2025 C-Suite Awards
LARGE PRIVATE COMPANY: Josh Varone
Centreville Bank | Executive vice president and chief human resources officer
JOSH VARONE HAS BUILT his leadership approach at Centreville Bank on two things: a calming confidence in his team and their abilities, and an approachable nature that is reflective of the bank’s inclusive work culture.
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Varone’s leadership, along with his fellow executives at the West Warwick-based financial institution, helped bring Centreville into new territories of success. For instance, Centreville’s gross revenue has grown from about $63 million in 2022 to almost $75 million in 2024. Varone helps chart the course toward that high level of prosperity through hiring, engaging and retaining employees at the bank.
“What I always try to set out to do is walk the walk, so to speak,” said Varone, Centreville’s executive vice president and chief human resources officer. “I do the things that I ask people to do, or I will do things rather than ask someone else to do it if I feel like it is better to lead by example in a specific situation.”
Under Varone’s leadership in Centreville’s HR department, he has helped grow the bank’s workforce from 220 in 2022 to more than 260 employees in 2025. Varone said that scaling up the bank’s hiring is indicative of his influence as a leader focused on smart growth.
Varone says that while Centreville was hiring more when he started there close to three years ago, the bank was adding more positions due to turnover rates being close to 26% at the time. It was obvious to him that things needed to change.
By engaging with employees and adapting to the workforce’s growing needs, Varone and the bank brought the employee turnover rate down to 6% by the end of last year.
“We’re doing a lot more taking care of people. We’re being more selective and using more tools and how we hire to really have a higher percentage of fit when we make a selection,” Varone said. “It’s not just filling a hole because someone left. It’s looking at, well, why did they leave.”
Centreville Vice President of Communications and Engagement Danielle North said she has seen firsthand Varone’s work in employee retention at the bank pay off.
“Our retention rates have improved dramatically over the last couple of years,” North said. “Centreville is a place where basically everybody wants to work and no one wants to leave.”
Outside the office, Varone is active and engaged in his community. Along with coaching youth sports, Varone also serves on various boards, including the Special Olympics Rhode Island board, the Northeast Human Resources Association and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth College of Business – Varone’s alma mater.
“Those are things that are exciting to me,” Varone said. “You get to provide your professional expertise from an HR lens in a setting that’s a little bit different from the norm, but also very gratifying. I get through by doing things that mean something, working with a purpose and never taking yourself too seriously and having fun with it.”
For North, Varone’s disposition and willingness to volunteer speak to his consistency as a leader. Varone feels enjoyment just being around and helping others, she says.
“Whether it is at Centreville Bank, or at an event visiting employees, he really does care about people,” North said. “It is like he really is doing the job he was meant to do. It’s super exciting when you see that happen, when you know that somebody is just in the right role.”
One quality Varone always admired in leadership figures he has worked with, he said, is the ability to remain calm and trust his team, even in situations of particular strain.
“Their ability to steer the ship through a storm is something I’ve always tried to emulate,” he said. “I like being that calming presence, being the one people can come to when they need a solution, when they need help, or when they just want some guidance. I think being a leader in today’s world is being that person that whoever you’re talking to needs at that time.”
