Honolulu keynote speaker for healthcare, hospitality, and association events.
Chris Sund is a keynote speaker, Maxwell Leadership Certified Coach, and sitting executive who leads national healthcare staffing organizations. He speaks on workforce motivation, leadership, retention, and human potential for Hawaii associations, health systems, hospitality and public sector employers, and organizations across Oahu.
Response within one business day.
Your turnover numbers look good. That is not the same as people being here.
Honolulu has a labor market shaped by geography in a way no mainland city is, and it changes what retention actually measures.
Hawaii’s entire civilian labor force is smaller than that of a single large mainland county, and Oahu carries roughly seventy percent of state employment along with nearly all of the corporate jobs. Honolulu is the state capital and the headquarters city for Bank of Hawaii, First Hawaiian Bank, Hawaiian Electric, Alexander and Baldwin, and The Queen’s Health Systems. Add Hawaii Pacific Health, the Hawaii Department of Education, which is the only statewide unified school system in the country, the University of Hawaii, a very large military presence at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Schofield Barracks, and Tripler Army Medical Center, and a visitor economy that draws millions of people a year.
Here is what that geography does. On the mainland, an unhappy employee changes jobs across town. In Honolulu, a specialized professional may have only a handful of realistic employers in their field, and everyone in that small world knows everyone. The genuine alternative is not another company. It is moving several thousand miles away from family, from home, and from the place itself, which is why the people who do leave the islands usually leave for good.
So the exit most leaders watch for is partly blocked, and that quietly distorts the picture. A person who has decided they are done does not always resign here. They stay, because leaving costs more than a job change should cost, and they do the role at the minimum it requires. Turnover looks stable while something else is draining out of the building.
The practical consequence is that retention metrics are the wrong instrument in this market. What matters is whether the person still on the schedule is actually engaged, and that only shows up if leaders ask directly and often, rather than waiting for a resignation that a plane ticket is preventing.
Chris runs national healthcare staffing organizations and has keynoted state association conferences in eleven states, including LeadingAge Illinois and health care associations in Iowa, Montana, South Dakota, and Colorado.
Operator, Not Consultant
President and COO of national healthcare staffing organizations, still making the hiring and retention calls he speaks about.
Engagement Over Turnover
Material for markets where people cannot easily leave, so low turnover hides the problem instead of proving there is none.
Clinical, Service, and Public Rooms
Works for a hospital leadership day, a hotel or resort all-hands, or a statewide association general session.
Groups Chris speaks for.
Honolulu concentrates the state’s health systems, government, corporate headquarters, and visitor industry on a single island.
- The Queen’s Health Systems and Hawaii Pacific Health, along with Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, for nurse leadership, all-staff, and recognition events
- The State of Hawaii and the Hawaii Department of Education, the only statewide unified school system in the country
- Hotels, resorts, and the visitor industry across Waikiki and Oahu, employing a large share of the island’s frontline workforce
- Corporate headquarters including Bank of Hawaii, First Hawaiian Bank, Hawaiian Electric, and Alexander and Baldwin
- The University of Hawaii system, for campus and staff programming
- Defense and federal employers, including the civilian workforce around Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and Tripler Army Medical Center
- Hawaii statewide associations and the City and County of Honolulu, along with long-term care and senior living providers
Honolulu employers in a closed labor market.
Healthcare is where Chris operates, and the constrained exit shapes every sector on the island.
Healthcare
Clinical teams in a market with persistent shortages and very few local alternatives for specialized staff.
Hospitality and Visitor Industry
Frontline teams whose engagement is what a visitor actually experiences.
State and Local Government
Agencies where pay is set elsewhere and people often stay for decades regardless.
Education and Utilities
Statewide institutions where the same small pool of professionals moves between a handful of employers.
Honolulu and Oahu venues.
- The Hawaii Convention Center and Waikiki hotel ballrooms for statewide and national association meetings
- Queen’s and Hawaii Pacific Health campuses for nurse leadership and all-staff days
- Resorts and hotel properties for team and manager development sessions
- State agency facilities in the capitol district for in-service and leadership days
- The University of Hawaii at Manoa for campus and staff programming
- Kapolei, Ewa Beach, and communities across Oahu, with neighbor island sessions by arrangement
Honolulu events Chris speaks at.
Association Conferences
Statewide and national association annual meetings and general sessions, the format Chris works in most often.
Hospital and Health System Events
Leadership days, nurse recognition events, and all-staff meetings.
Engagement and Culture
Sessions for organizations where low turnover is masking how people actually feel about the work.
Retention and Frontline Leadership
Supervisor development for teams that stay for the place rather than the job.
Long-Term and Senior Care
Skilled nursing, assisted living, and continuing care conferences and in-service days.
Corporate and Resort All-Hands
Company meetings, kickoffs, and leadership summits across the island’s employers.
Keynote topics for your Honolulu event.
Every session is customized for the audience, the format, and what you are actually trying to change.
See what conference organizers and HR leaders have said after booking Chris.
Booking a keynote speaker in Honolulu
Has Chris spoken for island and remote-market organizations?
Does Chris travel to Honolulu?
Our turnover is low. Do we even have a retention problem?
Will an outside speaker understand our workforce?
Can the session run for multiple shifts or properties?
What does a Honolulu keynote cost?
Can Chris speak virtually to a Hawaii audience?
Bring Chris to your Honolulu event.
Send your date, location, and audience. You will get availability and a quote back within one business day.
info@chrissund.com · 402-212-5771 · Hawaii speaking · All locations
You Are Capable of More.
Leadership, culture, and peak-performance insights from Chris — only when there’s something genuinely worth sending. No fluff, unsubscribe anytime.