Olympia keynote speaker for state agency events and association conferences.
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 Washington state agencies, associations, hospitals, long-term care providers, schools, and employers across the South Sound.
Response within one business day.
You cannot fix your people’s pay, so the part you can change is the only part that matters.
Olympia is different from most capitals in one specific way, and it changes what a leader here can and cannot do about turnover.
State government is the dominant employer in a city of around fifty six thousand, with most of Washington’s agencies clustered here and in neighboring Tumwater. And the Washington state workforce is one of the most heavily unionized public payrolls in the country, which means that for a large share of the people working in this city, compensation is set at a statewide bargaining table, not by any local manager. A supervisor in an Olympia agency generally cannot offer a raise, cannot restructure a grade, and cannot counter an outside offer with money. Those levers are simply not on their desk.
That sounds like a constraint, and it is, but it also clarifies things. When pay is fixed above your head, you stop wasting energy on the one thing you cannot move and you put all of it on the things you can. Whether the work is meaningful. Whether someone feels seen. Whether the daily experience of the job is worth staying for. In most workplaces those get treated as nice-to-haves layered on top of a competitive salary. In an Olympia agency they are not the extras. They are the entire retention toolkit, because the salary is not yours to adjust.
There is a second pull on this workforce worth naming. Seattle and Tacoma are up I-5, and the private sector and the tech economy sit an hour north offering money the state schedule cannot match. Joint Base Lewis-McChord, one of the largest installations in the country, sits between here and Tacoma and moves a steady stream of military-connected workers through the region. Olympia is close enough to all of it that leaving is easy and far enough that most people would rather not. What keeps them is whether the job here is worth the shorter drive, and that is a leadership question, not a budget one.
This session is built for exactly that situation: leaders who cannot pay more and have to win on everything else.
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.
Retention Without a Raise
The core material is about the levers a frontline leader controls when compensation is fixed, which is the daily reality in a unionized agency.
West Coast Access
Olympia is straightforward through Seattle-Tacoma International, which keeps conference dates simple to schedule.
Groups Chris speaks for.
Olympia holds Washington’s state government and its statewide associations, which makes it the natural place for a workforce keynote to reach agency and member leadership from across the state.
- State of Washington agencies and departments, the dominant employer in the city, clustered across Olympia and Tumwater, for in-service and leadership development days
- Providence St. Peter Hospital, a 372-bed teaching hospital founded in 1887 in the Lilly Road Medical District, the anchor of healthcare employment in the South Sound
- The Evergreen State College, the state’s interdisciplinary public liberal arts college, along with South Puget Sound Community College
- Washington statewide associations in hospital, long-term care, municipal, school, and public employee sectors, which convene members and hold advocacy days in the capital
- Thurston County and City of Olympia government, for local government leadership and staff development
- Olympia, Tumwater, and North Thurston school districts
- Chambers of commerce and SHRM chapters across the South Sound
Olympia employers with the same fixed-pay reality.
Healthcare is where Chris operates, but the challenge of leading without a compensation lever is widest in the public sector that defines this city.
State Agencies
Unionized departments where pay is set at a statewide table and the supervisor’s only real influence on retention is the daily experience of the work.
Education
School districts and higher education institutions bound by their own bargaining agreements and salary schedules.
Local Government
County and city departments competing for the same workers as the state and the metros to the north.
Healthcare and Nonprofits
Providence St. Peter and the social service organizations serving the South Sound, where much of the workforce is also organized.
Olympia and South Sound venues.
- Olympia and Tumwater hotel and conference space for statewide association meetings and agency gatherings
- The Washington State Capitol campus and surrounding state office buildings for agency in-service and leadership sessions
- Providence St. Peter Hospital campuses for staff, nurse leadership, and all-staff days
- The Evergreen State College and South Puget Sound Community College for campus programming
- Lacey, Tumwater, and the Thurston County communities
- Tacoma and Seattle for Washington organizations that rotate their annual meeting location
Olympia events Chris speaks at.
Association Conferences
Statewide association annual meetings, advocacy days, and general sessions, the format Chris works in most often.
Retention and Frontline Leadership
Supervisor development for agencies and employers who cannot move pay and have to lead on everything else.
Hospital and Health System Events
Leadership days, nurse recognition events, and all-staff meetings.
Long-Term and Senior Care
Skilled nursing, assisted living, and continuing care conferences and in-service days.
HR and SHRM Chapter Events
Human resources conferences and chapter meetings on retention inside a fixed compensation structure.
University and Student Leadership
Campus leadership programming, student organization events, and staff development.
Keynote topics for your Olympia 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 Olympia
Has Chris spoken in Washington before?
Does Chris travel to Olympia?
Our staff are union and we cannot change their pay. Is a keynote pointless?
We keep losing people to Seattle and Tacoma salaries. Can the session help?
Can Chris speak at an advocacy day or association gathering during session?
What does an Olympia keynote cost?
Can Chris speak virtually to a Washington audience?
Bring Chris to your Olympia 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 · Washington speaking · All locations