Training and Development Best Practice Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association

By: AARP Outreach & Service | Source: AARP.org | February 15, 2009

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Organization Profile

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association is a national federation of 39 independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies, which together provide health care coverage for more than 100 million individuals (or one in three Americans). Headquartered in Chicago, the association supports approximately 1,000 employees.

Overview

The workforce at the association is getting older. During the last decade, the number of employees at the association above the age of 50 soared from roughly 7.5 percent to 37 percent. Planning for an aging workforce, a skilled labor shortage, and changing employee demographics, the association began offering a variety of training and professional development opportunities to older workers in hopes of retaining them, making them better managers, and extending their engagement with the association beyond retirement.

The association searched for creative ways to retain its most skilled and valuable workers. But it also needed to train them so that they could be better equipped to supervise its changing workforce, which was beginning to represent different generations and ethnicities. To meet this challenge, the association developed a series of workshops for its management staff and recalibrated training opportunities for its older employees. Human resources staff quickly discovered that experienced workers value continued learning opportunities—so much so that many employees are now reconsidering working at the association well beyond their retirement years.

Business Challenge: Employee Engagement and Retention

The association has watched the collective age of its workforce climb steadily over the last decade. There was no denying that the demographics of the employees were changing: In 1997, 7.5 percent of the association’s employees were above age 55. In 2001, that number climbed to 12 percent. Four years later, it jumped to 19 percent, then to 22.5 percent in 2007. Yet the most significant growth occurred between 2007 and 2008. Thirty-seven percent of the association’s workforce, and 25.8 percent of its 280 managers, were age 55+.

"These are good, solid people and good performers," remarked William Colbourne, senior vice president of human resources and administration. "They know us, we know them. They're aware of our clients. We know if we retain them while we're recruiting young people in a difficult job market, we'll stay afloat and be fine."

Clearly, the association needed to identify a way to keep employees engaged. The answer was training. HR people at the association found that experienced workers would be more inclined to keep working if they were successful at their jobs. But because the association's workers represented four generations, different cultures and religions, the company needed to gain skills at managing diversity.

"Older workers want to learn; they want to expand their skills," Colbourne says, adding that every worker, regardless of age, is held to the same standards of performance and accountability. "They have as much interest in that as people of other ages."

In 2004, to begin preparing all employees for some of the changes that were going to take place, the association developed the "Passport" program for managers. Initially, the program consisted of two tracks, which included 18 required workshops, such as "Emerging Legal Issues," "Appropriate Delegation," and "Coaching and Diversity." Workshop offerings helped company leaders develop a solid foundation in management skills. Managers had 18 months to complete the courses.

Some experienced managers resisted the training, claiming they had been managers for 20 or 30 years and didn't have the time or need for such classes.

So the association developed a different communications approach to help the managers better understand why the training programs were so critical. The association began exploring a variety of alternatives, such as developing a communications series covering important topics, such as how changing demographics would affect the association’s operations or how developing new skills could help them better manage a diverse staff.

Business Solution: Convey Business Need and Expand Learning Opportunities

In 2005, the association changed its strategy and revamped its communication efforts. Colbourne says his team constantly sent information to managers about why developing new management skills was necessary, about how changing demographics would affect the association, and about the changes managers needed to make to improve their effectiveness. Every quarter, managers received a brochure that updated them on new courses or training and on the association’s evolving expectations.

Senior staff also conducted presentations during management meetings on workforce demographics. Managers broke out into small groups to address how demographic changes would affect them and how they could be proactive in dealing with them. The new approach not only sparked managers' interest, but it also set the stage for communicating why the courses were important.

The association also introduced other key changes. Workshops were offered online. And the association organized a boot camp in which managers could complete all 18 courses in one week, reported Joe Cheatham, director of training and development at BCBSA.

"In my experience, older workers appreciate taking courses online, just as well as younger workers do," said Cheatham, adding that everyone learns differently. "We had to help our managers understand that the way they managed before was not going to be an effective tool in this changing workforce that we have to draw from. The old command-and-control theory that came out of WWII simply does not work effectively with younger people. That was one of the challenges we faced with 'Passport.'"

Among the most popular workshops was the coaching program, which helped managers develop new tools for working with younger employees and those from different cultures. The diversity program also hit home with many managers. Cheatham says managers learned not to view people solely as individuals but also as representative of larger cultural groups. By doing so, managers could better understand their employees’ values, attitudes, cultural attributes, and motivation in the workplace. As they took the workshops, managers' resistance soon evolved into understanding and insight.

In 2008, a third "Passport" track was introduced. External consultants started to deliver eight optional courses, which focus on the art of leadership and the science of management. Employees can also earn a master's degree in business administration from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management in Chicago.

"We put the MBA program in thinking it would help retain younger, career people," related Colbourne, adding that eight out of 31 students are age 50+. "We were pleasantly surprised that we have a very good representation of mature employees," he said.

Here are other programs the association has implemented to appeal to older workers:

"Passport" offers a fourth, year-long leadership track, available to 25 people who've completed the first two tracks; most participants in the third have received the recommendation of an executive manager.
The association will pay up to $300 for any two courses taken by age-55+ employees and those who retired within the year.
Employees who have been with the association for at least five years and who have earned high ratings for their work performance can take paid, six-week sabbaticals.
The association created a series of employee brochures called "Lessons of Experience." Topics are of particular interest to older workers and include the emotional impact of retirement, volunteering, and what to expect from Social Security.

Cheatham said that the educational opportunities are part of the association’s new branding strategy. The association wants to help employees ease into retirement and to feel so good about their employer that they will want to remain at work or to return for special projects or assignments during retirement.

Outcomes: Changing Perceptions

The association periodically conducts focus groups, in which it solicits feedback from older workers about association services and training opportunities. Recently, when employees were asked to raise their hands if the training programs were important to them, Colbourne reported, nearly every hand shot up in the room. But what came next surprised him: "They said not only was [training] very appealing to them but that it has and will change their decision to leave early in terms of retirement," he said.

More good news: every two years, the association administers employee surveys. Many questions under the training and development section pertain to managers. For example, employees are asked to rate the following:

"My immediate manager is considerate of my life outside of work."
"I have a clear understanding of the goals and objectives of my division."
"My immediate manager is competent in the technical aspects of his/her job."

In 2005, the association scored below the national norm. But in 2007, it scored four percent above the national norm on the same survey. What's more, employees were asked to rate the "Passport" program on a scale from one to five, five being excellent. The average score was 4.56.

But perhaps the best outcome of all is the new way employees think about their employer.

Consider Joanne Kitsos, a senior consultant for marketing communications at the association. She participated in both the sabbatical program and tuition-reimbursement programs. "Just by taking part in these programs, [employee] word-of-mouth will get out there that BCBSA is interested in its mature workers," she said. "It has enhanced my perception that BCBSA does value its older workers and is an employer of choice."