In this hyper-dynamic and competitive corporate world, the traditional GTM hiring practice is up for a makeover! The previous approach didn’t address the dynamic and hyper-specific factors that govern hiring outcomes, such as verticals, product maturity, and channel strategy. In 2025, for organisations to realise their GTM targets, the hiring strategy needs to be more adaptive, backed by analytics, and should be aligned with the firm’s overall strategy.
- Build the entire funnel; beyond ‘sales’
GTM traverses beyond selling; it’s building and nurturing relationships. Modern-day GTM hinges closely on the smooth interconnectedness of sales, marketing, customer success, and product.
This necessitates the presence of customer success leaders, growth specialists leading the product, channel heads and marketing leaders. An effective funnel requires an integrated approach towards GTM.
A well-aligned GTM team like that leads to 50% more optimised funnels, as per a study. According to HubSpot, pod structures allow organizations to scale while maintaining clear ownership of opportunities and customer relationships, ultimately ensuring fewer leaks in the funnel and more predictable revenue growth.
- Skills & competencies take precedence over qualifications
As per a report by McKinsey, as many as 87% of employees face a talent-skill gap. This is certainly concerning, and hence, we now see hiring practices shifting from a focus on qualifications, degrees and certifications, to one that now emphasises skills and competencies.
Those days are gone when a reputed B-school was your only way of securing a great opportunity with a top-notch firm. Today, if you are a master of your craft and have a relevant network, a lack of conventionally preferred qualifications is no longer an impediment.
A joint study by Harvard Business School & Burning Glass Institute tracked thousands of job applications over a period of time and found out: non-degree hires saw a 25% increase in salaries while companies enjoyed a 10 percentage points higher retention rate.
- RevOps Hiring – be early, be strategic!
Often, we see organisations falling into the trap of relegating RevOps to reporting tasks. However, another study found that companies integrating RevOps from Day 1 of operations reported 36% more revenue growth and 28% better profits. Thus, huge profits are waiting to be realised simply by shifting the focus to RevOps. Case studies by LeanData support this. Indeed, Dell used the same strategy to clean up lead routing, which skyrocketed their sales efficiency to “astronomical” heights.
However, to achieve this, companies must hire RevOps leads with strategic ownership, instead of limiting their position to admin work, further empowering them with required tools and clear objectives, i.e. pipeline, forecasting, funnel leakage etc.
- Hiring strictly becomes data-focused, ROI-driven
Businesses today can’t afford to hire for titles; instead, each hire, be it AE, RevOps lead, or CS owner, should come with a quantifiable ROI. The practice of integrating GTM dashboards to talent pipelines is becoming a more common practice, especially with tech-savvy firms. A McKinsey report reinforces this, with organisations observing better candidate engagement and retention by setting up data-driven talent dashboards, linked to EVP & hiring metrics.
The new directive is straightforward – GTM ROI should be included as hiring benchmarks and not left for later considerations.
- Keep an agile hiring rhythm
The importance of keeping an agile rhythm can’t be overstated. While over-hiring would prove to be rather costly, under-hiring may prove to impede scaling, thus costing more in the long run. Leverage real-time revenue forecasts and deploy analytics to arrive at a stable rhythm for your business.
In Conclusion, for GTM hiring, there’s no One-Size-Fits-All
When it comes to GTM hiring, businesses need to stop playing by a playbook, because in these dynamic times, there is no one-size-fits-all approach! Yes, go for skills and competencies over CV, yes, establish cross-functional pods, and measure and track the progress. However, bear in mind that it’s your business that defines the GTM motion, and thus, the hiring strategy.
Important considerations on where the business operates, versus where the customer truly is, and accordingly, the geo-location of your GTM team impacts the outcomes significantly.
In conclusion, the markets have shifted, and so should your GTM teams. To grow significantly, build teams on strategy, data, and human alignment. The smart and savvy organisations will continue to maintain their edge as they know where to find the right talent and who can make it happen! These organisations will be able to maintain their edge by cracking the code to finding the perfect fit by consistently tapping into diverse avenues backed by a well-planned search strategy.
Read Also : When HR “Produces Nothing”: A Response to Jennifer Sey’s Anti-HR Vision
The Fine Balance: Navigating Work, Life, and Mental Wellbeing
Mind the Leadership Gap – From Learning to Real-World Impact
How the Adecco Group is empowering its employees for the future of work
