Hiring? Now? From a recent survey of local manufacturing firms, it may appear to be the furthest thing from your mind, but it could be the very best thing for your business.

In these days of working "leaner," it is more important than ever to work "smarter." You need to get the optimum value from every resource you have-your equipment, your materials and, most important of all, your people. Your employees likely represent the single most expensive and crucial element of your business. They come up with your ideas and they do your work. In order to get the highest quality and volume of work from your employees, they need to be the best. You don't win a race with a bunch of plowhorses. You cross that finish line astride a championship racehorse. So, what is it that sets apart the "racehorses" from the plowhorses among us? How do you find those precious few individuals who can set that faster pace, leap to new heights, lead your team to victories?

In today's marketplace, you need to take advantage of every edge you can get. There's just not a lot of room for "second best." You can't build superior products with inferior materials. You can't deliver state-of-the-art service with yesterday's technology. You can't be the company at the forefront of any industry without the best people on your staff.

Taking a cue from Wall Street, we all seem to be sitting tentatively on the sidelines these days, waiting. Waiting for the first signs of economic upward mobility. No one you talk to will tell you that recovery is not coming. They just won't commit to saying when. So, in the meantime, we're all working harder, maybe a little leaner, hopefully a lot smarter. One of the smartest things we can do-while we wait-is to seriously assess the human capital in our inventory, the horses in our corporate stables. Is there a potential Triple Crown winner in the group? Now may be the perfect time to make a strategic investment in that special thoroughbred who can help your company keep pace with the pack today-and give you the performance edge to pull ahead, and finish first, tomorrow.