Identifying and hiring top talent in just about any profession can be time-consuming, stressful, and full of uncertainty. And it’s especially difficult in healthcare, with its severe, industry-wide shortage of skilled professionals, budget constraints, and high-stakes compliance requirements. So when the organization—a large non-profit network in King County, WA—needed to expedite and improve their recruitment process, in the middle of the frenzied COVID pandemic no less, they began turning to Big Wave to fast track their searches.
First, Big Wave’s Chris Englin, using her proven approach, tapped Tracy Phillips, SPHR, as the organization’s director of talent acquisition. The two women go back many years, as Chris placed Tracy in her first tech job. So when Chris learned of the opening at the organization, she knew Tracy would be an ideal fit for the role. And Chris was right. Since Tracy came aboard, she’s played a significant part in fueling the organization’s tremendous growth. Chris has gone on to help the nonprofit identify and hire additional candidates, including at the executive level, along with consultants and interim project managers. Tracy explains: “Chris doesn’t just do talent acquisition. She also provides talent management. Her deep HR experience, organizational development and active listening skills, empathy, insightful Q&A, and out-of-the-box thinking help me avoid tunnel vision. When I call Chris about any kind of open position, she’ll quickly and fully understand what I need—the requirements, the environment, the nuances. Our Chief People Officer, who’s my boss and a Big Wave hire, is the best boss I’ve ever had.”
“With Chris as my retained recruiter, we get exceptional candidates—every single time. In fact, we’ve consistently found Chris’ top candidate to be the best candidate, because that person has always been the right person. Chris is far and away the best external partner in recruiting—whether we’re placing a candidate in finance, IT, project management, or the C-suite. Many other recruiters seem to only want to ‘get a body in,’ and often don’t take the time to truly listen.”
