Joshua Varone was recently named senior vice president of human resources for Centreville Bank. He has more than 20 years of experience in human resources, most recently with Rhode Island Medical Imaging Inc., as well as AAA Northeast. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and a master’s degree from Providence College.
PBN: You have a lot of experience in HR in various industries. How does overseeing HR at a bank differ, if at all, from other types of companies?
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VARONE: I do not feel that HR differs at a bank versus other types of companies. The focus of the evolving HR function is people and program centric, and good HR practices can apply to all industries.
In my past, I have partnered with financial services, retail, operations and other customer-focused industries, all of which have similar opportunities for their people and programs to those at a bank.
What I have noticed so far at a community bank is that the focus is on fostering a positive environment and excellent service for employees and the customers. This focus is not specific to banking or any other industry and is aligned to the culture at other companies at which I have worked.
PBN: With more of the workforce now remote or on a hybrid schedule, how does that affect your job? Does it make it more difficult, and if so, how?
VARONE: It certainly has impacted the job of HR. It has added a component to any meeting or event where you must determine where employees are working and ensure they have the means to be engaged locally and virtually. Engaging employees who are working virtually has been a big focus, but it isn’t more difficult than other considerations that HR professionals make. For example, any company that has multiple locations and remote offices has been working for years on how to keep employees engaged who are not all sitting in the same location.
From an HR perspective, there is a focus on more regular consideration to all that we do and how to apply it to all locations and remote employees. To help maintain positive engagement in a remote/hybrid workforce, HR needs to be more visible, both locally and virtually. This can be accomplished by building a regular site visit schedule, which includes time virtually where “office hours” are posted and remote employees can drop in virtually for a quick discussion. I see this as the evolution of HR, and as HR professionals, we will keep adapting to the workforce norms to ensure employees all feel connected and maintain elevated levels of engagement.
PBN: Employee retention is arguably more important – and difficult – than ever in this labor market. What specific policies or programs do you think are the best way to keep workers generally, and at Centreville specifically?
VARONE: Being a flexible and adaptable employer is one of the best ways to keep workers. It is necessary to offer hybrid work schedules that are reviewed based on the needs of the job to ensure business needs are met and the employee has the flexibility they want.
Additionally, it is important to survey your employees to get a good sense of what they want from their employer, as well as benchmark competitors. Companies must continuously challenge the norms that have existed in their policies, practices and benefits. By regularly rolling out new initiatives and programs that are aligned with what employees we want, retention will increase.
At Centreville Bank we have enhanced many of our practices and programs to increase our retention:
- We have adopted a regular hybrid model for all roles that have the ability to work remotely, so employees have more flexibility in their work-life balance.
- We are piloting a casual dress code, including our branch locations, which is focused on dressing for your day. This allows for a more relaxed atmosphere in our locations and gives employees more options.
- We have increased the amount of volunteer time we provide to employees, so they have more paid time off to help charities and organizations that are important to them and their communities. We now provide 16 hours (two full days) of paid volunteer time per year.
- We are currently looking at new ways to market all our benefits, specifically our generous PTO [paid time off] and retirement programs, both of which are the best in the area.
- Lastly, we are continuously reviewing all our benefits and creating a plan to add more options each year to continue to increase our retention and attraction of talent.
PBN: What do you see as the biggest shifts in HR post pandemic?
VARONE: The biggest shift is that companies have shifted their focus of HR to include areas like technology, staff planning and values-driven programs. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of having capable human resources information systems and communications systems with an increased emphasis on security, ease of use, mobile apps, getting immediate data, and the ability to work anywhere.
Additionally, companies that were not already doing it have had to invest in staff planning and competitive analysis of markets to ensure they can attract and retain talent. The days of just paying the highest salary are over, as employees want more than just top pay. The days of just focusing locally are over as well because people can work from anywhere.
Providing values-based programs are more important now, as employees want to feel a synergy between their personal values and those of the company they work for. Therefore, programs such as volunteerism, charitable giving, diversity, equity and inclusion, remote work options and flexible workweeks are essential.
PBN: What are your top three goals in your new role for the year ahead?
VARONE:
- Fully understand the Centreville Bank culture: To accomplish this, I will spend time visiting our locations, talking with employees, and collaborating with various people and departments on companywide programs.
- Establish a strong talent acquisition focus at the bank to ensure we are a destination employer that people want to work for. To accomplish this, we will hire a new HR business partner role that will work closely with me on creating a new recruitment process; enhance our intern program to refocus on hiring interns with full-time jobs ready for them upon graduation; and create a strong employer brand and market ourselves as a top employer in the communities we serve.
- Retain our top talent. To accomplish this, we will establish a formal training program focused on leadership development, job enrichment and career pathways for talent, and continue to enhance our benefits and communicate all that we provide to our employees.
Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Lavin@PBN.com
