Flexible sales managers 'reaping rewards' following downturn

Sales managers who remained flexible during the economic downturn are now reaping the rewards thanks to higher levels of trust among their staff, a new report has suggested.

The data, published by the Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) and Management Today magazine, also found that employees whose organisations have been particularly hard hit by the recession have extremely low levels of trust in their leaders and blame this on poor management.

Penny de Valk, chief executive of the ILM, said it is clear that the actions of senior managers were scrutinised to a far greater extent during the downturn, but this had a positive outcome for those who took the right steps to keep staff onboard.

This could either have been through flexible working measures or by enabling people to work part-time but keep their positions, she noted.

"Employees have to trust their managers, at every level of the organisation. In the months and years ahead, bosses will have to focus on building leadership competency and capacity," Ms De Valk explained.

It comes after Petra Wilton, director of policy and research at the Chartered Management Institute, said that employee engagement can be the key to productivity and sales managers are often given the task of ensuring staff are suitably motivated.

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Posted by Nikki Barrister

Filed: 01-09-2010