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As she was preparing for college, still trying to figure out what she would major in, Amanda Ellis remembers talking with someone early on who told her she would be a good fit for human resources.
“I didn’t know too much about it at the time, but that comment stuck with me,” Ellis recalls. She went to the University of Florida and earned a degree in psychology, but while she was there, found an HR internship at the local newspaper. That was her first experience in the HR world. With lots of leeway in the job, Ellis had her first taste of auditing, system work, surveys, new-hire paperwork, tours and more.
“Through my internship, I affirmed I enjoyed working in HR. As I graduated college, I moved back home and started a recruiting career,” Ellis continues. “After recruiting, I dabbled a little in benefits and leave before I entered into compensation.”
As she moved throughout her career, each new position came from someone she had worked with previously who had opportunities available and reached out about her interest. Results that stemmed from her strong work ethic and positive relationship building.
In 2024, her journey brought her to SSM Health, a Catholic, not-for-profit health system committed to providing innovative, sustainable, and compassionate care to patients and communities across the Midwest and beyond.
In her role as vice president of total rewards, Ellis is redefining compensation, benefits, and wellness strategies to align with SSM Health’s mission and enhance the employee experience.
Before SSM Health, Ellis spent more than eight years at AdventHealth and an additional year and a half at sister company Adventist Health, where she picked up her compensation skills and thrived.
“I believe in allowing my team to really show their best. Full trust and transparency are the ways I like to manage.”
Amanda Ellis
The appeal of SSM Health was not only her first promotional opportunity to a VP role but also continuing to work with a not-for-profit religious organization.
“The mission here at SSM Health is ‘Through our exceptional healthcare services, we reveal the healing presence of God,’ and that’s very important to me,” Ellis shares. “The mission, values—specifically our respect, compassion, stewardship and community— were what I was looking for in an organization. It drives my purpose.”
Eight months into the job, she’s loving it and hasn’t looked back. She calls the move a “very good decision.”
One focus area of SSM Health is to elevate employee experience and with the total rewards department of forty people under her lead, Ellis works to ensure this is always top of mind.
“Since I’ve been here, we’ve been really focused in the compensation space, evolving our strategy ensuring innovation and excellence. To be able to do that for employees, making sure our total rewards package is strong and competitive, is an extremely rewarding task as a part of our greater mission,” Ellis says.
Part of the role is to ensure that the right programs are in place with the correct offerings, and Ellis feels very blessed to have walked into SSM Health with a strong team that has helped her do a lot of fantastic things.
Ellis subscribes to a leadership philosophy where she’s not a micro-manager and is a servant leader. She is looking to answer the question, “How can I help you grow?” for each team member. That could be recommending LinkedIn training courses or allowing them to speak at a team meeting. Just understanding their goals and helping them gather the skills to reach those goals.
“I had a great mentor at AdventHealth, and I tend to lead like she did,” the VP explains. Early in her career, when she was a senior compensation analyst, Ellis’s mentor would bring her to the meetings. “I can remember presenting to a large group of CFOs myself even before I became a comp manager because she had built that confidence and trust in me. I believe in allowing my team to really show their best. Full trust and transparency are the ways I like to manage.”
While revamping the compensation space is where she’s spent most of her time since coming on board last November, Ellis is truly excited about the other things to come.
Ellis notes there will be a lot of education and transparency of structures within the total rewards space, and she’s very excited to educate. “I don’t expect people to understand total rewards to a T,” Ellis points out. “It’s my job to make sure people understand what programs are out there and feel trusted to make intentional decisions.”
As the nation’s largest recordkeeper and a leading workplace benefits provider, Fidelity Investments has worked with SSM Health since 2015 – a relationship that has grown to include 50,000 participants and $4B in managed assets. With more than 40 years in the industry, Fidelity takes seriously our responsibility to the millions of customers depending on us to manage and administer their assets every day. Furthermore, our work with SSM Health extends across the broader well-being spectrum, as SSM Heath offers a multitude of Fidelity’s workplace benefits, including defined contribution plans, financial wellness offerings, non-qualified defined contribution plans, managed accounts and benefits consulting.
