Jeannie Virden
Enterprise CHRO
Central Health
Episode 354
Beyond Skills: Cultivating a Culture of Trust with Visible, Empathetic HR
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleJanuary 10, 2025 · 11:43
Thesis
“Fostering an authentic and empathetic workplace through visible, transparent HR, strategic technological investments, and continuous professional growth is essential for building trust, driving engagement, and attracting mission-aligned talent, especially in dynamic, purpose-driven environments like healthcare.”
Show notes
Jeannie Virden started her career as a high school business teacher. It's a background that, she'll tell you, fundamentally shapes how she approaches HR in healthcare: she's not looking for the most credentialed candidate — she's looking for the one with empathy, adaptability, and a genuine orientation toward compassionate care. In a healthcare environment where every hire has downstream impact on patients, that distinction between cultural alignment and credential matching is not a philosophical preference. It's a clinical imperative.
Jeannie has spent 15-plus years breaking down the stigma that HR is adversarial, invisible, or irrelevant. Her approach is deliberately physical: show up, ask questions, sit next to people, and demonstrate that HR is a resource rather than a last resort. The willingness to say "I don't know — let me find out and get back to you" and then actually follow through has, she argues, done more for her credibility with team members and leaders than any process she's ever implemented.
On continuous development, her stance is generous and intentional: support growth even when it extends beyond a person's current role. Employees who feel invested in — not just tasked with — tend to be the ones who invest back. That reciprocity is the engine of the culture she's building at Central Health.
- Hiring for empathy and mission alignment over credentials — why cultural fit in healthcare is a patient care issue, not just an HR preference
- Making HR visible and approachable — the active presence strategy that dismantles the stigma of a closed-door HR function
- "I don't know — let me find out" — why intellectual honesty paired with follow-through builds more trust than having all the answers
- Recognizing resilience, not just results — how acknowledging effort in the face of failure builds a culture of persistence
- Investing in growth beyond the current role — the development philosophy that generates loyalty through generosity
What you'll take away
- 1Prioritize empathy, adaptability, and cultural alignment over purely skill-based hiring, as skills can be developed, but core values drive long-term fit and compassionate care.
- 2Build a supportive employee environment by actively soliciting and responding to feedback, recognizing both successes and resilient efforts, and providing comprehensive wellness support.
- 3Demystify HR by being visible, proactively engaging with team members, offering transparent communication, and demonstrating vulnerability by admitting 'I don't know' while committing to follow-through.
- 4Invest in HR technology, such as a new HRIS, to streamline operations, enhance data analytics, and visibly demonstrate commitment to making employees' work lives easier and more efficient.
- 5Champion continuous professional growth tailored to individual interests, even if it extends beyond immediate job scope, recognizing that such development benefits both the employee and the broader team.
What most organizations get wrong
- •It's okay for HR professionals to say, 'I don't know, let me get back to you,' rather than feeling pressured to have all the answers immediately; following through builds more trust than feigned omniscience.
In Jeannie's words
“Being in healthcare, I wanna make sure that the team members that we're hiring, whether they are gonna be patient-facing or even and support operations like HR, that they have empathy, right? That they see the importance of delivering compassionate care.”
This highlights the paramount importance of soft skills and mission alignment in healthcare hiring.
“I think it's so important to recognize everyone, not only for their successes and the wins, but when they try and they don't necessarily succeed, but then they continue and they have the resiliency to try again.”
This quote emphasizes a nuanced approach to recognition that fosters psychological safety and continuous improvement.
“No, we're there. We're showing support. We're asking questions. We're helping them navigate through the challenges that they have, whether it's getting them connected with someone in benefits or getting them connected with someone in talent acquisition...”
This illustrates a proactive, supportive approach to breaking HR stigma by being a resource rather than a punitive entity.
“I don't know, let me get back to you, and then follow through on that. And I think when you can show that you don't know everything, But you're going to make sure that you follow up and then you follow through on that. That's going to make connections with those team members and leaders.”
This provides actionable advice for building trust through transparency and accountability, countering the expectation of instant answers.
“I am very, very, I'm a very strong proponent of continuous and professional growth, right? So learning and development. And one of the things that I stress to my leaders... is we want to help our team grow the best way possible.”
This highlights a commitment to fostering individual professional development that goes beyond rigid job descriptions.
“So I think, you know, from my perspective, the way that you can support anyone, whether you are a leader, whether you are a, just an individual contributor and you're working with your peers, is to really be authentic and be yourself and really ensure that we are looking at everyone with empathy.”
This summarizes the guest's core philosophy on interpersonal interactions and workplace culture.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Difficulty in attracting talent that is empathetic and mission-aligned, especially in specialized and challenging sectors like healthcare for underserved populations.
- •The traditional negative perception or 'stigma' associated with HR, where employees view HR interventions with fear or suspicion (e.g., 'HR's here, what's going to happen?').
- •Inefficient or outdated HR systems that hinder data analytics, transparency, and the overall employee experience (addressed by new HRIS/payroll system implementation).
- •Ensuring employees feel connected and valued in a supportive environment, which requires active feedback channels, recognition, and inclusive leadership.
- •Providing continuous learning and development opportunities that truly resonate with individual employee aspirations and contribute to organizational goals.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
And as a starting question, I always love to ask about your career journey
How to Start Your Career with a Smile
You talk about what makes your industry or organization appealing to potential employees
Top Five Qualifications Employers Look for in Talent Acquisition
What specific steps do you take to create a supportive environment where employees feel valued
What specific steps do you take to create a supportive environment for your
Jeanie says HR-related investments have proven most effective in building trust
What HR-related Investments Have Strengthened Collaboration?
Jeanie, any parting advice you'd like to share with our community
Jeanie Hewitt's Last Words
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Organizations and entities mentioned
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