Why Commercial HR Is the Key to Driving Real Revenue
The Problem with Administrative HR
Most organizations still treat Human Resources as an administrative cost center. This model, which Chief People Officer Mark Putrus calls "1980s HR," positions the people team as policy enforcers and compliance managers. They exist to mitigate risk, manage benefits, and mediate disputes. When HR operates entirely separate from the revenue-driving functions of the business, a massive disconnect emerges between how the company develops its people and how it actually makes money.
Putrus spent his early career in pharmaceutical and medical device sales before pivoting to HR. His transition happened precisely because he approached learning and development from a commercial perspective. He understood the sales organization, so his training initiatives were tied directly to operational outcomes. When people operations professionals lack a commercial vocabulary, their initiatives feel detached from the daily realities of the workforce.
Treating People Operations as a Revenue Function
When you shift the perspective and treat HR like marketing or sales, the function changes entirely. Marketing attracts customers and sales converts them, but people operations ensures the organization has the capability to deliver on those promises. A commercial mindset in HR means evaluating talent gaps, leadership development, and retention through the exact same lens you use for business performance.
Instead of measuring success by the completion rates of mandatory training modules, a commercially aligned HR team looks at how leadership behavior impacts output. They evaluate whether managers are clearing bottlenecks or creating them. When HR aligns with operational goals, they stop building abstract competency models and start building the exact skills the commercial organization needs to hit its targets. Organizations that get this right understand that organizational design matters more than leadership style.
The Build, Buy, or Borrow Framework
A commercial approach to HR requires a practical strategy for closing talent gaps. Putrus relies on a build, buy, or borrow framework. Organizations must constantly evaluate whether it makes the most financial and operational sense to develop skills internally, hire new talent from the market, or bring in temporary contractors to bridge a gap.
This is an operational decision. If a defense manufacturing firm needs a highly specialized engineering capability for a new contract, the HR team must understand the project timeline, the margin, and the long-term strategic value of that skill. Buying the talent might be too slow. Building it might take years. Borrowing it through strategic partnerships might be the only viable path to executing the contract on time. Making that call requires HR leaders who understand the business model exactly as well as the executive team does.
The Case for the CPO as CEO
The complexity of modern business requires chief executives who deeply understand both operational mechanics and human behavior. As organizations realize that their most complex challenges are almost always people problems, the Chief People Officer becomes a highly logical candidate for the CEO seat.
A leader who masters the commercial side of the business while simultaneously navigating the emotional systems of the workforce brings a rare skill set to the top job. They know how to align human capability with revenue targets. They recognize that creating a workplace where employees can show up without the exhausting armor of a professional mask directly improves efficiency and reduces turnover. When HR runs as a core business driver, the people who lead it are equipped to lead the entire company.
Kestryl Edge works with leaders and teams to put ideas like this into practice. Learn how we work with organizations.
Dan Korus, Kestryl Edge founder, publishes The Updraft, a newsletter and podcast on leadership, emotional intelligence, and organizational performance. For the full conversation and more like it, join at dankorus.com/p/join.