Interviewed in this month's HR Magazine (published by SHRM, the national HR organization), GE's former CEO Jack Welch has praised human resources professionals. OK, so he knew his audience. He said we HR pros should be ashamed (my word) if we don't have a seat at the table, as a true partner in the strategic planning and execution of the business. Natually, I agree. And it is exepcially important right now, for two main reasons: employee hiring and separations.

How is your business handling lay-offs? Please tell me it is not about seniority. It should be all about productivity, what tasks you can merge into another position, and whatever needs to happen to keep the business alive. Using seniority as a criteria can get you into trouble because you may inadvertently terminate only employee over age 40 -- ageism. Charges to the EEOC of ageism are rapidly rising this year.

Productivity is a valid criteria for sure. But did the employee you can live without get a good performance evaluation in the last year? Here is a serious pitfall. Does the employee have proof you think they are a valuable employee or is there documentation about the employee's need to improve?

Right now isd the time to be planning for the economy's upswing and how/who you will be hiring. How many will you need, what will be the indicator, and in which departments? How long will it take you to find them. Just as a baseball team always has a bench, you should always have some resumes of promising candidates on hand.

So, HR professionals: grab a place at the table and let everyone know you are looking out for the best interests of the business by putting effective processes in place at both ends of the employment life-cycle.