How Amanda Hoffman Transforms Healthcare Staffing Through Sustainable Workforce Architecture

Anthony Codispoti (00:00)
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast, where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired by how they’ve overcome adversity. My name is Anthony Cotaspodi and today’s guest is Amanda Hoffman. Amanda is the CEO of Favorite Healthcare and COO of US Healthcare Staffing under the Acasium Group.

Favred Healthcare is a leading agency that connects healthcare professionals with facilities, offering flexible solutions such as per diem, travel assignments, assignments, international and permanent placements. Favred also runs a robust workforce architecture program, which enables healthcare systems to create a sustainable workforce. Their goal is to improve the quality of patient care while supporting community wellbeing.

With years of experience in healthcare management, Amanda is passionate about innovation and excellence, working to ensure both clients and professionals thrive in fast-changing environments. She began her career with Favorite Healthcare Staffing, rising through the ranks from branch director to her current role as CEO. She has overseen the company’s expansion and helped position Favorite Healthcare as a top staffing partner. Now, before we get into all that good stuff,

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and the companies too. One recent client was able to increase net profits by $900 per employee per year. Results vary for each company and some organizations may not be eligible. To find out if your company qualifies, contact us today at addbackbenefits.com. All right, back to our guest today, the CEO of Favorite Healthcare Staffing, Amanda Hoffman. Thanks for making the time to share your story today.

Amanda Hoffman (02:12)
Thank you, Anthony. Thrilled to be here.

Anthony Codispoti (02:15)
So Amanda, you actually began your career in the eye care industry. What first led you there?

Amanda Hoffman (02:22)
I did. you know, it’s a it’s interesting. I had always planned to be in health care. That was that was my goal. And as I was going through school, I spent a lot of time working various jobs. And I kind of landed at the smaller eye care place. And honestly, I thought it would just be a job that I would work through college and didn’t necessarily think it would amount to anything long term. But

as anything when you kind of cross different leaders or individuals that you have a chance to interact with that that position in particular really changed my outlook on health care and and the opportunities that would exist within the health care space. It really expanded my horizons. I had a chance to work with an incredible physician who really wanted to emphasize training and education and supporting his his team to understand the intricacies of the ophthalmology and optometry space.

And so he was just so good at teaching everything from concave to convex lenses and hyperopia, myopia, and what causes those conditions and the development of the eye for a youth who may or may not utilize their glasses the way that they need to. And just things that really helped me want to learn more and engage more with the industry. So that was what ultimately led me into the eye care space. And then it just flourished and developed from there.

Anthony Codispoti (03:42)
So you knew before going into that that you wanted to end up in healthcare in some capacity, but it sounds like maybe this initially was just like a, pay the bills kind of a thing while I’m going to school. ⁓ Maybe you didn’t really see the eye industry as the healthcare that you sort of had in mind, but as you got in there, you had access to different mentors and you learned more about ways that you were ultimately helping people. It’s like, hey, I like this. I’m going to stay in this industry for a while.

Amanda Hoffman (04:11)
Yes, no, exactly. No pun intended on that didn’t really see it as something I would stay in. But it was it was something that really engaged me in a way I didn’t anticipate. And it really comes back to again, kind of those paths that you cross the leaders that you have the people you interact with, which inspire you to continue learning and growing and consider alternatives to what may have been your original thought or path. And

I consider myself a lifetime learner. I love engaging with new things, books, podcasts, different audio books where I can listen and learn and grow. And in that environment in particular, where I had the opportunity to have a physician that I worked with who was so engaging in that way, just helped me thrive and flourish and then continue down that path toward other opportunities within the eye care space.

Anthony Codispoti (05:01)
And so how did the transition from eye care to staffing come about?

Amanda Hoffman (05:06)
That is a great question. So I went on a bit of a journey within the eye care space. And I, like I said, I worked for that individual office and then ended up moving to a larger kind of more well-known practice. I got to experience things like what Lasik surgery was like, or working in an environment where you’re doing in-office procedures. And there I was also met with another physician who was highly engaging in training and development.

Then I ended up making a pivot and deciding that I wanted to take a different path. And I went to back to a smaller, ⁓ smaller office. And that was scary, to say the least, kind of going from what I think most would see as kind of a step up of working at a big practice, a well-known organization, to then kind of stepping into a smaller, smaller company again. But I found that the opposite happened. I had a ⁓

bigger chance to kind of help support training and development of peers at that organization and taking on more of kind of the administrative load for the practice, just leading and guiding in a way that I don’t think I would have had the chance to do otherwise. So that was a big transition for me, but a part of that allowed me to also meet new individuals. So I was working with a lot of the representatives that would come in, the partners that we worked with outside of the business.

and was introduced to a representative who would then become my boss at the next organization. And that was in medical device. So I went from being on the clinic side into medical device and subsequently pharmaceutical sales. And that was kind of the transitional path. That leader in particular, his kind of motto was if he could do anything to help support someone else grow in their career and grow their development, that was what

you know, inspired him to keep doing what he was doing. And so we developed a great friendship and then I ended up again working for him. And we did that for a while. I was in the medical device and pharmaceutical space for a bit. But I just felt like I needed something where I felt I personally felt more engaged, like I was giving back in a different way, and decided to make a change and saw an opportunity to run the local branch here in St. Louis where I’m located for

favorite healthcare staffing and the rest is history. We’re seven years in now.

Anthony Codispoti (07:33)
So that transition from the bigger eye practice to the smaller one, were there things that you were able to take from working in a bigger corporate environment and apply those learnings, those lessons to the smaller practice that you joined?

Amanda Hoffman (07:49)
Absolutely. I think getting to have those differentiated experiences is so helpful. And there was a lot of training and development and leading teams that seeing that happen in a more corporate environment and being able to take that to this organization was really beneficial for me. And I felt similarly ⁓ coming to Favourite for 40 years of the company’s history. was a family run and operated organization.

And I came from a very corporate environment doing medical device and pharmaceutical sales. So I think twice in my ⁓ career path, I’ve been able to kind of take those learnings from somewhere that’s quite different from a culture and environment standpoint and be able to apply them and some of the principles and opportunities to kind of bridge those gaps and those learnings between those two very different environments.

Anthony Codispoti (08:41)
And you hit on something else that I want to explore for just a minute. This idea of moving from the bigger practice to the smaller practice was a little unsettling at first, because it felt like you were taking a step backwards, right? Either you want to, you know, step up in your title, you want to go to bigger and bigger companies or a combination of the two. And here it felt like, you know, you were taking the step backwards. How did you, how did your ego sort of deal with that is until you got to the point where you’re like, no, this is good. Like I’m

learning new things and I’m contributing in a different way.

Amanda Hoffman (09:14)
That’s a good question too. I think there were definitely days where you had that like pit of your stomach feel of going, this right? Was this the right decision? Am I going to be okay? Is there going to be a path for growth? There’s always that angst around second guessing yourself. And it definitely takes time to get rid of that kind of imposter syndrome and go, what can I make of this? There was a reason I made this decision in the first place. There was, you know, that

the fundamental baseline of why I made the decision. But going back to the root of that and making sure to focus on where the opportunities were, why the decision was made, trusting and believing in myself was a huge part of it. And that’s not easy to do. It definitely took some time to settle into it. But I think once I did, it also allowed the physicians I was working for at the time to really fully see my potential and give me that room to

expand and grow and help support the practice in a way that I felt was really impactful, they have shared was really impactful for the practice. And so it was wonderful to be a part of that. And I definitely see it as a huge step in my journey to becoming a better leader, a better employee, and a better colleague overall.

Anthony Codispoti (10:33)
You know, part of what I’m hearing you say here, Amanda, reminds me of another recent guest who was offering very similar advice in that, you know, we’re always worried about what’s the next stop in my career? How do I grow? And he said, put that to the side, focus 100 % on what it is you’re doing right now and do it to the absolute best of your ability. Give that role 100 % of yourself and the next door, the next opportunity will kind of take care of itself.

Would you agree with that?

Amanda Hoffman (11:04)
I couldn’t agree more. I think you have to give everything your all, or you’re holding some portion of your opportunity back. And you may not realize it, but people see and feel that, right? So if you’re part in and part out, people will recognize that and just kind of your output and the way in which you interact with whatever environment you’re in, whether it’s work or personal. And so yes, being all in and giving it everything.

will open doors. That initiative piece is so key.

Anthony Codispoti (11:34)
Okay, so now explain to us plain English, what does ⁓ favorite healthcare staffing do?

Amanda Hoffman (11:43)
Yes, absolutely. So FAVORIT provides what’s called contingent labor or additional ⁓ healthcare personnel support where there’s gaps in the healthcare market. So it might be that a hospital system is expanding to a new wing and they need support for a time period as they bring on new employees to help support that part of their organization. It might be that people are out on

on leave for whatever reason and they need support to come in or maybe they just need weekend coverage. So, FAVORIT provides contingent labor. We also provide permanent resourcing support. So, we can act as a talent acquisition or an HR team for a healthcare system or entity, clinic, et cetera, and provide those resources on a permanent basis. We have been a part of a larger global group.

for the last several years. And that global group also provides international sourcing. So we provide international resources into the US. And then we have a local tenants business which provides physician staffing. So we’re very, very ingrained in healthcare staffing overall. We started as a per diem business, meaning kind of short term resourcing that might just be on weekend coverage or a Monday, Wednesday, Friday sort of coverage.

But then we expanded into contract labor, which is normally longer stents or longer resource support, and then started supporting ⁓ the permanent placement side. So it has definitely been an evolution over the years of the organization. And so our goal now and what we really focus on is sustainable workforce solutions. So not providing that kind of cookie cutter approach that some take where it’s

just contract labor or just permanent placement, but looking at the organization as a whole and saying, how do we support in a way that’s both sustainable and ⁓ provides that coverage that’s needed for the healthcare organization? Oftentimes healthcare organizations tend to slip into, I’ll just get per diem or I’ll just get contract labor. And that’s fine, but it may not solve the underlying.

problem. And so our goal is to come in and say, well, what’s the underlying challenge and how do we meet you where you need to go and what your goals are as an organization.

Anthony Codispoti (14:01)
So as you’ve expanded into these additional services, were those coming about because your clients were specifically asking for that, or this was more internal sort of thinking bigger picture? What else could we offer to be able to support folks? Was it coming from inside, or was that coming from the customers outside telling you what they want?

Amanda Hoffman (14:22)
It’s really been a mixture of both. I would say the market itself in healthcare staffing has certainly transitioned over those 40 years. Healthcare staffing as a whole, as a market started very per diem focused. So most organizations did per diem, then pivoted into contract labor. Our recent change and transition, I would say into making sure we’re being more holistic in our approach.

was very much driven by this understanding of, okay, we have these different ways to support, but how do you bridge those together? Because we were hearing this resounding concern from our partners on, well, rising costs or our workforce isn’t sustainable, or we’re still not meeting the needs completely in terms of, you know, we like having contract, maybe they’ve leaned into the contract side, but haven’t engaged in the per diem side. And they were trying to kind of sort through

How do they as an organization operationalize that? Because it’s very different. When you bring in someone on a per diem basis, you have to be prepared for quick orientation process and getting them onto the floor to help support patient care quickly. That’s very different than someone you know you’re going to have for the next three months, where you could take your time a little bit more and you’re ingraining them more into the culture and maybe you’re looking to even convert them permanently. And a lot of organizations are very good at kind of one or the other.

and they were trying to figure out themselves, how do we bridge that gap? Because we want to be able to provide whatever that, or we want to be able to engage whatever the other resources that we’re not using. And so we’ve, we have found that kind of stepping into that space to say, we can help you learn how to do that. We can engage best practices of what we’ve seen across, across the market, across partners that we work with and being more consultative in our approach is helping to meet that need.

We also have seen, especially post pandemic, that focusing on getting resources in permanently is so key. If you want to reach a better sustainable workforce, you need to get permanent candidates in. so making sure we’re providing for the short-term need, but focused on the long-term goal, which is that sustainable workforce, which ultimately has such an effect on patient care.

Anthony Codispoti (16:41)
Yeah, I’ve had the opportunity to talk with a number of other folks that are in the healthcare staffing space. And no surprise during COVID demand just went through the roof, rates went through the roof. ⁓ And then there was an adjustment period coming out of that. And a lot of folks, you know, still trying to find their footing there. And so what you’re saying makes a lot of sense that, hey, you know, folks went from paying whatever they

could to get folks in to take care of patients during the epidemic. ⁓ But now we’ve got to tighten the purse strings, We’ve got to rein in costs. so being able to lean on some of the newer services that you’re offering in those long-term direct placements seems like a natural progression.

Amanda Hoffman (17:31)
Absolutely. And I think it’s so key to help educate partners on how to do that and how important it is. Because oftentimes it’s just what’s the easiest route to not having support versus looking at and going, okay, well, actually, if I engage in permanent resourcing, that will help me long term. If you don’t fill that gap, you end up kind of resorting back into that.

place of, just hurry up and throw a contract employee in there or I’ll bridge the gap with per diem. But you still want to get to no different than a, you know, I often refer to it as like just like a medical condition. If you go in and you have a headache, you’re not going to just be given Tylenol or ibuprofen. We have to figure out what the underlying challenge is. And if you have high blood pressure and that’s what’s causing your headache, you need to solve the high blood pressure issue. And it’s similar to this in the workforce solution space, which is

It’s not just about the band-aid fix. It’s about how do you solve that problem long-term and create an environment where you reduce burnout and you help provide better quality care for patients overall by solving the workforce challenges. And it’s not cookie cutter. That’s the hardest part is it’s not just about permanent placement because we have a nursing shortage here in the US. It’s also about looking at additional resources like international support. ⁓

Or how can you flex the resources that you have? Sometimes we find that we’re using analytics to help give insight to our clients that actually while you can provide over time and that might be encouraging for your team members at the time, you’ll increase burnout. sometimes you’re better both from a employee engagement perspective and quality health care outcomes to add another additional staff member.

versus continue down this path of consistent overtime. And that just has a high cost to it as well.

Anthony Codispoti (19:31)
What geographies are you able to service, Amanda? I’m specifically here in the US.

Amanda Hoffman (19:36)
So we service all states across the US. We have had for the last, again, 45 years, branch offices or individuals who are located in the communities that we serve where we have the highest volume of partnerships. We feel it’s really, really important to have people in the communities that we partner with for a variety of reasons. One, just from a candidate and partner engagement standpoint, you need to know who you’re supporting.

You need to understand the market. need to be able to connect with the candidates that are there and help them understand where they’re going when they go on site at a healthcare facility. But we also really feel like it’s important to give back to the communities that we serve. So a lot of our team will go out and do philanthropic events with the healthcare partners that we support. They might just recently had team members who were volunteering with a hospital to grow a community garden and

So those things for us are really pivotal to kind of our underlying core values and our culture as an organization. And it’s wonderful to be a part of.

Anthony Codispoti (20:42)
⁓ Tell us what our managed service providers and why this has been so important for the way that you guys approach growth.

Amanda Hoffman (20:54)
Yeah, so MSPs or managed service providers are very ingrained in healthcare staffing today. And similar to a GPO, which is a group purchasing organization for for hospital systems, an MSP provides an easy way to manage contingent labor or contract labor like we provide. An MSP program basically says we’ll fill 100 % of the needs that you have.

but we’ll do that by supporting not just with our own healthcare staffing arm, but also affiliate vendors. So we have partners local and across the US who then pour in their own resources as well and help fill those gaps. So it’s a collaborative partnership between us and other vendors in the market who help support. And it’s a really great program for hospital systems, especially who

Nowadays, as we continue to see consolidation in the market, it gets hard for them to be able to manage if every department leader is kind of using a different agency and has different points of contact and, you know, some are filling ⁓ in one area but not in another, or maybe from a contractual standpoint, they just want to be able to manage that better. It gives them one point of contact, one contract, a more streamlined kind of method to the workforce management process. And then we’ve utilized

that we’ve kind of again bridged that gap from being not just an MSP program, but moving into kind of more of a workforce architecture style, which is we want to come in with data and analytics and actually look at your organization to figure out how do you create and bridge the gap between where you are today and that sustainable future and really focus on the hospital systems end goal. So what are they trying to achieve? And then we work backwards from there to support their workforce solutions.

Anthony Codispoti (22:49)
So you’re kind of like the general contractor, so to speak. You’ve got the primary contract with the hospitals, and then they’re relying on you as their trusted managed service provider to then take care of everything else. And some of that’s directly through folks that are under your umbrella, and some of that is other companies that can help you to fill in the gaps there.

Amanda Hoffman (23:14)
Exactly. That’s an excellent way to describe it. Yes, and it’s there. They turn into very robust programs, as you can imagine, especially given that we’re providing different resources in different capacity. But it’s wonderful. We have some incredible affiliate vendor partners that we’ve worked with for decades, and it’s just great to see them engaging the way that they do. And a lot of them are kind of specialized in certain areas, so they might support specific allied classifications or

They might be a small business and we’re helping them to grow and flourish and that’s an exciting thing to be a part of.

Anthony Codispoti (23:49)
I ⁓ I know that you really champion yourself as ⁓ being heavily invested in innovation, tech. What are some technologies or approaches that you’ve introduced that you feel are advancing what you guys are doing in healthcare staffing?

Amanda Hoffman (24:09)
Yeah, so obviously the hot button topic today is AI. That continues to be a growing area in the market. I think we’re seeing AI being deployed in various ways in healthcare staffing. What we’re trying to focus it on is how do we help our teams continue to be people focused? So our industry as a whole and healthcare in general is very people focused. It’s very

connection, relationship driven. And so we want to give people time back to make sure they can continue to develop those relationships. Feel from a candidate engagement perspective that if our team, our recruitment team can spend more time engaging and getting to know a candidate because they have less administrative workload on their desk, then that needs to be a key focus of where we’re looking at new technologies and innovative ideas to help support. And so that’s

That’s a key area that we’re continuing to focus on. We have our own proprietary system, so it allows us more flexibility then to kind of develop new things and engage in that way. But AI will definitely continue to be an area that we focus on and developing it specifically to make sure that our teams have more time to engage with candidates in a meaningful way.

Anthony Codispoti (25:28)
Yeah, I’ve heard that from other staffing firms too, that the idea isn’t so much of how do we take our headcount from X to X divided by two, it’s more of how do we free up our really talented people to spend more time with the candidates. So, you know, they’re not buried under the minutia of all the paperwork and the searching and that kind of stuff. You know, they can just focus on the human aspect.

Amanda Hoffman (25:47)
Yes.

Yeah, I think people don’t realize how much extra work goes in. It’s not just about connecting the dots of we have an opening and here’s a person. There’s so much more complexity to it. You’re, you know, you’re building a contract between that healthcare system and this individual, you’re setting, you might be setting them up with housing and helping support that process or maybe a relocation package and helping them navigate those, those pieces. So there’s

There’s a lot of extra work that goes into it. so therefore, there’s also a lot of kind of back-end administrative things that happen as a result of it. And the teams are asking for it. Like it’s a consistent message of, I want to do more human things. I want to engage and interact. How do you take these things away from me so that I can do the fun stuff? They want to do that human side, the engaging piece. So we’re glad to continue to be looking at that. We’ll keep looking at areas. ⁓

where we can continue to invest in what streamlines and makes the candidate experience the most engaging that they can have in the market.

Anthony Codispoti (27:01)
You know, as I’m looking at your trajectory here at Favorite Healthcare Staff and you’ve held over a half dozen different roles in the seven plus years that you’ve been there. Which of those transitions did you find to be the most challenging and why?

Amanda Hoffman (27:19)
Ooh, full transparency, probably this role today. And I wouldn’t say it from, I say it from the standpoint of the time in which I transitioned in specifically, ⁓ coming through, having gone through what we did during the pandemic to what you mentioned earlier, which is this like massive expansion in the market. ⁓ Favoured also does emergency response staffing. So

We have for the last 15 years supported natural disasters and other crisis response. And so we were tagged in a lot during the pandemic to help support in various ways. So kind of coming into this role, I was faced with an organization that had been through a massive change. We also kind of post pandemic, we had gone through some organizational

structural changes to kind of, again, get back to what is the root of what we’re focused on and how do we align our teams to make sure we’re best supporting those areas of the business. And that was tough. It’s tough to lead a team through massive change, I would say is probably the easiest way to put it. That’s our whole industry has just gone through this huge change. It’s hard to do that. ⁓

in a way that continues to build that momentum and excitement and positivity and the vision for the future. And so that was it. Yeah, it’s definitely been a transitional year, I would say overall, but I, love every moment of it. It’s been really, really nice to, to have the opportunity to lead the teams through that, to create a vision for our path forward and what the industry looks like and, and supporting our, our path toward continued growth.

Anthony Codispoti (29:08)
What do you think that path post pandemic towards that continued growth looks like? How do you, you can’t expect certainly in the near term to get back to those pandemic numbers, but how do you get back to pre pandemic numbers now that, you know, there’s been this huge reset.

Amanda Hoffman (29:27)
Yeah, it’s a great question. I think the whole industry is asking that as a collective. We’ve definitely seen stabilization in the market, which is as helpful not just for the business perspective, but also for just candidates and clients. Everyone’s been itching for some level of what we call normalcy. So this year has been very much about, we getting back to normalcy? For us in particular, it is about focusing on where we

where we are best, our best poised to continue to grow. And that for me is in this managed services space in developing new and innovative ways to be a really good workforce partner. A lot of that will be on the heels of things like new analytics and data insights that we can provide. So we’re not just looking at kind of the workforce piece, as I mentioned earlier, and where we can bridge gaps, but also how do you take data and

and be very insightful about the way in which you do that. So maybe it’s, ⁓ again, looking at overtime or looking at the amount of time that internal workforce teams spend doing paperwork and how do you help support those processes. So I think we will continue to grow and develop a more robust workforce solutions program that is based on really objective insights within the organization’s processes.

Anthony Codispoti (30:53)
The emergency response staffing, ⁓ obviously we can all contextualize that in our brains when we think about COVID. What are some other examples of times where you’ve been called into that kind of service?

Amanda Hoffman (31:05)
Yeah, we’ve done hurricane relief response. So that was one of the earliest things that we did in that space. And that it’s it’s an all hands on deck activity. So sometimes you’re getting a call. And the answer is, we need you to provide X number of resources in the next 24 to 48 hours. And so you’re mobilizing extremely efficiently. You’re, you know, busing people in flying them in making sure that they can reach a certain kind of

Drop zone if you will to then be able to get on a bus to get into these areas You’re making sure that they have food and water and and safety gear and all of the kind of resources that are needed somewhere to stay we often are sending a a team on site with any of the health care resources that we’re providing to kind of be logistics coordinators and make sure everybody is safe and taking care of And so that’s really how we started an emergency response. So that happened, you know for years pre-pandemic and then

course, because we’ve been able to do those fast mobilization of resources, that’s why we ended up getting tapped in quite early by states and ⁓ government institutions to kind of come in and provide additional support. So that was very, you know, it great to be a resource in that space during that time. And to continue to do this sort of work, it’s very, I would say life giving is probably the best way to put it, you know, you don’t want to ever have to provide resources in a

crisis, but at the same time to be the team who can help step up in those instances is it’s encouraging for our teams to see how they give back and the impact that the work that they do makes.

Anthony Codispoti (32:45)
So I want to go back to something you said earlier, Amanda, pointing out that there’s a big nurse shortage here in the US. So as I think about that big nurse shortage, it makes me think that nurses with that training, with those skills, they’re kind of in the driver’s seat, right? I can work here, I could work there. It seems to me, and correct me on this, because I’m an outsider, it seems to me like most nurses would say,

Well, I want to work there full time. I want to know that I’m going to the same place to work every day. ⁓ Rather than like, why do they choose to work for favorite? What’s the advantage to a nurse in that situation?

Amanda Hoffman (33:26)
Everybody’s situation is different. And so I, I agree. think most jump to, it makes sense for someone to just want a secure position. So why do they travel around or, maybe they’re not an adequate nurse and that’s why they do it. That’s actually completely opposite. ⁓ Oftentimes it’s maybe they want to pick up additional shifts to, to make some more money for their families. Maybe they want the ability to travel and see new places.

We often see that with different areas of the country where people maybe haven’t visited before and they want to do that. We see it when people want to go live near their family and maybe they have family in a different state but they’ve kind of landed somewhere else post college and they want to get back but they maybe don’t want to stay there full time. They just want to see what it’s like. So there’s a lot of variability in kind of the why. And the other interesting bit is we see a lot of ⁓ close to retirement.

nurses who, you know, they can have done the full time gig and they want an opportunity to now go and, and have a little fun doing something different somewhere else that they haven’t experienced before. And when you get to see different healthcare systems and the ways in which they work, that’s one of the unique parts of the US is that different environments, whether it’s, you know, urban or rural are going to have a different experience and the patient care is going to be a bit different because you’ll see a different type of

of patient come in. And again, whether you’re a level one trauma center or a smaller healthcare organization, all of that gives a lot of variability, which allows for a really enticing environment, I think, especially for nurses to go into and say, just want to do something a bit different.

Anthony Codispoti (35:14)
Be curious to get your perspective on this. I always like to ask my guests about, because it’s a tough labor market, just about in any industry. Obviously, yours with the nurse shortage is particularly acute. But from both a recruiting and retention standpoint, since you guys have done this on such a massive scale for years, for decades, what have you found is really helpful to bring in good folks to recruit?

Amanda Hoffman (35:22)
Mm-hmm.

Anthony Codispoti (35:40)
those folks, you know, under your umbrella. And then when you’ve got the good folks, how do you hold on to them? What are folks looking for?

Amanda Hoffman (35:47)
It comes back to that human element. ⁓ And this is a, an interesting dynamic that we’re in today and kind of going back to what we talked about earlier of, really like to be innovative and I want to ingrain technology. But at the same time, one of the things that really makes favorites stand out in the market is the human touch. It’s our people. And so you want to engage technology, but you also need to keep that human element and

I think the biggest thing around engagement when you talk about external candidates who want to come work for us to then go be placed at a healthcare organization, it is about that personal connection. It’s about having someone who is supporting you and championing whatever outcome you’re trying to get to. So as I mentioned earlier, if a nurse wants to go live somewhere for a short time, because that’s where their family has moved and they want to be near them.

Knowing that and keeping that personal connection makes all the difference in the world. And so many now are kind of going to a tech only style of delivery. And while I think there’s a place for that, absolutely, at the same time, there’s always going to be that need for personal connection. And if we don’t continue to, to ingrain that as a part of the culture and the way the organization moves forward, you’ll, you’ll lose, I think, a portion of candidates. And so

For us, it really is about that engagement, making sure we have good connections with the teams that we’re supporting. That’s why being in the markets for us is so pivotal because we’re connected with the individuals that we help support.

Anthony Codispoti (37:27)
As I’m thinking more about your model, it seems like, you know, the being the managed service provider at a lot of these organizations is really sort of the hub of this, right? And then when you’ve got that trusted relationship, then it becomes easier to draw in your local partners to help support you ⁓ in providing, you know, the end service. Why is it that you think favorite healthcare has been

so successful in getting those MSP relationships across the country.

Amanda Hoffman (38:04)
I think it comes back to, again, what I just mentioned, honestly, is being local to them, ⁓ is understanding that, yes, it really is critical because oftentimes our own families and friends are being served by those healthcare organizations.

Anthony Codispoti (38:13)
you think having that presence there in their community is critical.

Amanda Hoffman (38:27)
And that means something, you know, it’s one thing, it creates a different level of trust and engagement as a partner to say, ⁓ my mom was just cared for at this hospital down the road, but I’m helping to support. I think you have a different level of kind of ownership over that partnership too. But also it allows us to do other things that make an impact outside just providing support staff. You know, we’re there on site helping support

things like, again, they’re philanthropic events. We do a lot of that sort of volunteer engagement with the partners that we work with. And that goes beyond just our normal relationship day-to-day kind of what can sometimes become a bit transactional. We really like to come back in and engage in ways that mean something for that community, not just for the partnership overall. So I think that piece is key. I also think just seeing the gaps ⁓

between what needs to be provided transactionally and where that partnership wants to go. So if the hospital system is trying to get to a certain end result, we have to be a part of that conversation and that narrative in helping work together collaboratively to get there. And I think that comes back to the way in which we deliver our MSP program, but also being able to engage in person. ⁓

Virtual is excellent, but it’s just something different to sit down together and to have an honest conversation around what are the challenges that you’re facing as a hospital? What are you trying to achieve in the next one to five years? And then how do we help you navigate those waters in a way that’s collaborative together? And you can do that so much better when you can just drive 10 minutes down the road and pop in to see them at any point.

Anthony Codispoti (40:18)
You know, I can vouch to that from my own personal experience. You know, I get to do so many of these wonderful interviews, over 300 and counting so far. And, you know, most of them don’t live anywhere close to me. And in the rare case where I’ve got a guest who is local to me in Columbus, Ohio, I’m so excited to go get a cup of coffee with them, you know, share a meal and, you know, the conversation that we’re able to have across the table.

You know in the same space. There’s just something different about it. There’s a different level of connection that takes place there, so yeah

Amanda Hoffman (40:53)
there is

and it’s just so palpable when you can be in a room together and especially when you’re talking these are the big decisions for organizations to determine who am I going to entrust 100 % of my contingent labor staffing resourcing to. It’s a it’s a big decision. You want to know that the the people that you’re working with not only are going to help get you to your end goal, but also match your culture and your environment that you’re

you know, trying to build as a leader within a healthcare ⁓ organization. So I think that piece is really key too, is that matching personality types ⁓ ultimately helps impact the relationship as well.

Anthony Codispoti (41:33)
Hmm. Amanda, what is a big serious challenge that you’ve overcome in your life? How did you get through that? Who did you lean on? What did you learn?

Amanda Hoffman (41:44)
Yeah, that’s a that’s a ⁓ big question. ⁓ You know, I think for me, I ⁓ I lost my grandparents at a young age ⁓ to suicide. And it was a very emotional. It was a very trying time in my life. And it was very, very difficult to get through.

And I think it really gave me another reason to want to be in healthcare, to want to give back to things that give to people. It also kind of working through that has helped me have a perspective of what people are going through and what has led them to where they are today. So everyone has a journey that they’ve been on. And sometimes we can easily lose sight of

what makes the person the person. And especially in today’s environment, kind of going back to the virtual versus in-person, it’s so easy to dehumanize one another in today’s world. And being able to look at a situation or a person or the environment that you’re in and say, well, this is what’s led them to that. And I can understand where they’re coming from and I can empathize with their situation, I think is so huge. And so that’s

that situation as terrible as it was, it also has helped me become a better empathetic human and to really see that there’s always something going on behind the scenes and you have to be willing to take a second to see the person first and then work toward, whatever you’re trying to communicate or ⁓ build upon, you have to be able to see that first and foremost.

Anthony Codispoti (43:41)
Wow. How old were you when this happened?

Amanda Hoffman (43:44)
I was 15.

Anthony Codispoti (43:46)
Okay. And you said it was already a very trying time in your life when you were going through this, when this, these horrific events happen, where did you go? Who did you lean on? Where did you go for help?

Amanda Hoffman (44:00)
⁓ so at the time, honestly, I, I think my family was grappling with it a lot as well. So I didn’t really have, you know, that ability to necessarily lean on them either, not in the way that I think most probably would in anything that’s traumatic like this. A lot of it was friends and realizing that as long as I communicated about it and talked about it and kind of worked through those emotions.

That helped me on that journey. ⁓ I think it was easy for some and some of my family in particular kind of bottled it up and wanted to try and just suppress it. And for me, it was quite the opposite. Like I wanted those outlets. I wanted opportunities to talk through it so that I could think through why did this happen? How did we get here? What caused this outcome? ⁓ And that for me was really huge. Just having incredible friends who supported and

and leaned in and were just willing to be there.

Anthony Codispoti (45:05)
curious that that process that you went through. Do you think it was just the act of being able to open up to unload this emotional burden ⁓ that you didn’t have to carry it inside that really helped you through it? Or did you ever get to sort of the answers that you were looking for? Like, why did this happen?

Amanda Hoffman (45:28)
That’s such a good question. so, yes, both. If I’m honest about the journey, I think for a long time, for years, was very still living in this kind of don’t understand why, how do we get there? It was kind of as I went into adulthood and had my own children and started to understand too, again, what

Anthony Codispoti (45:34)
Okay.

Amanda Hoffman (45:58)
made my grandparents who they were and the things that happened in their lives and what they were going through at the time, which when you’re 15, you don’t think about the complexities of adulthood, right? You’re not thinking about the weight and the stress and all the things that people are contending with. But as I moved through that journey too, I started to understand, okay, there were things I didn’t know, or I wouldn’t fully have comprehended or understood the weight of.

And in seeing them, it helped me get to that point of understanding, okay, I understand why you did what you did, why you got to this point. I’m gonna like, you as an individual, I’m going to advocate and help support people who are going through those things, help them see a light at the end of the tunnel and be a part of the change that supports individuals so they don’t get to that point. ⁓ But it starts with, again, really understanding

the why, you know, why did we end up in this position? And it wasn’t until adulthood that I finally kind of came to terms with that and felt at peace, I think, of understanding how it ended up the way that it did.

Anthony Codispoti (47:09)
It sounds like there’s this element of you, like you said, as a 15 year old, you have no understanding of the complexities of adulthood. And specifically with your grandparents, you didn’t know what was going on, you know, kind of underneath the layers. And similarly now, when you’re interacting with team members, you know, with your staff, just with friends and family, you also don’t are often not aware of what’s going on, you know, one, two, three layers deep.

And so just having that awareness that, you know, they may be showing up in a certain way and you have no idea why, and just being open to the fact that, you know, whatever is happening may have nothing to do with you. Am I putting words in your mouth or is this making, okay.

Amanda Hoffman (47:51)
No, no,

you’re, you’re, you’re spot on. I, I have not definitely seen the way in which I’ve become as an individual because of that situation and getting back to kind of understanding what’s happening with the human at the human level. I definitely see that play out in my leadership and I try to be very overly communicative and trans I’m a very just transparent person. And so I try and be very transparent with

you know, the way the organization is going and, and what we’re focused on and communicating that with my teams, but also making sure to take the time then of, communicating in that personal way, which is, you know, recognizing when someone’s struggling or maybe something is going on that we need to just sit down and have a one-to-one to say, what can I do to support? I will often say to the team, what, what boulders are in your way? And it can be smaller, it could be big, and it could be personal or it could be professional, but

what are the things that I can do to help enable you to have a better day or week as you’re continuing to come in to work every day? So yeah, I think that to me, as I think about it, is rooted in this understanding of why people are the way that they are, why they do the things that they do, and using that to build a better relationship overall.

Anthony Codispoti (49:13)
Hmm. You talked about when you were going through loss of your grandparents, what was really helpful for you is that outlet of friends to be able to give voice to what was going on inside of you. I’m curious now that you’re the CEO of this large company. ⁓ Where do you go for whether it’s personal or maybe more specifically the professional side of health because

You know, it’s one thing when you are sort of rising up to the ranks and you have people who are quote unquote at your level on the org chart, you’ve got some other folks you can go to. You’ve got, you know, the bosses that you report to that you can go to for help and support and mentorship. Now that you’re, you know, king, of the mountain, where do you go? Where do you get support? Who do you go to when you’re like, I don’t know what to do. I got questions.

Amanda Hoffman (50:06)
Yeah, that’s always, it’s always a good one that people ask, especially because the old adages, it’s lonely at the top, right? ⁓ It does become quite isolating because there’s only so much that, you know, you don’t ever want to ⁓ kind of impress upon anyone in the organization that you don’t have it all together. But at the same time, it’s okay to sometimes question and to make sure to want to talk through making sure you’re making the right decisions. ⁓

I am lucky to have an incredible senior leadership team. I have told my team as a whole, you always need to surround yourself with people who can see you on a bad day, recognize it, and help lift you up. It’s easy to get in a silo where you’re just kind of in that negative voice and then someone else can feeds into it, et cetera, and you spiral. But you’ve got to find those people who can pull you out.

but also who are a balance to your personality and your style, that may mean that you disagree at times, but not having that kind of ⁓ cycle of an echo chamber is really, really key. And I have a senior leadership team who are not just incredible in being great about bouncing ideas off of one another. And we have a very transparent and open, ⁓ you know, collaborative partnership in that way, but also they have different

a different thinking process than I do. And so they challenge me, and I challenge them. And, and so that relationship, I think, is very, very key. But outside of work, ⁓ it’s also family. I have ⁓ younger siblings who are an excellent just outsour, ⁓ outside resource, and they always have a different mindset because they’re outside of the industry, and they’re, ⁓ we’re quite a bit different in age. And so it’s nice to have kind of thinking that’s

that is differentiated. So family in particular is really key for me of finding time to just sit down and talk with them. And sometimes I don’t even have to share the details of what’s going on. They just know me. so they’ll say, you know, seems like there’s a lot on your mind, like, you know, don’t lose the faith, keep going. They just are that word of encouragement that’s enough to kind of get that breakthrough, especially, you know, it’s almost like writer’s block is the best way to describe it. And

Yeah, just sometimes you hit that wall where you go, I just don’t know is this the right answer?

Anthony Codispoti (52:36)
You know, sometimes for me in the past, being a member of like a mastermind or a peer support group, I know for some people it’s like EO. ⁓ In the past, that’s been really helpful for me because I get those sort of different perspectives from people may or may not be in my industry. Have you ever been able to benefit from an arrangement like that?

Amanda Hoffman (52:59)
Yes, I’m engaging with some new opportunities outside of the industry specifically because as the industry is changing so much, the other thing that I want to do as a part of that, not just for ⁓ thinking about ideas or things that we’re contemplating now, but it’s also to look at what are people doing outside of our industry that we can merge into our environment because it’s so easy to get caught up in just, well, what is

this organization doing with inside the industry and not necessarily look at something disruptive that someone else is doing. So yes, I’m engaging with some new groups that I think are gonna be additional just supports as we continue to move forward in this new very tech enabled healthcare staffing market.

Anthony Codispoti (53:46)
Amanda, what is your superpower?

Amanda Hoffman (53:49)
Ooh, I don’t know that I have a superpower. I wish I did. But I would say if I had to think about a strength, I was lucky enough to have a dad and a stepdad, I call him my bonus dad, growing up who were very much about me learning and growing in any way that I could. And oftentimes that was in things like

fixing a car and, ⁓ you know, my stepdad is a pilot and sometimes we would work on hidden ultra light and so we would work on the engine together and ⁓ various things like that, that they never put bounds on me in terms of what I could do and they also pushed me to be able to be independent and do things on my own, like change the brakes on my vehicle. ⁓ And those things, I think, not only helped me from the standpoint of feeling empowered and knowing that I can

can do anything and be anything, but also to look at things from a more holistic view. So you think about the parts of an engine, it’s not just about one part that makes the engine run, you have to understand the intricacies of how those pieces build together to ultimately create an engine. And so I tend to look at things in that way in a very kind of scientific process, like, okay, well, this impacts this piece and, and this has

you know, a secondary impact down the road here. And if you make this change up at the front end, that’s what’s going to happen down down in the back end. And so I, I think as a whole, I look at things in a very engineering style ⁓ way. And that has served me very well, because it allows me to just be creative in my thinking and also understand the ripple effect of change and how that will ultimately impact the engine.

Anthony Codispoti (55:44)
Was there ever any thought for you to take any engineering courses or go that direction? Or you were drawn really strongly to the healthcare industry? Yeah.

Amanda Hoffman (55:48)
No, I… Yes, I

think that I also have this just like innate passion for I’m just very empathetic as a person. And so the healthcare industry as a whole always drew me in. I did at one point start my private pilot’s license process because I thought, maybe I’ll fly. But I ended up giving up on that and haven’t haven’t done much. My my bonus dad is a instructor. He

can instruct on everything from helicopters to small planes ⁓ to commercial. And so he’s always taken me out and helped me fly and stuff like that, but I never ended up pursuing my private pilot’s license.

Anthony Codispoti (56:29)
Hmm. Amanda, I’ve just got one more question for you today. But before I ask it, I want to do a few things. First of all, anyone who wants to get in touch with Amanda, we have given them given permission to give out her email address, which is Amanda dot Hoffman with two F’s at favorite staffing.com Amanda dot Hoffman at favorite staffing.com and their phone number is triple 842 77019 so 888-427-7019.

And we’ll have all of that information into the show notes for everybody. So amandadothoffman at favoritestaffing.com and 888-427-7019. Also as a reminder, if you want to get more of your employees access to healthcare that won’t hurt them financially and carries a financial upside for the company, reach out to us at addbackbenefits.com. Finally, if you will take just a moment to leave us a comment or review on your favorite podcast app, you will hold a special place in my heart forever. Thank you.

So last question for you, Amanda, you and I reconnect one year from today and you are celebrating something big. Fist pumping up in the air excited. What’s that big thing that you hope to be celebrating one year from

Amanda Hoffman (57:44)
it’s absolutely that favorite healthcare staffing has become the number one workforce architecture solutions provider in the US.

Anthony Codispoti (57:56)
I love it. We’re going to put a pin in that and come back and check on it. Amanda Hoffman from Favorite Healthcare Staffing. want to be the first to thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us today. I really appreciate it.

Amanda Hoffman (58:00)
Let’s do it.

Anthony, thank you. It was wonderful to have this chance to connect.

Anthony Codispoti (58:13)
Folks, that’s a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories podcast. Thanks for learning with us today.