Although my own job title generally began with “Marketing,” in every position or consulting engagement I held from 1985 on, I had at least some input into, if not full responsibility for, recruiting, hiring, and training. Personally I feel this makes eminently good sense. If you consider yourself a market-driven company, then your entire workforce — not just the C-level guys — has to buy into the vision / brand and cooperate in driving the marketing, fulfillment, and customer service that are your differentiators when it comes to winning or losing.

One particular thought I would leave with you is to take special care in hiring your customer-facing people. Not just the CSRs themselves, but the receptionists, the sales support people, the tech support people, the A/P and A/R people (why? because one bad experience with your finance department can kill all the goodwill all the other people in your organization have generated).