I was reading Toby’s post, entitled “Influential HR Grows Talent Management, First and Foremost,” preparing to slap a little bit of artwork on to the top of this article when I stumbled across this passage:

HR is responsible for Human Capital Management, cradle to grave (or hire to separation).

When it dawned on me, that the grave, in this case, isn’t really separation.

This is why hiring is so much more critical than just getting someone to do the job, today.

And I’m not even talking about all of the positive growth and advancement and adding value to the organization stuff. I’m not talking about any of the skipping-down-the-yellow-brick-road-of-happiness, touchy-feely stuff. I’m talking about the dark spectre that we all like to ignore. The “You’re not going to retire from there” factor.

At some point, possibly in the not-too-distant future, that person is going to become your brand message to the market. That person is going to become a shining example of your human capital management. That person is going to become the way that every company from this day forward analyzes your company.

Your company–in hiring–has just added another brand element to its communications package.

Which brings me to another wacky thought: Shouldn’t HR really be responsible for that capital even beyond separation?

I’m serious.

It may sound ridiculous, but think about it.

That person, that former hire, leaving your organization, is still a very real example of your organization in the marketplace. Shouldn’t HR work more like PR? Shouldn’t they focus on reputation management in the marketplace even beyond the separation?

What if the HR department took the time to contact companies that had just hired former employees? What if they took the time to reach out again–90-days, 180-days, years–afterward, and asked some important questions? Is this employee fitting in? What skills are they missing? How could we have done a better job helping this employee improve?

This is why hiring is so *bleeping* important: That person has your company on his/her resume forever. That person is forever a message to the market about your company.

More importantly, as a hiring manager, that hire is a message about you.

That hire is your brand. Forever.

Think about it.