Stephen Legare, General Manager, and Executive Account ManagerPeople are everything!
Yet, hiring managers across organizations may universally agree that hiring the right talent in today’s ‘war for talent scenario’ is easier said than done. Being tethered to antiquated talent acquisition strategies, only result in wastage of time and effort, and weighs down their ability to meet the team’s goals. Talent acquisition becomes more demanding when niche skill sets must be recruited, or teams need to be ramped up quickly.
“ We keep the recruitment process simple and succinct”
An elite group of business leaders who faced the same challenges during their careers found the compelling need to come together to address this more significant issue. Their mission was to make the talent acquisition process userfriendly and streamlined. AMS Practice Management took wings from their cumulative ideas on the drawing board. “We broke down the process and kept it simple; right talent for the right position, for the right client,” explains Stephen Legare, general manager, and an executive account manager at AMS Practice Management.
AMS stands for “Acquisitions Made Simple.” “We strive for excellence in a simple, efficient, and budget-friendly manner,” adds Legare.
Stephen Legare is the General Manager and an Executive Account Manager at AMS Practice Management. He has over 35 years’ experience as a senior operations and financial management professional including more than twenty-seven years of experience working in the construction industry and related markets. He has a proven track record of managing large teams, increasing revenue, and improving operational efficiencies. At AMS he monitors and protects the company’s financial position and operations. He is responsible for building and fostering new relationships for revenue expansion with a concentrated focus in the healthcare industry, and is always seeking ways to enhance the AMS brand. As an active member in the Chambers of Commerce for several towns and cities, and possessing an expansive network, he can find just the right candidate to help his clients achieve their business goals. Steve is a graduate of Providence College with a BS in Business Management.
As a premier provider of talent acquisition and professional services across the U.S., AMS concentrated their efforts to bring the best people possible first to the health care industry, which has always experienced a considerable dearth of talent. In due course, building on their high-quality delivery and reliable client and candidate relationships, AMS ventured into other strongholds such as manufacturing, IT, and financial services alongside ramping up their growth and adding more team members and a broader scope of practice.
Simple and Succinct
To achieve the best possible outcomes for their clients in meeting deadlines, developing new projects, and propelling their business forward, AMS follows a structured and straightforward process.
First off, as opposed to giving clients a long list of profiles to review, AMS does the heavy lifting, screening and presenting only the top few and most qualified candidates, giving the client the challenge to choose. “We empower the client leadership to continue running their business while focusing on finding the next high potential talent to drive the success of their company,” says Legare.
To this end, AMS credits its most significant asset to being active listeners, emphasizing on getting to know their client’s culture, the team dynamics, and understanding the desired skillsets. “This makes it easy for us to find those purple unicorns that our clients have difficulty in finding,” he says. “Candidly, our recruitment terms are less than the industry standards. We keep the recruitment process simple and succinct.”
AMS adopts a relationship-first approach, taking pride in becoming a partner and a resource. Since they are closely connected to the world of their clients, they can anticipate their needs. For instance, with the COVID-19 pandemic, while healthcare clients are reviewing their scope of practice and already competing for talent, the manufacturing sector is scaling down or tooling up, depending on what they manufacture. Here, AMS steps in to offer more than just meeting staffing needs. They also help with outplacement needs, from resume writing to providing consulting services.
Tim Milliganis an Executive Account Manager at AMS Practice Management. He has over 30 years of experience with a successful track record working with pension plans, mutual funds, real estate and alternative investments.
He is responsible for developing and cultivating relationships within the financial services community to assist financial advisors and others in succeeding their career goals. He has a great deal of experience in assisting financial advisors in building their business through innovative ideas and concepts. He has been a frequent speaker at national and regional brokerdealer training functions. Before joining AMS Practice Management he has worked for several Investment firms. Most recently as Regional Vice President for ATEL Securities Corporation. Tim attended Washburn University, holds a Series 7, 79 and 63 licenses, and is also a CRPS, Chartered Retirement Plan Specialist through the College for Financial Planning.
Chris Amaral, Executive Account Manager, is responsible for developing our business and account management in Connecticut and Western Massachusetts.
Graduating with a BA in Ministry and Psychology, Chris has always had a love of people and a unique draw to relationship building. This has served him well in a sales and business development career. With that unique approach and genuine appreciation of people, Chris thrived early in his career as the Director of Membership at the regional YMCA. After spending several years growing the membership base, implementing new sales strategies and diversifying membership revenue streams, Chris was recruited to join an international steel manufacturer, growing into the role of a District Sales Manager for the Southeast US. In his tenure as a DSM, Chris learned various sales strategies, territory development, business leadership and account management skills from some of the industry’s best minds. When he was confronted with an opportunity to join AMS Practice Management to help grow the business by implementing that experience, Chris couldn’t wait to get on board and be a part of a small yet dynamic team. He has been with AMS since July 2019 and focuses on Manufacturing and Finance.
Chris lives in Durham, CT with his wife Vanessa and their daughters Nora, Heidi and Violet.
Casey Amaral is a human resources professional with over 15 years of experience working in a variety of business lines; she is known professionally to quickly assimilate to the business vision and build the team and processes needed to be successful. Casey obtained her masters degree in HR MGMT and an MBA from the University of Phoenix. Casey has led her HR journey with a passion for connecting clients and candidates to build a strong community for the future. In her personal life, Casey is a strong advocate for underserved populations; is active in local and national political advocacy; and enjoys spending time exploring new places with her life partner, three children and family/friends.
Lyndsey Keener is a passionate and experienced HR professional holding a B.S. in Management with a concentration in Human Resources Management from Rhode Island College. Her expertise lies in supporting healthcare organizations both clinically and operationally with their talent acquisition needs. Lyndsey believes in cultivating relationships with candidates and clients by establishing trust and accountability. She enjoys working collaboratively with managers to find the right specialized candidates for their roles and empowering candidates to be successful. She thrives on tough challenges and translating her client’s visions and strategies into value-added goals. Outside of the office, Lyndsey enjoys spending time with her family and is a huge animal lover and advocate.
Michelle earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree at the University of Rhode Island and has over 12 years' of experience working with healthcare providers as a clinical pharmacist in hospital, ambulatory, and academic settings. In addition to direct patient care, she was also involved in preparing student pharmacists to apply and interview for post graduate training including pharmacy residencies and fellowships. Additionally, she was intimately involved in interviewing, hiring, and training pharmacy residents at several institutions.
AMS enabled her to put this experience to use as a Talent Acquisition Specialist focused in the healthcare industry. She has recruited for a wide variety of clinical, administrative, and pharma industry roles including Medical Assistants, Pharmacy Technicians, Nurses, Respiratory Therapists, Social Workers, Medical Device and Pharmaceutical Sales Reps, Post Market Surveillance and Pharmacovigilance Specialists, Directors of Regulatory Affairs and Medical Program Directors. Her experience as a Pharmacist enables her to use her deep understanding of health systems and regulated industries to recruit only the best candidates for AMS’ clients. Michelle lives in Rhode Island with her husband, two cats, and a dog.
In another hiring scenario, for those clients who want to hire the required workforce through a contract option, AMS identifies the right type of contractor, local or even remote, helping them to build teams and complete projects in a short period of six to nine months.
The company’s prowess comes to fore in situations where clients require lean and elite teams to complete projects in a short period.
Consider this example: A large healthcare company near Boston, MA, had over 250,000 employees spread across different sectors. A department was struggling to find and retain quality people and were on the compliance radar. The client, on a deadline and with a budget, did not want to hire full-time employees. AMS explained the merits of going in for temporary staff first, a `try before you buy’ approach, and then eventually moving them onto permanent rolls. The client was happy and approved the idea. The AMS team collaborated with their in-house talent acquisition teams and transferred few resources to other teams and built brand new teams. AMS ramped up the business segment’s capacity from 18 percent to 75 percent in three months, which got them accolades from the client.
We strive for excellence in a simple, efficient, and budget-friendly manner
“Even though they have an in-house talent acquisition department like most large companies, they reach out to us whenever there is a need. This is because we have built the trust by executing any project to perfection within the stipulated delivery timelines while being cost-effective,” adds Legare. “If you walk the talk repeatedly for clients that invariably builds a relationship where often clients reach out to us for their greater HR needs.”
A Game-Changing Talent Strategy
AMS offers the best of both worlds. It is small and nimble, yet large enough to scale and meet any demand. Tracing back on the AMS timeline, Legare has an interesting recollection, “At first, we felt like the “Little Engine That Could,” taking on the health care industry. We were small but mighty!” Legare’s positive and `lead by example’ outlook, coupled with the resolve to adapt and overcome, was further strengthened with his personal experiences in the healthcare sector when he escaped death twice. It helped shape his view of the healthcare industry in terms of care delivery to tailor the right resources for the sector. With over 35 years of experience as senior operations and financial management professional, including more than twenty-seven years of experience working in the construction industry and related markets, Legare can help find the right candidate for clients to achieve their business goals.
Along the timeline, as the company grew and expanded its offering to other industry segments, they invested in their culture and brand by creating relationships with individuals who could be SME’s for their client base. For example, the leader of AMS’s Financial Services Sector, Tim Milligan, is a chartered retirement plan specialist, who knows the business and can understand and relate to the challenges and has built relationships over time in the financial services industry. AMS continues to invest in their talent as they grow, and that is what makes them unique. “We are more than another talent acquisition team in this regard; our people have a thorough knowledge of service sectors and are forward thinkers who are tenacious in their daily work. And that proves to be a recipe for success,” remarks Legare.
AMS’s work culture, which revolves around the team, is an integral part of their success. The team collaborates and shares projects based on the subject matter expertise, and each member has a real passion for creating a better community outside the group. The company strives without reserve for the highest possible outcome for their clients as well as candidates by collaboratively building on their unique networks to meet a requirement. AMS strives to fulfill the career aspirations of prospective candidates while meeting the specific needs of the organization.
On the employee front, AMS wants to challenge the status quo of what defines work by supporting its team members with a slew of employee-friendly benefits.
Paths of Progress
For the road ahead, AMS is envisioning growth through relationship satisfaction that brings more referrals, investing in their team, and communities. The team stays connected and educated on the client’s industry by staying up to date on trends, participating in client trade shows, and investing in their professional development.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the meteoric rise of the work from home culture, the AMS team has adopted a myriad of video conferencing tools and effective communication strategies to listen to their clients’ ideas and understand their strategy and reach out to their candidates.
In the cards are plans to branch into other avenues such as real estate with the strategic purchasing of their new headquarters. Exploring new industries and finding subject matter experts to support those new relationships are also slated for the short term.
AMS’s expertise, combined with its core values such as integrity, honesty, quality, commitment, and respect, makes them the go-to talent acquisition specialist for clients and candidates.
