Pursue talent like you pursue customers

Pursuing customers is common sense for any business. Without profitable customers, a business cannot exist, but customers cannot be acquired overnight. Everyone knows it takes a lot of time and effort to advertise, market and cultivate relationships to turn prospects into customers.

So why do so many businesses assume acquiring talent is completely different?

Too many business only worry about finding good candidates when they have a job opening. Remember, these are the people who produce the products, services and experiences for all those hard earned customers. Customers are too important to your business to only go looking for them when you need more revenue. If you start then, it is probably too late. In the same way, good employees are too important to your business to only go looking for them when you have an empty chair.

How much better would your team become if you began to pursue talent like you pursue customers? What if instead of casting a wide net into a vast pool of applicants every time you had an opening you could reach out to a list of people you had proactively pursued, screened, interviewed and built relationships with as potential hires?

With all the demands on your time and attention when leading a team or organization, proactively pursuing talent you do not have an immediate need for may seem like a waste of time. Do not fall prey to this fallacy. It only seems like a waste because there is no immediate consequence for success or failure. The consequences accumulate over time though. Organizations that make a habit of chasing great talent like they chase great customers win over the long haul.