation who are required to report the market trends and information. Sales manager uses this data for taking sound decisions. Sales Promotion: It is the most important duty of the sales manager. He is required to create demand for the products. Sales manager can utilise the sales executives and advertising for the same. Consumer Satisfaction: Sales manager should be able to provide goods or services according to the tastes and preferences of the consumer. Identification of customer tastes and preferences is essential to ensure customer satisfaction. Sales Managers objective can be easily achieved through customer satisfaction. Distribution: The responsibility of the distribution of goods lies on the sales manager. Activities such as order processing, packaging, transporting, storing etc are under the close supervision of the sales manager. Control: Sales manager is required to organise and control all sales activities for the achievement of sales target. He is required to see that the plan is properly implemented and if any deviation occurs has to be controlled. Self-Management/sense of choice: Sales manager’s job allows self management. He is required to achieve the target set by the company. He is free to choose the path of his activities. Building a strong team of sales oriented executives and their strong initiative to achieve the targets are the great successful factor of the sales manager. “All a sales manager can do to motivate those members of the sales team, is to set a climate where staff members motivate themselves. However, some managers sincerely believe that formal goal setting sets a climate for self motivation.” (Thornton, 2009). It has been seen that, every sales manager has a unique way of approach to his team members and his approach towards them is important factor which creates success or failure. Sales managers are free to take their own ideas and concept for promoting sales. Sales Manager and intrinsic motivation: Sales managers expect self-management from their executives and teams in their work. Intrinsic rewards are essential for self management. An intrinsic reward means the ability to choose how the tasks have to be performed. “Intrinsically motivated people are enthusiastic, eager to succeed and bring their own motivation to the job at hand. Their drive comes from within. On the contrary, extrinsically motivated people have little of their own enthusiasm for their work. They usually act out of necessity when external factors force them to do so.” (Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, 2005). Intrinsic motivations are the internal desires which motivate to perform a particular task. For example, managers like to do certain activities just because it gives them pleasure or helps to develop skills etc. Intrinsically motivated sales manager will be more active and eager to achieve the targets. Sales managers also will try to instill their executives to have intrinsic motivating factors. Recognition and competition are the highly intrinsic motivational factors of the sales manager and his team. Intrinsic motivation reinforces or energizes the sales manager and his team for self management efforts and fulfillment of the objectives. Evaluation of Rewards and Motivation: Extrinsic motivators such as pay, benefits packages, bonuses, commissions, profit sharing retirement solutions, are all effective motivators for sales managers. Monetary incentives are motivators but regular payments such as salary and bonus are not motivational factors for all. Employers may feel that productive and non-productive employees are getting the same payment. So importance must be given to the performance-based incentives. Balancing between family life and professional life is important and these act as motivation for the employees. Once target is attained by the sales executives, sales manager must let them free from work pressure. Individual performance and skills determine sales professional’s income. Rewards may be financial or they may be in the form of recognition. The company needs to achieve a careful balance between encouraging and rewarding individual’s initiative and growth and stimulating full contributions to a manager’s success. A sales manager’s recognition signifies the importance of the team work. Sales manager must be aware of goals setting and recognition of the performance. Performance evaluation of sales executives can be easily evaluated with the help of goals achieved by them. Recognition and rewards can be provided based only on the sales performance. Performance is easy for the sales manager to assess, monitor and control. Sometimes it will not promote team work and can create problems to the sales manager if proper care is not taken. Reward, if properly implemented, will increase employee satisfaction, morale, productivity. It also helps to attain high standards of work and competency. Building an effective, flexible and progressive sales team requires that each member of the team feel safe participating in problem-solving discussions and process improvement projects. Without open and full participation, the team will be limited to existing paradigms and processes that cannot achieve increasing sales goals or execute shifts in strategic direction. Creating a safe and participative environment is therefore the first goal of the sales manager. The sales manager is required to identify the issues which cause resistance on the part of sales executives. Sales Manger and company goals: Sales Manager is expected to achieve sales goals of the company. Goals are set based on the future anticipations, studies-based past historical trends and finally based on business objectives of the company. Sales manager is required to achieve the goals of the company. Poor setting of goals leads to ruin motivation of employees and overall performance of the company. Setting of unrealistic goals and failure in attaining goals will cause frustration and will be prone to receive serious criticism. Understanding of market potential is essential to set the goals.” Goals energize people and energetic people achieve more. Goals signal the direction of the company and sales team. Goals measure the achievement of the organization.” (Carmichael, n.d). Market potential is studied for setting territory goals of the company. Sales targets or goals are then allocated to the sales manager of each territory. Goals are the important factors which lead to managing, directing and motivating sales executives. For achieving the sales target set to the executives, it is essential to provide help, support and motivation; this job is undertaken by the sales manager. Reviewing goals and communicating the same to the entire team is the responsibility of the sales manager. Periodic review of schedules for assessing the progress towards achievement of goal is done by the sales manager. References Bose, D, Chandra. (2002). Sales personnel management. Principles of Management and Administration. 456. Retrieved January 29, 2009, from http://books.google.co.in/books?id=LVN9tfXOJXEC&pg=PA456&lpg=PA456&dq=%22+sales+management+is+the+planning,+direction+and+control+of+the+personal+selling+activities+of+a+business+unit,+including+recruiting,+selecting,+training,+equipping,+assigning,+rating,&source=web&ots=bh3THZCPXw&sig=Kc7i2o018X5TaJyhmApod6JDSJE&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result Brooks, Bill. (2002). Sales managers should get goals, standards. The Business Journal. Retrieved January 29, 2009, from http://www.bizjournals.com/triad/stories/2000/11/20/smallb2.html Carmichael, Evan. (n.d.). Set goals to increase sales. Evan Carmichael. Retrieved January 29, 2009, from http://www.evancarmichael.com/Sales/496/Set-Goals-To-Increase-Sales.html Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. (2005). CallCenterComics.com. Retrieved January 29, 2009, from http://www.callcentercomics.com/Call-Center-Comics-35-Management-Motivation.htm Thornton, Virden. (2009). The sales goals motivate myth. Ezine Articles. Retrieved January 29, 2009, from http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Sales-Goals-Motivate-Myth&id=232491 Read More