I began as the personnel administrator. I was the organizational fireman. But times have changed and now I am the gatekeeper to the organizational talents, attributes and skills. With that responsibility comes the need for me to assist the organization with the retention of current human capital but also to plan for the future talent needs of the organization.

It is from that perspective that I ask the question who am I managing? For the most part we are doing a fair to mediocre job of managing the current and past talent. However, on the flip side of the coin, we are doing a lousy job of managing for the future. We have taken the easy route in determining how are community is preparing for our future needs. We acquiesce to the loud voices when it comes to raising the flag when the community is not sending us individuals prepared to work.

We acquiesce when our elected officials refuse to change the learning environment in which our future talent is coming from. Are you reading the crystal ball to tell you which of the high school students is going to be your next high potential employee or are you dumping them into one single hopper and wishing for the best?

If we are the human capital asset gatekeepers, then we need to change our focus. We need to take steps to ensure that events like Parkland, Columbine, Virginia Tech etc. do not happen again. We need to take a strong stand against allowing the creation of such environments to continue. I have been there done that and arming teachers is not the answer. You need to decide whether a political agenda supersedes your responsibilities as the talent gatekeeper. You need to weigh whether that school shooting victim is the answer to your talent needs in the future or is just another number.

Someone will respond to this post with same diatribe about rights under the constitution. When I was in college I owned both a pistol and a rifle and used them in hunting situations. That was then, this is now. We need to change the environment to eliminate the chances of this happening again. Follow the #neveragain hashtag. Urge the elected officials to do what is right not what some lobbyist is pushing because their followers want to leave things as is.