Why do more than a third of salespeople plan on testing the job market, and how can you keep them from flying the coop?

The answers range from pay to work/life balance, according to a new study conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.

It revealed 35% of salespeople have plans to seek employment elsewhere, and 28% of sales managers have begun taking measures to retain their best salespeople — and keep turnover low.

The survey included responses from nearly 400 salespeople across a broad range of industries, and found that:

• 35% of salespeople were dissatisfied with their current pay
• 20% were unhappy with their work/life balance, due to more hours and added responsibilities, and
• 21% were unsatisfied with their job growth potential in their current sales position.

So what can managers do to keep their best talent from jumping ship? The answer may lie in the responses salespeople provided regarding what they’d be looking for with a new employer (in addition to better pay and benefits):

• a positive work culture (59%)
• good career advancement opportunities (52%)
• a company that’s financially stable and growing (52%)
• a less stressful environment (40%)
• the feeling that what they do makes a positive difference (40%)
• paid training and learning opportunities (34%)
• flexible work schedules (28%), and
• more camaraderie and stronger ties among employees (26%).

Do you expect retention be a major issue at your company in the near future? If so, what are you doing to keep employees happy? Share your thoughts in the Comments Box below.

1. Reassess priorities: Before asking reps to take on more responsibility, consider which of their tasks can be reallocated, put off or done away with altogether. A lot of times it’s the low-priority tasks that eat up salespeople’s time, providing them with less opportunity to pursue revenue-producing ventures. Streamlining responsibilities lets reps know you’re on their side, while allowing them more time to close deals.
2. Do something on each rep’s behalf: With so much pressure to perform, salespeople need to feel like you’re a partner in their success. Whether that means helping them close a top prospect, going to bat to get them the bonus they deserve or simply joining them on sales calls, let them know you’re in their corner at all times.
3. Create a low-cost incentive: Some sales organizations give reps a day off for achieving monthly goals. Others allow reps to work from home one day a week. The key is to create a win-win where the company achieves its goals and salespeople don’t feel overworked.

The key to avoiding burnout is taking measures before problems arise. Otherwise, stress-related burnout could lead to decreased productivity and increased turnover, as well as stress and depression — all of which end up costing the company in the long run.

Almost half (48%) of the workers who were laid off from their full-time jobs in the past three months have found new, full-time work — up from 41% in March.

That’s according to a recent CareerBuilder survey of 921 employees who were laid off from full-time jobs within the last 12 months.

Another 3% of laid-off workers found part-time work, which is down from 8%.

The survey also looked at a variety of characteristics of the individuals returning to work and found:

• 56% were able to negotiate comparable or higher pay for new positions
• 44% took a pay cut with their new position
• 38% found work in a different field than they were previously employed in, and
• 20% found work in a new city or state.

The bottom line: If you’re in a position to add staff, experts say do it now.

The number of hiring managers reviewing a candidate’s musings, photos, updates and tweets on social media sites has doubled compared with a year ago, when only 22% looked online. And by the end of this year, a further 11% will be checking online profiles before hiring.

In this economy, employers can afford to be picky. And they are. Nearly 35% say they’ve found inappropriate content online that caused them not to hire a candidate.

What turns them off?

• 53% ruled out candidates who had posted inappropriate photos
• 44% eliminated candidates who’d said something about drugs or drinking (a reminder not to tell the world when you have a hangover!)
• 35% said no to applicants who had bad mouthed colleagues, coworkers and previous employers
• 26% discovered job hunters had made discriminatory comments
• 24% found  job hunters had lied about qualifications, and
• 20% discovered that candidates had shared confidential info from previous employers. That could send a red flag that they may take a similar approach to commercially sensitive data.

It’s not all provocative photos and bitching online, found the study of 2,600 hiring managers by CareerBuilder and Harris Interactive.

Some employers have found info on sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, blogs and LinkedIn that have encouraged them to hire candidates.

You may want to ask:

Does the profile of the candidate fit the job description? 50% of employers say candidates’ online activities and profiles confirmed their instincts.

Does the candidate’s bio support their professional qualifications? 39% employers have analyzed this.

Does the candidate show creativity? 39% checked this.

Do they write well? Show solid communication skills? 35% have looked at this.

Have others posted references? That was important to 19% of recruiters.

Of course, what’s inappropriate to one employer may be acceptable to your organization. For example, 14% have eliminated candidates who have sent e-mails with text language like GR8 instead of writing great. That could be a big deal to some recruiters, but irrelevant to others.

Read more on this study at CareerBuilder.

Posted by Julie Power, editor in chief of the Internet Marketing Report Online.  Follow her on Twitter on JuliePower and HRTraining.