MOHELA’s Culture of Care: Top Workplace Insights

Announcer: Welcome to the Recruiting Community Podcast, the go-to channel for talent acquisition leaders and practitioners. This show is brought to you by CXR, a trusted community of thousands connecting the best minds in the industry to explore topics like attracting, engaging, and retaining top talent. Hosted by Chris Hoyt and Jerry Crispin.

We are thrilled to have you join the conversation.

Chris Hoyt: All right, everybody. Welcome back to the Recruiting Community Podcast. We’re super excited that you’ve dialed in. We’ve got some interesting stuff going on this week—we’re out in Las Vegas at the USA Today Top Workplaces for 2025 Awards Conference.

Typically on the Recruiting Community Podcast, we bring insights from talent leaders from all over the world in the form of a conversation. But today, we’re talking with leaders who have participated and ranked in the top—believe it or not, the top 10—based on survey results that went out to their employees.

This isn’t just a popularity contest. These rankings are based on real feedback from the people who work there.

I’m excited to introduce Christine Ellinger, HR Director at MOHELA.

Christine Ellinger: That’s right! And it’s Christine, not Carrie. But you can just say “Hey, you”—that works too.

Chris Hoyt: “Hey, you” works. Why don’t you share a little bit about yourself and what you do?

Christine Ellinger: I’m the HR Director for MOHELA. I’m responsible for everything HR—payroll, benefits, leave administration, employee relations, recruiting—all of it. Although now it’s called talent acquisition.

I’ve been in human resources for, I’m going to date myself, almost 30 years. I have a master’s degree in counseling psychology and an undergrad in psychology. My parents were psychologists, so the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

One of the biggest things I’ve learned from studying psychology, especially marriage and family counseling, is that communication is everything. The number one reason for divorce is lack of communication. They’ve even done studies that can predict divorces based on how couples communicate. That same principle is so relevant in the workplace.

In work relationships, you have added dynamics—authority, stress, the fact that people didn’t choose each other like in a marriage. And when those dynamics clash, they end up in my office.

Everything a manager says to a direct report is a value proposition. Leaders tend to understand that; managers often do not. I’ve even thought about writing a book—I’ve got notes all over the office. Maybe that’ll be my retirement project.

In HR, you see people at their best and their worst. It’s a privilege and a big responsibility. You really get to touch people’s lives in a way most roles don’t. We especially saw that through COVID.

Chris Hoyt: Most certainly. For those who don’t know, can you give us an overview of what MOHELA does and how big the organization is?

Christine Ellinger: MOHELA is a student loan servicer. When I started in 2022, we had around 300 to 400 employees. We’ve now grown to about 1,200.

There used to be 20 loan servicers—now there are only a handful. It’s a tough industry with lots of regulation, changing dynamics, and about 8 million borrowers and $1.6 trillion in student loan debt.

As other servicers exited the business, we hired their employees. Just this past July, we hired 900 people after Navient went through divestiture. That meant onboarding them, setting up payroll, benefits, transferring data—an enormous effort during a very dynamic time.

Chris Hoyt: That’s a lot to manage. Definitely a busy and interesting time.

Christine Ellinger: Absolutely. I always say, “Bob and weave.” It’s not boring, that’s for sure.

Chris Hoyt: You’ve clearly got growth and a strong focus on people. Why participate in Top Workplaces?

Christine Ellinger: Because we want to be an employer people love working for. MOHELA is a nonprofit—an instrumentality of the state of Missouri. We don’t keep profits; we move that money into a foundation that funds scholarships and grants for higher education in Missouri.

We have a lot of retired teachers and people who are deeply committed to giving back and supporting education. And we’re not a collection agency—we care for our borrowers. Our CEO always says, “Take care of our borrowers and take care of each other.”

Chris Hoyt: So this is a tool in your toolbox to support that mission?

Christine Ellinger: It is. When we did our first engagement survey through Energage, we didn’t expect to win anything. We had so much going on. But we ended up being recognized for St. Louis and then for the USA. And again this year—St. Louis and the USA.

We’re grateful our employees took the time to respond and that they’re engaged. We study their feedback closely, even adding our own questions to pinpoint areas for improvement.

Chris Hoyt: So this isn’t about shopping for a badge to put on the website. This is about truly investing in listening and understanding your people.

Christine Ellinger: Exactly. From the feedback, two themes stood out—work-life balance and leadership development training.

We started a monthly leadership development curriculum this year. Webinars for our managers on topics like performance management, having difficult conversations, leading with empathy.

To address work-life balance, we brought in our Employee Assistance Program to lead a resiliency webinar. It focused on navigating challenging times and maintaining perspective—skills we all need.

We also removed the cap on EAP visits. Instead of six visits, it’s based on outcomes. Free, confidential, and accessible support for our people.

Chris Hoyt: I imagine that was a hit.

Christine Ellinger: It really was. Life isn’t easy, and neither is work—especially now. But we want to give people tools and show that mental health matters to us.

Chris Hoyt: It sounds like your culture is rooted in empathy. And this survey has become a tool to reinforce that.

Christine Ellinger: Exactly. This year, when we won again, we didn’t even have a big celebration. We just wanted to stay close to our people, stay grounded.

Chris Hoyt: It’s not about the celebration anymore—it’s about the discovery and delivery. I love that.

Christine Ellinger: With DEI conversations shifting, and 2,000 employees across 35 states, we have to navigate a wide range of perspectives. But our core values remain kindness, respect, and empathy.

One of our trainings is on empathy—teaching active listening. It’s about showing people they’re heard and valued.

Chris Hoyt: Final question for you, Christine. If you could take over USA Today for a day and write your own headline about this experience or your organization, what would it be?

Christine Ellinger: Hmm… Nice Guys Finish First.

Chris Hoyt: I love it. Nicely done.

Christine Ellinger: Thank you.

Chris Hoyt: Congratulations again. Really exciting.

Christine Ellinger: Thank you. This has been great. A lot of fun.

Chris Hoyt: If you want to see past episodes or check out upcoming ones, visit cxr.works/podcast. And for more leadership interviews from the event in Las Vegas, go to cxr.works/usatoday. Thanks for dialing in.

Announcer: Thanks for listening to the Recruiting Community Podcast, where talent acquisition leaders connect, learn, and grow together. Be sure to visit cxr.works/podcast to explore past episodes, see what’s coming up next, and find out how you can join the conversation.

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