You have to sell to stay in business. To have steady sales that generate steady cash flow, you have to develop a strong sales pipeline. It takes time, attention and skill, but the goal is to build a pipeline full of leads that get converted into customers and produce cash flow. Why not approach finding future employees the same way? Most small and mid-sized companies only think about recruiting talent when they have an immediate need. When an opening or new position comes up, they initiate the process of posting on job boards, getting the word out to their networks and employing recruiters. What if you pursued prospective employees like you pursue prospective customers? What if you built a strong pipeline of great talent that you wooed and cultivated even when no job openings were within sight? When an opening does arise, how much more effective and enjoyable would…

Last week I wrote about the importance of creating a recruiting pipeline with the same urgency and intentionality applied to sales pipelines. If you are intrigued or persuaded, but looking for some practical how to’s, this post is for you! The problems to be solved: Over the long-term, you want to flip from having to chase mediocre talent to being sought out by the best of the them. When you have an opening, you want to be able to immediately schedule interviews from a list of candidates you have previously screened and cultivated a relationship with. You are tired of wasting time interviewing candidates that are a bad match for your company, let alone the job description. In addition to wasting time, it dilutes the pool and you are concerned that you may be hiring the best of the worst. You are losing the talent war to companies with more…