Over the past several years, the healthcare industry has become more vast than ever. In fact, every discipline within the industry has grown beyond measure for the everyday individual to comprehend and access. In The Lifesciences Magazine’s latest issue, “The Most Outstanding Healthcare Leaders to Watch In 2024”, we delve into healthcare leadership to highlight the most outstanding figures shaping the industry’s future in 2024. Among these exceptional leaders, one name shines brightly—Robin Fischer (President, CEO, and Founder of Action Staffing Solutions).
A versed professional business owner providing stellar healthcare support to clients in the commercial and government sectors, ensuring employee and customer satisfaction, Robin is committed to creating solutions for her clients by offering quality and service-driven results through integrity, ethics, and value. She is driven by her passion for making a difference; “one day at a time, one customer at a time, one employee at a time!”
A Role Model with Great Passion
Robin has always been in executive sales roles throughout her career, including HR, training, cost reduction, and employee retention, etc., for which she has achieved various awards and accolades. Her journey into leadership was embarked upon at a young age. She gives accolades to the Girl Scouts of America for the strong ethics and leadership skills provided to young women through their oaths, training, and community involvement !! In fact, she has consistently been a leader with a knack for generating ideas to impact the world positively her entire life.
Prior to starting her business, she was the Regional Sales Director with an international staffing firm, where she constantly envisioned bringing a change had she been the owner. The books given to her to read by her father, Rick Fischer (Good to Great by Jim C. Collins and The New Conceptual Selling by Robert B. Miller and Stephen E Heiman) ignited the fire within her and motivated her to bring impactful change in her role however, the ownership had changed, and there wasn’t any receptiveness towards its employee’s ideas or suggestions.
Subsequently, when the international staffing firm went up for sale, the layoffs of middle-level executive sales directors followed, including Robin. Despite the initial shock of the “pink slip,” she felt a newfound sense of freedom, which fueled her determination to start her staffing agency dedicated to providing diversity and solutions tailored to her customers’ needs. Two days later, she had a rented office, completed the business plan, created the financial budget, and opened the doors. It was a complete dream, and t it continues to grow through every team member’s passion!
Thinking Out of the Box
Robin faced every woman’s usual challenges in the world of business, but she confronted them directly and persevered. Her journey began with her first job as a CNA during high school, where she learned valuable lessons in care and compassion. Action Staffing Solutions Inc. has nurtured her passion, allowing her to live her dream daily.
In July 2008, she initiated Action Staffing Solutions, Inc., which has sustained substantial success since then. Her roles and responsibilities have undergone significant transformations over the 16 years of running the company. In the early days, she wore numerous hats, managing tasks such as Business Development, Recruiting, Project Management, Accounting, Payroll Operations, Marketing, Networking, Contracts, Training, and Proposal Writing.
As time progressed, her duties evolved, and she transitioned to working on the business rather than directly in it. Her current focus centers on Government and Commercial Business Development, and writing proposals daily to add more customers and business to the company’s portfolio. Building enduring relationships with customers stands as her primary responsibility. While some may perceive her passion for proposal writing as unconventional, Robin sees it as an opportunity to consistently challenge herself and think innovatively about improving strategies, fostering a customer-centric approach.
| Professional Bio: |
| Action Staffing Solutions offers human capital, staffing solutions, and consulting services in the public and private sectors. Headquarters: Loveland, Colorado United StatesYear of Foundation: 2008 Core Values: Constant Care, Uprightness, Adaptable, Humility, Commitment |
In 2016, she boldly decided to overhaul the business model completely, which initially posed challenges but proved to be the right choice in 2017. “As a business owner, you must be a risk taker, adventurous, and resilient to lead your team in a new direction, whether it is completely changing your business model or changing processes that support the outcome for your customers!” says Robin, hands-off leader that chooses to lead by example to become an inspiration to her team and customers.
As a leader at the forefront of her firm, Robin strives to lead efficiently. “I am not a micromanager; I hire the right people to support the things they are passionate about and things I believe they can manage,” she says. She further emphasizes that leading a team in a new direction, whether it involves a complete shift in business model or adjustments to processes, requires these qualities to ensure the outcome aligns with the needs of their customers. By delegating business areas to people with a great passion for their careers, Robin has created an environment where everyone holds themselves accountable for their duties.
An Array of Disciplines and Roles
Action Staffing Solutions Inc. specializes in the Government and Commercial Market, focusing on professional positions across all Healthcare & Behavioral Healthcare Professional disciplines. The company manages various teams dedicated to specific professional areas to support the diverse range of disciplines and roles. Within the organization, distinct departments operate, including teams dedicated to both professional and healthcare staffing industries. In addition to a team of stellar leaders, she also has a strong team of recruiters and an internal credentialing team, a scheduling team, an accounting team, and an Audit and Compliance Team.
| Insights on Action Staffing Solutions |
| Is a woman- and family-owned local staffing agency in Loveland, CO, supporting clients in the private and public sectors across the nation. Offers attractive benefits to all employees and supports many non-profit agencies within the community. Highly prioritizes community involvement and veteran support. Partners with clients to provide the right personnel to accomplish their client’s goals and objectives.Operates responsibly with high ethical standards and accountability |
Make a difference every day!
At the helm, Robin leads the Action Staffing Solutions Inc. team, ensuring it is aligned with the company’s vision of success. Being service and solution-based, Robin’s team constantly encourages the transformation of ideas and insights into reality and emphasizes being the best and doing what is right. “Make a difference every day!” is Robin’s leadership mantra. She believes that for each team member to truly make a difference, they must understand their “WHY,” and hence, encourages following one’s passion to be of service consistently, advocating for perseverance, pushing through challenges, embracing compassion, living with conviction, taking that initial step without fear, and making a difference every day.
Leveraging and Reaping Technological Rewards
Reflecting on technological advancements, Robin notes the significant progress from printing the company’s first paper paycheck to adopting direct deposit. Witnessing the transformation of software from archaic to cutting-edge, she observes the integration of AI into processes, a development she didn’t anticipate but enthusiastically embraces.
Recognizing the importance of staying ahead in technology, the company continually seeks innovations to streamline processes for employees and customers. In the healthcare industry, technology aims for efficiency while maintaining user-friendly interfaces. Robin acknowledges the rapid evolution of technology and stresses the balance of adopting new technology without losing the essential human touch. Internally, new technology has been introduced to reduce downtime and enhance turnaround time, aligning with the company’s visions to support the end mission efficiently for its employees and customers.
Finding Work-Life Balance
The pandemic created many professionals burnout due to the high need, long hours, and stress. Additionally, Action Staffing Solutions now sees healthcare professionals of the baby-boomer and Gen X era seeking retirement or early retirement due to the additional crisis stress the pandemic brought into the healthcare industry. Robin reads various articles stating that the shortage of healthcare professionals will continue to increase yearly and potentially get to a catastrophic low level.
The nation’s healthcare focus should be to increase the number of educational institutions that can provide a high level of education. The need of the hour is the availability of institutions that can provide extremely knowledgeable and professional instructors for varying disciplines. Many institutions are not providing varied education, and the testing failures are at a record high. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics notates the shortage, and the increase in wages is climbing an average of 3.7% month over month, while it continues to have backlogs of program acceptances due to the shortage of educational professionals needed for the varying disciplines.
According to Robin, “COVID forced us to embrace preparedness. We now have remote positions, virtual visits, and telehealth that have helped the healthcare industry; however, not all generations have found it helpful due to the differences in knowledge of technology.”
While she believes the industry is taking a positive turn, Robin emphasizes the focus should be increasing accredited educational institutions that can educate a larger population. There has been a shortage of programs and very long waiting lists for candidates to be accepted into discipline-specific educational programs.
Concluding her views, Robin notes: “If our communities can support this initiative, it will allow for
1. Accredited Education
2. A larger population receiving education
3. Reduce the waiting list
4. Reduce the staff shortage
5. Increase the availability of accredited and credentialed healthcare professionals.
