Across the last two years, sales organisations have faced one of the most destabilising talent challenges in recent memory. The Great Resignation, as it became known, saw professionals leaving roles in record numbers. Sales teams were no exception.
While salary inflation and increased demand for top performers may have driven much of the early commentary, a deeper question remained largely unexplored: why were people really walking away?
For Simon Wheeler, a senior sales leader undertaking an MSc in Leading Sales Transformation, this question became more than academic. It became personal. Within his own organisation, he was seeing a level of turnover that could not be explained by pay alone. And so he did what few leaders take the time to do—he went looking for evidence.
What he discovered reframed his understanding of attrition entirely. It also laid the foundations for a new way of thinking about coaching, leadership and retention.
What the data really says about why people leave
Simon’s research journey began with an examination of the macro trends. Drawing on data from the UK’s Office for National Statistics, he identified a sharp rise in job-to-job resignations — peaking at the highest level on record. This was no anecdotal movement. It was systemic.
At the same time, organisations were grappling with a surge in vacancies. The demand for talent was outstripping supply. Salaries were rising quickly, with even average performers commanding significant premiums in a hyper-competitive market.
But this only told part of the story. What Simon was more interested in was the why.
Turning to secondary sources, he found consistency across multiple datasets. In a global survey conducted by Statista, lack of career development and advancement opportunities emerged as the number one reason employees were leaving, cited by 41 percent of respondents—outpacing compensation.
Further research by Gartner and Forbes supported the trend. Disengaged employees were significantly more likely to resign. And what drove engagement, it seemed, was not money but meaning.
In particular, studies highlighted two factors strongly linked to retention:
- A sense of personal growth and development
- A clear, meaningful organisational vision
Together, these insights formed the foundation for Simon’s research thesis: if development and vision are what people are seeking, how might coaching help deliver both?
Coaching: not just a performance tool, but a retention strategy
In many sales organisations, coaching is often seen as synonymous with performance management. A way to inspect deals, critique execution or troubleshoot underperformance. In other words, coaching has typically been reactive — short-term, tactical, and heavily focused on metrics.
But Simon began to question whether that was the right model at all.
Drawing on both his academic learning and field experience, he began to explore a more expansive approach to coaching—one that moved beyond short-term problem-solving and toward long-term development. Coaching, he argued, could be the bridge between organisational vision and personal growth.
To test this, Simon conducted primary research across sales leaders and frontline sales professionals. What he found was a striking disconnect.
Sales leaders believed they were investing in their people—largely through financial incentives. Pay, in their minds, was the key retention lever. But when asked directly, over half of frontline professionals said they felt they lacked meaningful opportunities to grow.
This misalignment revealed something deeper. Many leaders were applying compensation-based strategies to what was, in reality, a development-based problem.
Put simply: people were not leaving for better pay. They were leaving for better growth.
The birth of V2GROW: a new approach to sales coaching
As part of his MSc dissertation, Simon developed a new coaching framework in response to this insight. Drawing inspiration from the well-established GROW model by Sir John Whitmore, Simon introduced an evolved approach: V2GROW.
The difference lay in what came first.
Where the traditional GROW model begins with goal-setting and performance analysis, V2GROW starts with vision and values. It invites a longer-range conversation about identity, direction and purpose—before getting into goals, tactics or metrics.
The central question is deceptively simple:
“Who do you want to be?”
According to Simon, this is the moment that transforms the coaching dynamic. It creates space for reflection. It challenges individuals to articulate their own aspirations. And it allows leaders to coach the whole person, not just the performer.
In practice, this repositions coaching from a reactive tool into a developmental journey. It becomes a means of guiding growth, not just inspecting progress. And it enables teams to connect their day-to-day work with a deeper sense of meaning — something that Simon’s research showed was critical to long-term engagement and retention.
The early impact: better conversations, better connection, better culture
Although the V2GROW model is still in its early stages of application, Simon has already observed meaningful shifts within his team.
In informal coaching sessions with junior colleagues, the introduction of vision-based questions changed the tone and quality of the conversation entirely. People paused. Reflected. Engaged. And, in many cases, reconnected with their ambitions in a way that traditional coaching conversations rarely allowed.
Crucially, the approach also began to influence retention behaviours. Team members who had previously voiced concerns about their development began to show renewed energy and engagement. Conversations that once centred around promotions and pay began to centre around purpose and progression.
The correlation was clear. When people feel coached, they feel cared for. When they feel cared for, they stay.
Simon believes this is where the greatest opportunity lies—not just in preventing attrition, but in building a culture that actively supports growth and creates reasons for people to stay.
Conclusion: what sales leaders need to take from this moment
The Great Resignation may have passed its peak, but the underlying issues it revealed remain. High turnover, low engagement, development gaps and cultural drift are not temporary symptoms. They are structural challenges that demand structural solutions.
What Simon’s research offers is a simple but powerful message:
If people are leaving because they cannot see a future, leadership must help them build one.
Coaching, when done well, is more than a leadership skill. It is an engagement strategy. A cultural foundation. A long-term retention tool.
It starts with a conversation. But it leads to something far greater — a team that is not just performing, but progressing. Not just staying, but growing.
As Simon puts it,
“Coaching needs to be more than a performance tool. It needs to be a retention strategy.”
And in today’s market, that mindset may be the difference between building a team that delivers for a quarter — and one that stays for years.
Learn about the MSc in Leading Sales Transformation
NB: Data taken from research conducted by Simon as part of his master's dissertation. Watch his presentation below.