“There just aren’t any good Sales Directors out there.” I hear it often. I don’t think it is true.
Good commercial leaders exist in UK manufacturing. They are busy, they are not looking, and they take careful finding. But the businesses that complain most about a shortage are often the ones hiring for the same role again and again. That is not a supply problem. It is a staying problem.
Why good people leave
Sales Directors rarely leave because the job was too hard. They leave because the job turned out to be different from the one they were sold, because they were not given the authority they were promised, or because the way the business really works clashed with the way they work. Most of that was knowable before they joined.
Fix the stay before the search
Before starting another search, it is worth asking a few uncomfortable questions. Why did the last person go? What would they say if you asked them honestly? Was the role set up to succeed, or set up with expectations nobody could meet?
The answers usually point to something the business can change: clearer decision rights, a more honest brief, better support in the first months, a closer match on fit. None of these is glamorous. All of them make the next hire more likely to last.
Searching well and keeping well
This is why I treat search, selection and onboarding as one process rather than three services. Finding the right person matters. Making sure they are still there, and still delivering, a few years later matters more.
The good news is that a stay shortage is far easier to fix than a talent shortage. It is mostly within your control.