In project management and in management in general, the word resource is seen often. According to Wikipedia, a resource is any physical or virtual entity of limited availability, or anything used to help one earn a living.  This includes:

• Space: meeting rooms, offices
• Furniture: desk, chair
• Equipment: computer, tools
• Humans: people, coworkers

How can one put people in a list of resources? A person is not a resource, she is a person. She cannot be reserved, allocated and definitely should not be sold or bought. She cannot be stored until you need her again.

Treating your teams just like your material resources dehumanizes. A human is not something you need to accomplish a goal. A human is the reason why your organization exists: to provide goods and/or services to other humans.

Humans should be more than numbers and work-hours that can be contributed.  Humans are the foundation of any company. They should be recognized as such.