In today’s dynamic business landscape, the role of human resources extends beyond traditional people operations functions. HR leaders are uniquely positioned to influence and drive the success of go-to-market (GTM) strategies through strategic involvement in developing the organization, managing talent, and fostering a collaborative culture.
By leveraging their enterprise-wide view, HR can reflect and shape company culture, ensuring teams are equipped with the necessary skills for adaptive and proactive market engagement. Understanding how HR can effectively support cross-departmental collaboration, create a flexible culture, and align performance metrics with strategic goals is crucial for strengthening organizational agility and enhancing GTM execution.
HR’s Unique Ability to Influence GTM Success
Often, HR is misconceived as solely handling workforce-related tasks like payroll, compensation, and benefits or supporting managers in navigating performance issues. As such, it is a widely untapped function when it comes to GTM strategies. However, HR can provide pivotal insights into organizational health, identify areas struggling with collaboration, and influence changes that align the organization’s structure and culture with GTM objectives.
HR leaders are one of the few people with a view of the entire organization. By holding up a mirror to the current culture, HR can identify areas for change and align organizational behavior with forward-looking goals.
Furthermore, HR’s influence extends to partnering with functional and business unit leaders to address organizational needs. Whether it’s reshaping the culture or defining talent requirements, HR’s strategic role ensures that all efforts are aligned with the overarching GTM strategy.
Facilitating Critical Skills for GTM Execution
Identifying and developing critical skills for GTM execution is an essential function of HR. With a flood of assessments available, HR can evaluate almost any skill level of development, aptitude, and competency. However, the challenge lies in facilitating conversations to align on what these skills are and focusing on basic—but essential—abilities like asking great questions and actively listening.
Too often, there is a tendency to leap toward complex skills while ignoring the basics. Effective communication requires a major shift toward being curious and open-minded, rather than pushing one’s point of view. It’s about checking your ego at the door and opening your mind to different perspectives. This mindset encourages effective collaboration and responsiveness, critical for GTM success. Creating a culture of feedback is also essential. HR can foster a safe environment where employees feel comfortable discussing what went well and what could be improved, ensuring continuous improvement.
The following are three additional ways HR is essential to successful GTM strategies:
1. HR promotes cross-departmental collaboration.
HR plays a vital role in facilitating cross-departmental collaboration. Connecting teams to a shared purpose, such as customer-centric goals, helps ground their efforts. HR can ensure that the right people are involved in decision-making processes and that teams understand the interdependencies of their actions. By fostering empathy and encouraging employees to take on others’ perspectives, HR can enhance collaboration and inclusivity. When employees are empathetic, they understand the effect their actions might have on other team members, which leads to better decision-making. This holistic approach ensures that all departments work together effectively toward cohesive GTM strategy execution.
For instance, an organization with which I was working was shifting its GTM strategy, with different teams handling different product sets. Leadership realized they were losing market share because they were failing to meet customer needs effectively. HR facilitated a process to assess and develop the necessary skills within their teams, enabling role transitions and retraining the sales staff. Through comprehensive town halls and feedback sessions, they addressed the reasons behind the changes, fostering a stronger, more collaborative organization ready to execute on the new strategy.
2. HR fosters a culture of agility.
Creating a culture of agility involves normalizing risk-taking and quick experimentation. Reducing the fear of failure is key. HR can support creating an environment and promoting a mindset where running multiple experiments and learning from failures is both acceptable and desirable, removing the expectation of perfection so often associated with corporate culture. This kind of risk tolerance helps the organization respond swiftly to market changes and maintain a competitive edge.
Practically, HR can offer tools that encourage innovative thinking in a low-risk environment. Techniques like risk-storming and pre-mortem analyses enable teams to brainstorm potential failures and develop proactive solutions. Companies that excel at sensing the future imagine several possible scenarios and look for emerging signals that indicate potential shifts in the market. By anticipating diverse outcomes, teams can prepare the organization to pivot rapidly as new information arises. In this way, HR can help the company move from a “wait and see” approach to a “test and learn” model, embodying the true essence of agility—fast-cycle learning and dynamic adaptation to future opportunities.
3. HR aligns performance metrics to goals.
During the early days of COVID-19, organizations that thrived did so by simplifying their performance metrics and focusing on key outcomes. This allowed for more nimble responses to market changes. HR can use similar strategies to align performance metrics with GTM goals, reducing the burden of extensive reporting processes. Additionally, combining data from various sources, such as employee feedback, exit interviews, and external reviews, can help HR identify cultural issues and leadership gaps that hinder GTM execution.
An example of effective data-driven support is an organization that used exit interviews and external ratings to uncover a culture of risk aversion among long-tenured leaders. Leadership expected perfection, hindering creativity. This insight led to a targeted leadership development initiative to create a more innovative, autonomous, and risk-tolerant culture. By addressing these cultural barriers, the company promoted agency and psychological safety, which are crucial for sustained success and adaptability in a dynamic market.
HR as a Catalyst for Go-To-Market Success
HR’s strategic involvement in GTM strategies is a powerful yet often underutilized asset. Their unique enterprise-wide perspective allows them to align organizational culture, develop critical skills, and foster a collaborative and agile environment. By leveraging data-driven insights and promoting continuous feedback, HR ensures that the organization remains adaptable and responsive to market changes. Embracing this strategic role, HR can transform from an untapped resource to a pivotal driver of GTM success, ultimately strengthening the entire organization.
Tara Castaneda is a Senior Director within the Leadership and Coaching Center of Expertise for BTS USA, a management consulting and professional services firm. Prior to BTS, Tara was the Director of Talent and Transformation at Sony Electronics. Her career spans all things people-related, including organizational development, sales enablement, talent management, and leadership development. She is passionate about creating and supporting experiences that enable individuals, teams, and organizations to grow.