Craig Emslie: How To Connect Hiring Strategy With Growth Goals


Every business wants to grow, but growth doesn’t just happen on its own. It takes clear goals, good planning, and the right people on your team. Hiring plays a big role in this process. The people you bring into your company can either push your business forward or slow it down.

Craig Emslie believes that hiring should never be just about filling empty seats. It should be directly connected to where your business wants to go. Let’s look at how you can connect your hiring strategy with your growth goals.

Start With Your Growth Goals

The first step is to know exactly what kind of growth you want. Are you planning to expand into new markets? Launch new products? Improve customer service? Or increase sales?

Each goal needs a different kind of talent. For example:

  • Expanding into new regions may require people with international sales skills or cultural knowledge.

  • Improving customer satisfaction may mean hiring customer success managers or support staff.

When you’re clear on your goals, it becomes much easier to see the type of people you need.

Plan Ahead, Don’t Just React

Many businesses hire only when a problem comes up—someone leaves, or the workload gets too heavy. But that’s reactive hiring, and it often slows down growth.

Craig Emslie suggests building a plan for the future. Ask yourself:

  • What roles will we need six months from now?

  • What talent will we need in a year as we grow?

When you plan ahead, you can hire the right people at the right time, instead of rushing later.

Hire For Skills That Make An Impact

Not every skill will move your business forward. Think about which skills will have the biggest effect on your goals.

For example:

  • If you want stronger online sales, you’ll need digital marketers, data analysts, or e-commerce experts.

  • If you want to innovate, you may need product designers, engineers, or researchers.

The key is to make sure every new hire adds real value to the growth of your business.

Build A Culture That Supports Growth

Hiring isn’t only about skills, it’s also about mindset. The best employees are those who believe in your vision and want to grow with the company.

According to Craig Emslie, traits like problem-solving, flexibility, and teamwork are equally as crucial as technical abilities. A strong culture keeps people motivated, reduces turnover, and helps everyone work together toward the same goals.

Keep Checking And Improving

Finally, connecting hiring to growth is an ongoing process. Ask yourself:

  • Are our new hires helping us hit our growth goals?

  • Are they improving performance, sales, or customer satisfaction?

  • Do we need to adjust our hiring plan?

By tracking the results, you can make smarter hiring decisions in the future and keep your strategy aligned with your business goals.

Final Thoughts

Craig Emslie explains that growth and hiring go hand in hand. If you want your business to thrive, you need to think of hiring as more than just filling positions. It’s about building a team that is ready to take your vision forward.

When you connect your hiring strategy with your growth goals, you create a team that doesn’t just work in the business; it helps the business grow.

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