I love this quote from Jack's column in Business Week:

"[If] there was ever a time to underscore the importance of HR, it has arrived.  And sadly, if there was ever a time to see how few companies get HR right, it has arrived, too ... If their company is in a crisis - or their own career - perhaps they've at last seen the light. 

HR matters enormously in the good times.  It defines you in the bad."