Since the early ‘90s, as HR communities we love to talk about generations, strategic HR, business partnerships, stay interviews, human capital management, seeing employees like customers and many other trends. I think a new era just starts.

We are being forced to see the employees not only “resources” or “assets” that is just another input contributing our business processes as machines, utilities or capital. We need to see employees as the “critical factor” that contributes much more differently than any resources we use. They are the ones we expect to create value, to see both potential opportunities and problems and to create the strategy we need.

Earlier this year I attended a university career fair in a university and realized this major change. A student asked for whether they are allowed to visit our company or not and I said it would be possible if he could just send me an e-mail about it, including their planned time, the estimated number of visitors etc. He just opened the “Notes” app on his phone and gave it to me, expecting me to write my e-mail address there. I paused for a few seconds because my expectation was me spelling my e-mail and he writing it down. He just did the opposite. He made me create the content, directed me to write and yes, I wrote it for him. This specific incidence occurred several times this year in different universities. It may seem as relatively irrelevant and small, but I see this as an indicator of a new culture. Graduates are now far more ready to take responsibility and open to new opportunities. If they see a problem, they just say it; they do not hesitate considering their “performance grades”. They just see no value in having a 20 – years long career in a single company. They seek places where they can contribute, where they can be “valuable factors that make a difference”.

When we start to perceive engineers, specialists, technicians or other staff as “critical factors” of our business and recognize them as such, they are ready to give far more than they get from us. That is not just about generations, but a new culture. This culture will adapt talents to itself and those who become a part of this will achieve the greatest success.

Our employees now process much more data than we had when we started our career, they now work with global suppliers and vendors, their teammates work from another country and they just adapt to it much easier than we expected. Prices or machines companies offer are now so close; everyone has access to similar technologies through global vendors. We now produce regardless of the location or capital. You may design and 3D-print a new engine part in your garage. Our “critical factor” is now the employees working for us and the “bottleneck is not technology or capital, it is now certainly Talent”.

Those companies who see and recognize their employees as “critical factors” of their business will be the ones that survive this huge not only market based but also talent-based competition.

I hope as HR, we may succeed adapting our role to recognize employees not only “the human factor” that increase defect rates or cause occupational accidents but also “critical factors” that creates the difference.

Is it not already the time we prepare our roadmap to be another “critical factor” of the business as HR?