Gartner predicts half of business-to-business (B2B) sales leadership roles will be filled by candidates from historically underrepresented demographics within the next five years, and that chief sales officers (CSOs) have identified talent recruitment as their top external challenge “with only three available candidates per open B2B sales job, and roles staying open for an average of two months.”

Those findings were part of "The Gartner Predictions for 2023: Talent Shifts in B2B Sales" webinar, which also found talent pool bias toward those already in the specific job function repels a large number of high-quality candidates from applying and perpetuates a perception "where a lack of diversity is the norm” within a B2B enterprise. This insight comes as major industry firms like Cisco have boosted their efforts to bring in and retain talent and the broader industry has begun pushing new hiring platform models and nearshoring efforts.

Christopher Gamble, senior director analyst at Gartner, explained that despite the ongoing talent crisis, CSOs have historically neglected tapping into “high-potential candidates from underrepresented groups, but the pressures from operating shorthanded require a renewed focus on improving and diversifying the talent pipeline.”

Gamble told SDxCentral in an interview that it is essential for organizations to look at pay disparity and bias, and they must build "new annual budgets that allow for compensation adjustments by as much as 30% and auditing pay equity at least biannually.”

While he noted this will be a challenge given the current economic climate, “the cost is recouped when open territories are staffed with higher-producing reps who affect both the top and bottom line. The wrong move here would be lowering headcount to keep budgets flat. Chief sales officers need to work with their CFO counterpart now as part of their strategic planning in 2023 and beyond to get ahead of this wave.”

Another key statistic within the report found that sellers will consume 65% fewer hours of training in 2026 compared to 2022, further reflecting a coming adjustment for talent outside of the specific job function. Gartner believes that to open this recruitment process, CSOs need to partner with HR teams to adjust the candidate profiles to give more focus to skills and behaviors rather than experience, and making sure to bias-check job postings so that they “properly frame the position to avoid skewed recruiting toward the same talent pool and demographics.”

The firm stressed that because members from underrepresented groups may worry about the organization having an “unsupportive or even discriminatory environment,” an enterprise needs to prioritize underrepresented talent at the same level as other KPIs; invest in mentoring and retaining diverse talent from within and outside the enterprise to help CSOs increase awareness of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) challenges and bias; and invest in collaborative and learning tools that can support the rapidly expanding hybrid work model.

“Sales leaders who are unwilling to challenge existing recruitment efforts stand to miss out on highly qualified candidates,” the firm warned.

Gamble also predicts the next “high-probability flash point” within DE&I may center around pay transparency and equity.

“As States such as Colorado and Connecticut require pay transparency, a logical evolution could include mandated pay-equity," he told SDxCentral. "If this occurs, we will see a major career-pathing adjustment further accelerating the DEI wave."