The benefits a human resource professional brings to a business are exceptional. The epitome of this is Catherine Edge, AVP Head of People Center Operations & Talent Acquisitions. Her career has been defined by curiosity, problem-solving, and continuous growth.
Catherine began in HRIS as a technician, drawn to the ways systems could make work more efficient and transparent. That early experience gave her a strong technical foundation in data integrity, workflow design, and enhancing the employee experience.
Building on that expertise, she moved into broader roles in process improvement and talent management, where she learned to connect technology with people-first strategies. Each opportunity expanded her perspective from ensuring payroll accuracy to designing scalable processes and ultimately leading talent acquisition. Today, she weaves those threads together by attracting top talent, streamlining operations, and shaping a culture where people can thrive.
Catherine has been recognized for her extraordinary ability to transform challenges into opportunities and ideas into lasting impact. Her career reflects a unique blend of curiosity, technical expertise, and people-centered leadership, making her a true innovator in the way organizations grow and thrive. She mastered the art of balancing efficiency with empathy, consistently driving progress while keeping people at the heart of every decision. By championing integrity, fostering collaboration, and inspiring those around her, she has become a role model whose journey motivates professionals to pursue excellence with both vision and purpose.
Balanced Leadership
Catherine has come to believe that efficiency and humanity are not mutually exclusive.
She asserts,” HR at its best is both people-centric and process-driven.”
Her background in HRIS reinforced the importance of accuracy and consistency; her work in process improvement revealed how small adjustments can eliminate friction; and her experience in talent management underscored that behind every system is always a person.
These combined perspectives allow her to align HR with operational excellence, ensuring the function not only runs efficiently but also delivers an employee experience that embodies National Life’s values: Do good. Be good. Make good.
Amplifying Humanity
Catherine believes that while technology will remain a powerful enabler, true transformation lies in how it is applied. Automation and AI can reduce repetitive tasks, freeing HR to focus on high-impact, people-centered strategies. With data-driven insights, organizations can personalize employee experiences, anticipate workforce needs, and measure outcomes in real time.
For her, the future of work is not about replacing the human element but amplifying it. Technology should enhance empathy, not diminish it. At National Life, she began by simplifying and streamlining overlapping systems and workflows, then reinvesting strategically where it mattered most.
One of her major initiatives focused on strengthening recruitment. She introduced processes that enabled managers to adopt behavioral interviewing, simplified recruiter workflow, and elevated candidate engagement. These efforts not only improved efficiency but also raised the quality of hiring decisions.
Catherine is also especially proud of the organization’s campus programs. By collaborating with leaders, she helped design initiatives that resonate with college students and position the company to attract the next generation of talent. At a time of generational workforce shifts, guiding the organization to stay relevant, attractive, and future-ready has been one of her most rewarding accomplishments.
Careers Over Numbers
Catherine acknowledges the importance of tracking standard KPIs such as quality of hire, retention, cycle times, and accuracy. These metrics provide essential visibility into efficiency and outcomes. Yet, for her, the true measure of success runs much deeper. It is not just about positions filled; it is about careers built. Success is found in seeing a candidate become a valued colleague, witnessing growth sparked by a coaching conversation, or watching future leaders step confidently into their roles.
She emphasizes,” Success is found in those moments where the data meets the human impact.”
Predicting the Future
Catherine’s experience spans over two decades. Speaking of the coming developments in the HR realm, she highlights the following:
• AI and personalization of employee experiences
• Strategic Workforce Planning
• Data transparency to build employee trust
• Focus on employee well-being as a driver of performance
• Agile HR models that flex with business cycles
She also adds that the upcoming decade will be defined by adaptability.
Pacing with Strategy
Catherine believes that the greatest challenge is not change itself, but that change is not inherently difficult. The real challenge lies in determining how much change the organization can absorb at any given time.
At National Life, as the organization scales for growth, numerous positive and necessary initiatives emerge. Through close collaboration with cross-functional teams, she has observed how easily end users can become overwhelmed if too much is introduced at once, even when the work is valuable and essential.
Her approach emphasizes prioritization and pacing. By identifying initiatives with the highest impact, sequencing changes thoughtfully, and maintaining disciplined timing, she ensures both adoption and long-term sustainability. Success, she notes, comes from striking the right balance between momentum and manageability.
Talent Accelerates Growth
Catherine emphasizes the importance of staying anchored to long-term organizational goals while remaining agile in response to market dynamics. By cultivating close partnerships with business leaders, she helps anticipate workforce needs and leverages labor market insights to guide tactical adjustments. For instance, when talent pools tightened, her team intensified recruitment marketing efforts and strengthened the internship pipeline.
She says,” It’s about flexibility in execution while holding firm to strategic direction.”
She sees her role as a translator between business needs and people solutions, bringing workforce data, market insights, and process options to help executives understand how talent strategy drives business growth.
Executives particularly value her ability to frame HR initiatives in terms of outcomes, revenue growth, retention, productivity, or risk reduction, fostering alignment and building trust.
People-oriented Initiatives
Clarity serves as the foundation: when leaders articulate the business outcomes they aim to achieve, it enables the design of people strategies that effectively support those goals. Effective leadership avoids the false dichotomy between “caring for people” and “driving results.” By investing in culture, employee development, and engagement, organizations naturally drive performance. When operational processes function seamlessly, employees experience support rather than friction. Payroll is accurate, recruitment is efficient, and onboarding is welcoming. Operational excellence fosters consistency, which in turn cultivates trust across the organization.
Catherine explains, Trust is the foundation of a positive employee journey.”
Empowering Leadership Impact
Catherine is known for her collaborative, transparent, and future-focused leadership style. She excels at meeting people where they are, painting a compelling vision, and empowering teams to chart the path forward with confidence and purpose.
“I believe in doing the right thing, even when it’s hard; asking questions to uncover better ways; and always seeking to leave things better than I found them.”
Consistent Soul
Catherine’s professional legacy will be focused on helping to lay the foundation that allowed National Life to scale for growth without losing the organization’s soul. It is a place where it grew double in size and kept the sight of culture intact, which is doing good at all times.
Wisdom Speaks
She advises against limiting oneself to a single career path, encouraging professionals to embrace roles across systems, data, operations, and strategy, each offering a unique perspective. She believes HR requires leaders who can fluently navigate both the language of people and the language of business.
Catherine emphasizes,” Culture is your greatest competitive advantage. Protect it fiercely.”
Future Predictions
Catherine envisions HR not merely as a functional department, but as a strategic driver of organizational growth. She is committed to building systems that scale seamlessly, designing experiences that attract and retain top talent, and empowering leaders to lead with both effectiveness and humanity.
At National Life, this vision translates into a continued dedication to the company’s values: Do Good. Be Good. Make Good. Catherine demonstrates that a company can achieve sustainable growth while maintaining its core values and staying true to its heart.
