Reexamining gender issues in salesperson propensity to leave

This research examines the moderating effects of salesperson gender and salesperson performance on the relationship between job satisfaction and propensity to leave the firm. Sales force data from 15–20 standard industrial classification (SIC) manufacturing categories representing 61 different companies and 1042 industrial salespeople were utilized in the study. The results illustrate that for both men and women, job satisfaction is a more important influence on the propensity to leave the firm at 3 months, 6 months and 1 year for low-performing salespeople than for high-performing salespeople. In addition, this research also supports the unique finding that high-performing salesmen have a greater propensity to leave the firm than high-performing saleswomen. Across longer time intervals, the propensity to leave the firm, as indicated by the variance explained, increased for salesmen but decreased for saleswomen. This suggests that high-performing saleswomen may be more loyal to their firm, regarding intention to leave.