SaaS companies that are either a) scaling, or b) on track to achieve hypergrowth, should be aware of one very important factor: providing your employees with career development opportunities is vital.
Regardless of how big your team is - whether you’re currently a team of 10, 50, 100 or 1,000 - there should always be the space and opportunity for your employees to develop their careers and grow both personally and professionally.
Let’s take a look at why it’s one of the most important aspects of your SaaS company’s overall business strategy.
YOUR EMPLOYEES WANT TO FEEL VALUED
Put yourself in your employees’ shoes. When you were early on in your career, what was it that you wanted? For some, the main answer might be money - and understandably, most people working in a sales role do so because the rewards can be very lucrative.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
For the vast majority of salespeople, career development is a very important part of why they do what they do. Feeling valued within a company comes in many different forms, one of which is being given the opportunity to contribute to the company you work for, for as long as possible.
If your employees feel like they’re hitting a wall in terms of their career development opportunities, this is likely to make them feel unvalued, which will then result in them feeling unmotivated. This knock-on effect also impacts your overall business growth, meaning the negative implications of a lack of career development opportunities comes full circle.
SCALING YOUR SAAS COMPANY = THE NEED FOR MORE PEOPLE
If you are in the process of growing your SaaS company, this will inevitably lead to a need for more people at different levels within the business. With more business comes more responsibility, and the only way to manage the success of selling your software to more customers is to hire enough people to not only sell, but to manage your existing customer accounts.
SaaS company owners need to map out how they see their business growth going, and how this will help different teams and roles develop. This will then give you an idea of how your employees can progress into new roles as they gain more experience, as well as where you will need to recruit new employees.
Make sure you communicate your growth plans with your employees, no matter how big your SaaS company currently is - this will give them visibility of the career development potential ahead of them.
CAREER DEVELOPMENT LEADS TO EMPLOYEE RETENTION
The opportunity for career development within your organisation will lead to an increase in employee retention. This is beneficial for two reasons:
Employee retention is an excellent recruitment tool. Informing your potential employees about how many people who work at your company have worked there for a significant amount of time and how they have progressed demonstrates your investment in your workforce.
Employee retention is also beneficial for your customers. Knowing that your salespeople and account managers are still working within your company demonstrates to customers that your business is thriving, and that they will be taken care of by people they know, trust, and have developed long-standing relationships with.
CAREER DEVELOPMENT IS A SOUGHT-AFTER BENEFIT
According to a survey conducted in 2019, if a company is recruiting and is known for investing in employee learning and development, 70% of respondents said they are at least somewhat likely to leave their current employer to join a company where they can progress.
Given that since this survey was conducted there has been a pandemic, inflation has risen and the cost of living has increased, it’s highly likely that these statistics have also increased as a result. Candidates will now be more inclined to work within a company that not only pays them well, but that gives them the opportunity to develop their skills, progress their careers and ultimately earn more money as a result.
THERE’S A LOT OF COMPETITION IN THE SAAS MARKET
With more than 30,000 SaaS companies globally in 2022, competition is fierce. An increase in the number of SaaS companies means that there is also an increase in the opportunities for salespeople.
If your organisation is yet to map out specific career development plans for your employees, it’s highly likely that your talent will look elsewhere for the opportunity to progress their careers at some point in the future. If their development is halted by the lack of opportunities within your organisation, there is a surplus of businesses in the UK, US and worldwide that would be willing to hire your employees and benefit from their sales skills to help scale their business.
STRIVE CAN HELP YOUR SAAS COMPANY BUILD AND RETAIN YOUR GO-TO-MARKET TEAM
Here at Strive, we source the best software sales talent to help you scale your tech company. To learn more about how we can help your business grow, contact our team on 0203 983 0770 or email hello@scalewithstrive.com.
Adam Richardson
Co-Founder and Director
