--- title: "Lessons from Marketing: seeing Talent as Customers" description: View your talent as customers --- [![HeadLight-logo-from LF for website](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/hubfs/HeadLight_Sep2016/HeadLight-logo-from%20LF%20for%20website.png)](https://head-light.co.uk/) - [About Us](https://head-light.co.uk/what-makes-head-light-different/) ### [Our Clients Our clients come from industry, justice, government and not for profit sectors.](https://head-light.co.uk/our-clients/) ### [Case Studies Find out what people have said about Head Light and how we have helped.](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/case-studies) ### [Client Charter We like to be clear and upfront in how we work – and how we won’t work. Our Client Charter sets this out.](https://head-light.co.uk/client-charter/) ### [Consulting Partners When you partner with another organisation to deliver services to your clients, your reputation and future business success rests on your Partner’s ability and commitment to make it happen.](https://head-light.co.uk/consulting-partners/) ### [Our Location Head Light is based in Ascot, if you visit us with an electric vehicle, then you can have a free charge on us!](https://head-light.co.uk/contact-us/) ### [About Head Light Head Light helps public sector and regulated organisations turn workforce signals into intelligence about capability, readiness and risk. We are recognised in the Fosway 9-Grid™ for Talent & People Success and have supported customers for 20 years.](https://head-light.co.uk/what-makes-head-light-different/) - [Workforce Capability Intelligence](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/) ### [Workforce Signals Surfacing the evidence layer that turns workforce data into intelligence.  ](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/) ### [Capability Intelligence Understanding workforce capability across your organisation.](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/capability-intelligence/) ### [Workforce Readiness Tracking organisational readiness in real time.](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/workforce-readiness/) ### [Succession Intelligence Understanding leadership continuity and succession risk.](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/succession-intelligence/) ### [Workforce Risk Identifying workforce capability risk before it becomes operational risk.](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/workforce-risk/) ### [Organisational Insight Understanding workforce sentiment and organisational confidence.](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/organisational-insight/) - [Products](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/) ### [Talent 360 360-degree feedback software - spot potential, pinpoint development focus, embed recognition.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-360/) ### [Talent Performance Embedding a culture of performance conversation and recognition.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-performance/) ### [Talent Navigator Individual career ownership through career path mapping.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-navigator/) ### [Talent Successor Succession planning software: providing a strategic line of sight.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-successor/) ### [Talent SafeGuard Skills management: by the individual and for the individual.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-safeguard/) ### [Talent En-Gauge Plan and take action to strengthen employee engagement.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-en-gauge/) ### [Talent Advance Keep track of goal planning.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-advance/) - [Consultancy & Training](https://head-light.co.uk/consultancy-training/) ### [Design a Skills or Competency Framework Get a skills or competency framework right for your organisation and your talent management practices make a real and lasting contribution.](https://head-light.co.uk/designing-your-competency-framework/) ### [360 and Performance Assessment Design We develop, test and validate bespoke assessments across all sectors, at every level of talent and every stage of talent management.](https://head-light.co.uk/assessment-design/) ### [Designing a Talent Management Strategy Do you have a Talent Management strategy? Do all your talent activities integrate, utilise the same language and align with your organisational strategy?](https://head-light.co.uk/talent-management-strategy/) ### [Talent Management for Managers Talent Management is not the sole domain of the HR or Learning & Development team. delivering your organisation’s people a strategy.](https://head-light.co.uk/talent-management-for-managers/) ### [Feedback Facilitator Training Investing in 360-degree feedback delivers little benefit if the review and feedback conversation is not handled properly.](https://head-light.co.uk/facilitator-training/) ### [Administrator Training Deploying a talent management software system successfully is not about luck. It requires robust and secure software, solid processes and great administrators.](https://head-light.co.uk/administrator-training/) - [Our Blog](https://blog.head-light.co.uk) - [Blue Light Services](https://head-light.co.uk/blue-light-services/) ### [Blue Light User Group Sharing talent management best practice and collaborating on new features to the Talent platform.](https://head-light.co.uk/blue-light-user-group/) ### [Talent Management for Police 360, PDR and talent and succession planning for police officers and staff.](https://head-light.co.uk/talent-management-for-police-forces/) ### [Talent Management for Fire and Rescue Services 360, PDR and succession planning for fire and rescue services.](https://head-light.co.uk/talent-management-for-fire-and-rescue-services/) [TELL ME MORE](https://head-light.co.uk/contact-us/) # Lessons from Marketing: seeing Talent as Customers --- ### Viewing your key talent as you would consumers or customers makes for a smarter and more targeted approach to Talent Management. Our article in [HR Magazine](http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/hro/features/1150749/lessons-from-marketing-talent-as-customers)  explored this.  We think that the scarcity of talent is forcing many HR teams to reconsider how they attract, engage and retain individuals with the skills they need. We see that the balance of power has shifted towards those who possess valuable skills - and away from those who need them. Consequently, talented employees are now adopting shorter-term, more transactional relationships with their employer. Research by Henley Business School suggests that the way forward is to shift your mindset from thinking of employees as servants of your organisation, to thinking of talent as customers - and adopt some of those techniques that marketing departments use. We offer five traditional marketing techniques that you can apply to your talent: 1. **Identify your ‘audiences’** by pinpointing who your talented people are and engage with them as early as possible in their careers. 2. **Uncover their needs.** Find out what individuals want and what drives how they think about their careers. Talk to them about their career aspirations and their motivations. 3. **Try to give them what they want. **Different employees will be engaged by different things, depending on their expectations, working preferences, development needs and the relationship they want to have with you. So, your policies and benefits will need to be flexible. 4. **If you lose them, win them back. **If you can’t offer what your talent wants in the short- to medium-term, they’re probably going to leave. However, by joining another employer, they’ll inevitably gather new experience that could be valuable to your business in the future. So keep the door open for them to come back. 5. **Make good use of analytics. **Talent systems can help you to understand people’s capabilities, how they’re performing, their potential and exactly what will engage and motivate them. They also enable you to create ‘role profiles’ for specific jobs and explore multiple career paths. We believe that those who adopt a marketing-led approach to talent management and treat their talent as customers, will hold a significant competitive advantage. [Read the full article](https://head-light.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/WT-Seeing-Talent-as-customers.pdf) and [take a look at our cloud-based talent management software.](https://head-light.co.uk/products/) You may like to then talk to us about your specific challenges. [![Get in touch](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2397834/df8130bb-66ee-4ece-b9c8-0b3a974eabe8.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2397834/df8130bb-66ee-4ece-b9c8-0b3a974eabe8) [Talent Management software](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/topic/talent-management-software) [Trends in Talent Management](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/topic/trends-in-talent-management) ## Related posts ### [The Police Leadership Commission Report: What It Means for Your Force](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/police-leadership-commission-report-what-it-means-for-your-force) The Police Leadership Commission report sets a clear direction for policing - and it has immediate i... 23 Jul 2026 ### [Organisational Insight: evidence that organisations fail to use](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/organisational-insight-evidence-not-used) Organisational insight is one of the most underestimated assets available to HR and business leaders... 13 Jul 2026 ### [How your Workforce Intelligence platform turns data into signals](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform-turns-data-into-signals) Every organisation generates data about its people continuously. Performance ratings, development ac... 13 Jul 2026 [![HeadLight-logo-from LF for website](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/hubfs/HeadLight_Sep2016/HeadLight-logo-from%20LF%20for%20website.png)](https://head-light.co.uk/) [![Fosway-2025](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/hs-fs/hubfs/Fosway-2025-150x150.jpg?width=150&height=150&name=Fosway-2025-150x150.jpg)](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/news/head-light-fosway-grid-2025)   ### Useful Links - [Home](https://head-light.co.uk/) - [About](https://head-light.co.uk/what-makes-head-light-different/) - [Workforce Signals](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/) - [Products](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/) - [Blue Light Services](https://head-light.co.uk/blue-light-services/) ### Workforce Signals - [Capability Intelligence](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/workforce-mobility/) - [Organisational Insight](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/organisational-insight/) - [Succession Intelligence](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/organisational-insight/) - [View All](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/) ### Our Products - [Talent 360](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-360/) - [Talent Performance](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-performance/) - [Talent Navigator](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-navigator/) - [View All](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/) ### Consultancy & Training - [Consultancy & Training Services](https://head-light.co.uk/consultancy-training/) - [Designing your competency framework](https://head-light.co.uk/designing-your-competency-framework/) - [360 and performance assessment design](https://head-light.co.uk/assessment-design/) ### Support - [Contact](https://head-light.co.uk/contact-us/) - [Blog](https://blog.head-light.co.uk) - [FAQs](https://head-light.co.uk/faqs/) - [Resources](https://head-light.co.uk/resources/) - [News](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/news)   Copyright © Head Light Ltd. 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