In this episode of HR Superstars, we talked with Elisa Garn, VP Digital Brand at GBS Benefits, Inc., who shared several personal stories explaining how she became more empathic and learned firsthand the sting of pity and sympathy in a vulnerable and painful situation.

With great humor and candor, she offered unique perspectives around the difference between tactical and strategic HR. She also provided a fascinating framework for the evolution of roles and responsibilities in one’s HR career. She uses the metaphor of a city to refer to your business and the three HR archetypes are: The City Planner, The Traffic Cop, and the Mayor.

You can read more about “The Governance of your HR Career” in Elisa’s Forbes article.

We also talked about:

-How HR can reshape society by improving the employee experience

-Understanding strategic objectives, not getting bogged down in admin

-How Elisa increased her empathy after experiencing discrimination at work

-It’s not your job to engage employees, it’s your job to empower them For the entire interview, subscribe to HR Superstars on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Stitcher. Or, tune in on our website.