Craig Emslie

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 ...

Fast-growing companies know that talent is their sharpest competitive edge. Craig Emslie argues that hiring should never be an isolated HR function—it must be a direct lever for revenue and market expansion. This newsworthy approach reframes recruitment as a measurable growth engine, aligning roles, skills, and timing to clear commercial outcomes. Why Align Hiring With Growth When hiring decisions are anchored to revenue targets, leaders gain: Faster time-to-impact: roles are prioritized by near-term pipeline and product milestones. Higher ROI on headcount: budgets shift to the teams that move revenue now. Predictable scaling: headcount models track demand, not gut feeling. Craig Emslie emphasizes that this shift turns hiring from cost center to growth catalyst. The Growth-Back Hiring Framework Craig Emslie recommends building your plan “growth-back”—start with targets, then design the team. 1) Define Commercial Outcomes Tie roles to specific outcomes (e.g., “add ₹3 crore ARR in Q4...