CSOs strive for progress on gender diversity, but opportunities for women still lag throughout the sales organization.

Women remain underrepresented at all levels of the sales organization. According to the Gartner State of Gender Diversity in Sales report, even though most chief sales offers (CSOs) are satisfied with the state of gender diversity in their leadership team, 74% of female respondents and more than half of male respondents saw their organizations as a male-dominated sales culture.

“While many organizations have made progress with hiring women in sales managers and leadership roles, most women still fall way behind their male counterparts in similar roles,” says Cristina Gomez, Managing Vice President, Gartner.

“Both men and women within the sales organization believe fewer opportunities are available to women. It’s critical for CSOs and other leaders to close that perception gap.”

Perceptions of bias endure
Low retention levels of high-performing female talent, particularly in leadership ranks, are one of the biggest indicators of the inclusion problem in sales.

An overwhelming 66% of women believe their sales organizations struggle to retain high-performing female sales professionals — a concern shared by 56% of the men in the salesforce. To make matters worse, 39% of women believe they don’t have the same opportunities for advancement as their male counterparts with the same skills and qualifications. The perceived lack of opportunity for women makes it especially difficult to retain high performers.

“As long as these perceptions remain, it will be hard for senior leaders to identify how their organizations’ norms and culture need to change to attract high-performing female candidates and retain female sales leaders,” says Gomez.

Source - Read More at: www.gartner.com