First of all, I hate the word human resources for our employees.  This verbiage starts the discussion as if people were fungible.  That people, their talents, aspirations, motivation and capability are identical. That is simply not true.

 I just got out of a discussion with a company that left me feeling hopeful.  After working in a company that appeared to be unable to differentiate commodity from the knowledge area or discipline of the employee, this was refreshing.  It was wonderful to hear a company that seems to really value the employee and the skills and talents they bring to the work.

 In this discussion, situations were described where the company would make quick changes to make it possible to acquire talent, and other instances where they would delay making a decision since they could not find the right talent. In the case where delays happened, they did not lose the budget for the talent acquisition because they could not find that right person within some prescribed time, which sometimes happens in companies.  When the budget is threatened with cutting due to time and not finding the correct talent, we accept a level of talent that we perhaps should not.

 It is encouraging to see a company that truly appears to value getting the right talent into the company.  We should not begin to make our talent happy, as they start to leave the company – sorry we have mistreated or ignored them and wish for them to stay.  A relationship does not begin as somebody is walking out.  It starts even before being hired and works all throughout the employment with the company.  Talent is a big competitive advantage for the company. Those skills, motivation, creativity, and competencies the team members bring to the organization is make the difference.