Is the glass half empty or half full?

Every generation has been confronted with this question and with the question which came first the chicken or the egg. If we listen to the political pundits going into tomorrow's elections we can see the same picture developing. 

The tea party candidates are telling us how really bad things are. How all the strategies created to combat one of the worse recessions in this country were all bad. But is that really true? Consider the headlines out of the paper recently.

• The TARP funds were the sign that our priorities were out of place. And yet a local CPA appeared on the local FOX news station and pointed out that many of the banks that have already paid back their loans have done so with a premium coming back. AIG announced today that it already has 37 billion dollars ready to come back to the US Treasury.
• Manufacturing output exceeded the projections of most economists for the last reporting month.
• Many of the corporations that have laid off employees are beginning to recall them back including GM and Delta Airlines.
• Corporations are in the process of returning some customer service positions back to the US because economically it made more sense.This includes Radio Shack, AT&T and others. I was in attendance at a conference recently where the  speaker indicated that he was working with an India based Information Systems firm which was opening a call center in Wisconsin because it was cheaper to run it here.

How does this apply to human capital? I hear the same kind of rhetoric coming from the business community. Have you ever practiced the philosophy that there is no sense in training our employees because they would just leave? Have you ever told your hiring resources not to provide you with the names of candidates because they are in transition due to circumstances that are beyond their control? Have your ever expressed the belief that if a candidate was let go and did not find employment quickly they are worthless?

We as human capital managers have the ability to look at the glass as being half full or half empty. Look at the available talent for who they are not what you envision them to be. You maybe surprised based on the changed attitude. Many of the in transition executives have taken this time to increase their levels of education but you are excluding this because you believe the glass is half empty.

So as you enter the voting booth tomorrow (we hope you all will one way or another) and as you go forward in your managerial efforts consider whether the glass is really as empty as you think it is. Pundits have been wrong in the past. Be sure you are not a victim to the wrong attitude.

Posted via email from hrstrategist@Net-Speed