113 "On a day-to-day basis, I’d say it’s about showing your employees that you really appreciate them. And not just by offering free food and half days off, but by recognizing them for specific things they did that you were happy with. Recognition can be customized to the person - could be publicly to your entire team, in a hand-written note, a gift card, etc." What Does Your Company Do to Engage and Retain Top Performers? The expectations of your salespeople should directly translate into the initiatives you and your company take to improve retention. Continual improvement on the part of man- agement and department heads can be a starting point that models the type of pos- itive investment, into the company and its culture, that ultimately inspires retention. Essentially, if company leaders show they are willing to devote time to continual improve- ment, then it’s worth it to the salesperson to invest themselves fully into the job and thrive there. We found that direct engage- ment between the salespeople we talked to and upper management goes a long way to demonstrate appreciation. "Our company has an annual gala that recognizes the top two performing reps from across the company. The top two reps from each market are honored at a fancy awards dinner in a fancy hotel, and compete to be “the best of the best” to win a very large cash prize. These reps get to converse with top executives as well." Perhaps one of the most important factors is living up to your promises about company culture. As we mentioned in the first article, company culture rests on three ideals: active- ly seeking strong diversity, inclusion through hiring recruits with varied backgrounds and skillsets, and creating a sense of belonging for all employees. When hiring, you can get the first two facets right, but if you fail at the third, your company culture will not support employees with different needs, desires, and goals. How can you possibly retain an em- ployee who doesn’t feel like they even be- long in the office? Does Development Play a Role in Retention? The expectations we’ve discussed so far have leaned toward the “want” category, but de- velopment is something that salespeople have clearly stated they need in order to be willing to stay with a company. "We need to have support from management to keep us informed on changes and also always be actively looking for ways to better our roles and work environment. There needs to always be opportunities for growth and further career