Want to grow your business? Put a people strategy in place first

In an early role as a marketing manager, Jordan Vroblesky's boss at the time made sure she understood that business success wasn't based solely on profit and loss — it was also about  how a company valued its people. 

"He helped me understand the bigger picture and the direct connection of a people strategy to the success of the business," she says. "My love for designing and building teams just grew from there."

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Vroblesky since went on to carve out a successful career as an HR leader, working for multiple startups in the tech and food industry, venture capital firms and Amazon. In 2023, she joined Cityblock Health, a healthcare provider that focuses on assisting people on Medicaid and those who are dually eligible, where she serves as chief people officer. Each experience was critical in shaping her leadership style and commitment to the employee experience, Vroblesky says. 

"I'm very business forward, but I love fostering talent and coaching others to grow and to develop," she says. "Core people strategy is about engaging your people. It's about maximizing performance. It's about focusing on organizational efficiency and the ability to grow and scale."  

Vroblesky recently sat down with EBN to talk about what it takes to put together a successful people strategy at a company of any size, how a supportive culture increases productivity, and how being good to employees trickles over into their customer care. 

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How have you adapted your people strategy to the various industries you've served?  
Core people strategy is fundamentally critical to business success, regardless of industry. What is unique are the profiles of your employees; the way you approach attracting and retaining top talent, the way you keep them engaged, and what benefits there are. Also, the culture is unique everywhere. At Amazon, the culture was different on different teams, although they still anchored to the same core leadership principles, and the holistic Amazon culture. 

[I went] from a few startups or mid-size growth companies, [where] I was scaling for 100 or 300 employees, then to Amazon, where I was scaling for 480,000 employees and now at Cityblock, where it's 1,200. As you think about what you're building, how you're driving efficiencies and the way you look at retaining talent, the scalability is different, but the fundamentals still remain the same.

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When employees are engaged and given the tools to improve a company's impact, how does this drive business success?
At Cityblock, we are focused on cultivating an environment where innovation and creativity are celebrated. There is tremendous opportunity to leverage advanced technologies, including AI and automation, to best equip our teams and help drive a growth-oriented mindset. This innovation mindset reimagines challenges as opportunities, enabling teams to take ownership, drive meaningful impact, and deliver exceptional value for our members and providers. Keeping innovation as a priority focus encourages cross-collaboration and also seeks continuous improvement, creating a rich ecosystem for idea generation. 

How does a positive employee experience extend to a good experience for Cityblock's members?
This approach creates a positive, dynamic culture where we continue to evolve and shift how we work together, driving meaningful growth and retention. 

How we treat our employees continues to raise the bar on how we should think about supporting the people we take care of every day. If our [employees] are healthy and thriving, Cityblock is healthy and stronger as well, and that means we provide better service and support to our members.