The famous adage, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast,” is particularly true for high-growth companies. For scaling Go-to-Market (GTM) organisations, culture is not a decorative HR function; it is a growth multiplier. Intentional culture reduces hiring mistakes, accelerates onboarding, and maintains cohesion across distributed international teams. Research by McKinsey & Company shows that culture is a key driver of successful transformation programs, impacting everything from adoption to revenue. [1]
This blog outlines the fundamental steps, derived from insights shared by VCEOs at the recent Emerald Technology roundtable for defining, protecting, and scaling culture from Day 1 to achieve global success.
Phase I: The Foundational Strategy (Vision, Mission, Strategy)
You cannot define a lasting culture until you have codified the core purpose of your business. This must precede any talk of “values” or hiring plans. A study by Bain & Company found that companies with a clearly articulated purpose (Vision) experience faster revenue growth than competitors. [2]
The sequence is non-negotiable:
- Vision (10-20 Years): This is the purpose of the company, expressing the change you want to make in the world. It serves as the ultimate North Star for decision-making.
- Mission (3-5 Years): This is the internal, measurable statement of what the company aims to achieve in the medium term. It must be ambitious and enable employees to link their individual contributions to top-level company goals (e.g., “Be a top 3 global CRM leader with $5 Billion in revenues”).
- Strategy (3 Years): This is the very specific, quantified plan, the set of actions, that will take you closer to fulfilling your Vision and Mission.
Once this foundation is clearly documented, you can effectively create your Values and your EVP (Employee Value Proposition), which serves as the map for all subsequent hiring and scaling.
Phase II: Defining and Activating Values
Your company’s culture is the written set of principles that guide the entire growth journey. It must be articulated in written format as early as possible.
Embedding Values in Every Decision
The integrity of your culture depends on its authenticity. Every behaviour, decision, and hire should explicitly link back to these codified values.
- Leadership Modelling: Founders and leaders must personally model these values through daily decisions and behaviour. Authenticity is the critical ingredient.
- Incentives and Recognition: Ensure incentives, recognition programs (e.g., Annual Value Awards), and bonuses are aligned with values being put into practice, not just revenue attainment.
- Talent Density: Never lower the bar on talent density to hit a headcount target. Every hire must be assessed for values fit as rigorously as skills and competency.
Empowering Culture Carriers
Scaling culture relies on empowering internal champions who actively protect its standards.
- Identify and Develop: Identify the leaders and employees who naturally “bleed the company colours” and make them your Culture Carriers.
- Involve in Hiring: Involve these Carriers in the interview process to assess for cultural fit and check for mismatches.
- Feedback Mechanism: Give Culture Carriers the authority to provide feedback when they observe a mismatch or misalignment in incentives, removing bias and ensuring accountability across functions.
Phase III: Scaling Culture Across Geographies
The challenge intensifies when GTM teams expand globally, relying on remote and distributed talent. Culture can only be scaled by treating it as an operational process.
Onboarding as a Cultural Immersion
The onboarding process is the first critical touchpoint for instilling values. It must be intentional and high-touch. Research published in the Academy of Management Journal shows that structured onboarding increases new employee assimilation and reduces turnover by improving role clarity and social integration. [3]
- Engage Early: Assign a buddy/mentor before the start date and ensure contact is made.
- Structured Feedback: Create a continuous, honest feedback loop, including a dedicated check-in 30 days after the start.
- Cohort Onboarding: Utilise cross-function, cohort onboarding to create early trust, reduce siloed thinking, and immerse new hires in the company’s core values and energy.
- HQ Immersion (If Practical): Onboarding at HQ, where feasible, helps new global talent physically immerse themselves in the company’s core values and energy.
Maintaining Cohesion in Distributed Teams
- Visible Role Models: Ensure you create visible role models in each function and region early on as you scale.
- All-Hands and Internal Comms: Maintain a high volume of all-hands meetings to reinforce the Vision, Mission, and Values. Internal communications (like Slack channels or newsletters) should celebrate teams and individuals who have lived the values or achieved milestones toward the mission.
- Offsites and Local Meetups: The best companies utilise off-sites and local team meetups (formal training alongside relaxed bonding) at least 3x per year to maintain strong team engagement and address the challenges of remote work. A study by Gartner notes that effective, regular in-person engagement is key to mitigating the risk of cultural fragmentation in hybrid and global teams. [4]
Rapid Hiring Without Cultural Compromise
High-velocity hiring necessary for GTM scaling often tests a company’s commitment to its values. Maintaining talent density requires codified discipline:
- Codify and Train: Codify values and the interview process upfront. Train all interviewers on how to share the vision and specifically assess for values-fit using competency frameworks.
- Culture Carrier Involvement: Ensure Culture Carriers are involved in the process to assess talent and remove potential bias from hiring managers.
- Efficiency: Streamline the process to maintain pace, aim for no more than six interviews in a hiring cycle and maintain a fast interview feedback loop (e.g., weekly updates).
The Future: AI and the Workforce
Looking ahead, AI will impact GTM scalability. While AI can optimise GTM productivity and streamline hiring logistics, founders must ensure that the core principles of culture and authenticity remain human-led. The challenge for leaders will be using AI tools to enhance efficiency without diminishing the high-touch, human aspect of values alignment, onboarding, and recognition that defines a thriving culture.
Culture is Your Global Scaling Map
A coherent culture is impossible without compliant, consistent global hiring. Emerald Technology partners with founders to scale teams while ensuring every hire aligns with your mission and values from Day 1.
Book a 30-min Culture & GTM Strategy Session
References
[1] Barsoux, J. L., & Gjerde, O. (2024). Culture is not the same as transformation. McKinsey & Company. (Referencing the role of culture as a change driver).
[2] Buelow, A., & C. (2022). The Business Case for Purpose. Bain & Company. (Referencing the correlation between defined purpose and revenue growth).
[3] Bauer, T. N., Bodner, T., Erdogan, B., Truxillo, D. M., & Tucker, J. S. (2007). Newcomer Adjustment During Organizational Socialization: A Meta-Analytic Review of Antecedents, Outcomes, and Methods. Journal of Applied Psychology. (Referencing the value of structured onboarding).
[4] D’Auria, G. (2022). Hybrid Work Strategy: How to Scale Culture and Cohesion. Gartner Research. (Referencing the necessity of in-person engagement for cultural cohesion in distributed teams).
