The worst employer I have worked for.
I want to start by saying that I am basing this all on my experience at Blue Shield of California from 2004-2005. I have no idea what they are currently doing but I am willing to guess things have not changed. Again this opinion and perception and I make no absolute claims.
Where to begin. I left United Healthcare (UHC) to go work for Blue Shield of California (BS) because BS offered me nearly twice my UHC salary. I was actually quite happy at UHC but my ex wife had just had thyroid surgery to remove cancer (She is fine with a full recovery) and it looked like it would be a while before she could go back to work. By taking the BS job I was able to provider her with the ability to stay home with the kids. After discussing it we agreed this was best for us and our family.
I was a supervisor in their ITS Host Claims department in Chico. I should have known this was going to end badly when I got my team assigned to me. I walked around introducing myself to them and taking a couple minutes with each of them to start building a rapport with them. This is something any personnel management training courses will tell you to do. With each person I got the same response. I could see it in their eyes. They were terrified when we first started talking and then confused because I was treating them like real people. I should have run for the door.
You know the beautiful thing about being a non for profit company, you can blow large sums of money frivolously on any one in the company you choose. For example bringing together every member of management in the company in Tahoe and putting them up at a ski resort for 3 days for a cheer leading session. They rolled out their pretty new slogans and insisted it was time to set unreasonable goals and expect to achieve them. In a large crowd we tend to lose IQ points and buy into what is going on around us. When i returned and started going over this stuff with my team all I could see was a depressed group of people that just saw their lives getting tougher. Standards were raised and raised again and raised again.
I fought a lot these changes and was really a champion of my employees sticking up for what I thought was the right thing. Which doing the right thing was a BS value at the time. I don't know if it is anymore. However I was met with the same words over and over again. "You just don't understand."
"That just is not the BS way."
"I don't think you know what you're talking about."
Then something happened that I feel was the most worng thing in the world that you could to do some one. There was another department of keyers in the building and BS decided to give that work to EDS to do. People had a choice, they could take a severance package apply with other departments or apply with EDS. My mom went to EDS and that nightmare is another article. Those that chose the severance package option were required to work in our department under me until a certain date and then they would receive their severance. They had to stay until that date, if they quit they did not get the severance. If they were fired they did not get the severance. This would have been all well fine and dandy had BS lived up to their original promise. Instead when EDS could not meet the dates they had promised that severance date got pushed back indefinitely. So these people were sitting in a new department with little training on the way claims were keyed in this department and were generally regarded as second class citizens. As there supervisor I did what I felt was the right thing and constantly pushed for a firm date. I protected them from a lot of things that were trying to be unfairly pushed upon them. Again this is my opinion and perception and should not be regarded as cold hard fact. Time went on and I was being encouraged to weed them out. No one ever told me out right to try and find ways to fire these people.
This is what really drove me over the edge. I was miserable stuck between trying to do what was the right thing (which was a BS value at the time that I was supposed to emulate) and working in the most oppressive environment I have ever seen.
Not only was there all of this going on but also the ever present threat of closing the Chico office. They built a really nice facility in Redding and immediately moved the customer service department up there. Ever since it has been a forgone conclusion that Chico would be moved to Redding. No I find it interesting that their lease in Chico is up soon and that the owner is looking to sell the building. You do the math and make your own guess as to what will happen. People will be told to move to Redding or find another job.
I have only scratched the surface of my experience there. To give you an idea of how bad it was for me to work for this company, when I got fired, I went home and told my ex-wife and the first words out of her mouth were "Oh thank God."
Many of the employees that were there while I was there stayed because it really is the only place in Chico to make that kind of money with out a degree. I have 10+ years of management experience and I can't get an interview much less a job in Chico as a manager. People stay their out of a lack of options not because they like working at BS. Next week I may be applying at Carl's Junior to flip burgers.
Like I said at the beginning I have no idea what is going on in that office today but I doubt it is any better.
Also the building is up for sale and BS has their lease ending with in the next year. Expect them to be closing up shop soon.