Katie Kiernan Marble is a seasoned Global Employment Attorney with over 15 years of experience. She is also the Managing Director at modCounsel, a legal concierge service with six (6) practice areas. As the head of their employment law practice, Katie focuses on processes that bake compliance into day-to-day operations and allow internal teams to reduce the time and energy they need to spend on employment compliance issues.

In this episode, I ask Katie to weigh in on a few headlines. First being the proposed ban on non-competes and what this means for sales organizations. Then we talk about how layoffs are done and how communication is key if companies want to do it right. 

From there we discuss what it should look like between sales and legal when drafting commission plans. A particularly important part of the interview is when she gives her perspective on performance management in sales. Every manager should hear what she has to say.

#salesconsultantpodcast #employmentlaw #noncompete #commissionplans #performancemanagement #salesmanagement

Time Stamps:

[1:50] Katie’s experience working with and supporting revenue teams. Legal issues around commission and non-competes seem to be a high focus in this area.

Non-competes

[2:40:] FTC proposed a ban on non-competes. 1 in 5 people are affected by non-compete agreements.

[4:00] There’s 2 sides to non-competes: 1) limiting factors for employees, and 2) how they have helped companies prosper for decades. Katie talks about her work with companies who have incoming employees with non-competes in place and former employees who have left and are now facing a non-complete action by her company.

[7:00] She explains what she sees happening within organizations should the ban go through. Talks about how employees will start to lose access to sensitive information followed by a decline in employee development as a side effect of less access and less cross functional engagement.

[8:30] Katie walks through the process of enforcing a non-compete and the extent to which they (employers and lawyers) go through. There are 2 parts: 1) File a preliminary injunction to stop the employee from working at the new company, 2) Litigation 

[12:80] There’s a PR element to this as well. Companies do not want the bad press of being known for stifling employee and client relationships.

[16:00] Employees and customers are stuck in the middle. We talk through who really gets impacted by these.  

[20:20] The difference between a non-compete and a non-solicitation agreement.

Communication During Layoffs

[24:24] Katie has been advising companies throughout her career when it comes to conducting layoffs and she shares her perspective on how public layoffs are being handled particularly those that weren’t handled the best with poor communication. She walks us through the process that companies go through step by step

[30:30] Katie responds to my question about how some believe that the lack of communication leading up to a reduction in workforce is due to the concern employers have that the employees will not be as productive - things will become very disruptive. 

Working With Legal To Draft Commission Plans

[34:15] What it should look like between Sales and Legal when drafting/revising commission plans for SDRs and Salespeople.

[37:00] I bounce the idea of taking sales people off if commission plans and quota-based compensation plans and she shares that she’s never seen that

Performance Management From a Legal Perspective

[39:41] We discuss performance management from a legal perspective and Katie gives advice to new managers who have direct reports in various states.

[45:00] Katie provides a legal viewpoint on performance management in sales. She points out that because the role is performance based and completely measurable she is always surprised when Sales Managers have not been properly managing rep performance.

Mentions:

• FTC proposed ban on non-competes - https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/01/ftc-proposes-rule-ban-noncompete-clauses-which-hurt-workers-harm-competition

• Article by The New Yorker - https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/what-a-ban-on-non-compete-agreements-could-mean-for-american-workers

• Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act - https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/layoffs/warn

Connect with us:

Katie’s LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiekiernanmarble/

modCounsel - https://modcounsel.com

The Sales Consultant LinkedIn Page - https://the-sales-consultant-podcast.captivate.fm/

Derrick’s LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/derricklwilliamsjr/

Derrick’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/derrickis3linksales/

Derrick’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/derrickis3link

These interviews are also available on Derrick’s YouTube page - @derrickis3linksales