If you talk with leaders in virtually any industry, you will learn that finding and retaining qualified employees is one of their most significant challenges.

Probe a little deeper and you will find that most organizations have not crafted and implemented a plan of action to address this huge concern.

So why the disconnect? For starters, many organizations do not truly value their human assets.

The actual financial value of human capital in an organization is not calculated and reported on the balance sheet of any company. Management tends to focus on those things that most impact its financial performance.

Often time, human capital is considered only from the &8220;cost&8221; perspective and never as an &8220;asset&8221; as it should be.

Many businesses also discount the impact that hiring and retaining mediocre people can have on performance and customer satisfaction.

I call this the &8220;fog the mirror&8221; viewpoint. &8220;As long as we have someone in that job, we can get by. If she can fog the mirror when you hold one under her nose, put her to work right away.&8221; In this scenario, no thought is given to the impact of poor performance on productivity, morale, safety, customer satisfaction, etc. I have personally heard statements like this uttered from the mouth of numerous managers.

No matter what size business you work in, developing and implementing a specific plan for attracting and retaining the human capital that your business needs to be successful should be at the top of your to-do list.

Building a high performance team takes a tremendous commitment of time, energy and effort.

According to employment data from the U.S. Department of Labor, by 2016, there is expected to be about a three million workers shortage between what the U.S. economy needs to stay healthy and the resources actually available.

Many businesses are already feeling the pain of not being able to attract and retain the workers they need. The situation is getting worse rapidly.

The question of the day is simple. What is your plan of action and if you don&8217;t have one, what are you waiting for?