Blue Shield Of California Reviews

Pros

I enjoy working with my coworkers and the company does have pretty decent medical benefits even if it is expensive for the employees.

Cons

antiquated philosphies and handling of employees work/family life.

Advice to Senior Management

join the 21st century. More an more medical insurance companies are going towards smaller real estate and working from home for employees as a big incentive to get good people to stick around and yes, they are just as effective if not better than working in a busy, noisy distracting atmosphere.

Pros

The only thing blue shield has going for it is the fact that it is still one of the companies that actually has a pension plan with a 401k matching

Cons

If you merely want to come to work and do your job without any input you will be fine. However management at blue shield will not listen to new ideas

Advice to Senior Management

At least within IT there are a lot of people hired from outside of the company into management. If you worked at Delta Dental and failed you are now a director at Blue Shield.

Pros

mission of affordable quality cae for all Californians - what we offer makes a difference in the state

Cons

senior leaders are out of touch, the work experience is a pressure cooker. Company claims to be accepting of work life balance but job demands don't allow it for many.

Advice to Senior Management

Get off the penthouse floor and LISTEN to your people. Act in ways that demonstrate you listen. If you don't want to tolerate employees who seek a balance, then enhance your comp and create an up or out environment. Who are we?

Pros

The best things are the PTO (4 weeks a year from day 1) and reasonable work / home balance.

Cons

The amount of bureaucracy in the I.T. department is truly mind boggling. To make one change to a piece of existing software, you need to file 3 separate tickets with a large amount of documentation tied to each one. You spend about 20% of your time writing code and 80% writing documentation and filing tickets to deploy it.

Blue Shield are also very slow to upgrade their software and introduce new technologies. As an example, in April 2011 they are still using Windows XP and Internet Explorer 6. In addition, the I.T. training budget per employee is currently only $500 a year, which is barely enough for a brief online course

Finally, consultants from Hewlett Packard dominate the I.T. department and have the power to overrule most Blue Shield employees on technical matters. Current rumors suggest that H.P. will soon be replaced by another consulting firm, but don't expect the power structure to change significantly anytime soon.

Advice to Senior Management

You need to give the power to make decisions to Blue Shield employees rather than external consultancy firms that care nothing for the long term interests of the company.
You need to invest more in your employees - training is a must, as is keeping the technologies being used up-to-date.

Pros

My director is great and my department is good and has now realized what is feasible for employees to do (after much turnover).

Cons

Overall this company has declined in the years I've worked here. They now say do more with less and expect us to work crazy hours without help or compensation. Other departments only think of themself and not what is best from an overall company perspective.

Advice to Senior Management

Value your employees when you have them.

Pros

Stability in an economic downturn.

Cons

no company culture and BSC uses time clock to punch in and out with only 30 minutes for lunch. Inequities on reviews and how different managers treat their employees. Not appreciated by management for work done above and beyond or high skill levels. No incentive to do good work except one's own work ethic.

Advice to Senior Management

one really needs to take a break for an hour at mid day to continue to work so hard while at their desk

Pros

Worthwhile mission as a not-for-profit health insurance company (this is slightly hyprocritical)
Good pay
Decent work environment
Flexible work schedule (for some, not all)

Cons

Poor senior management decision making
Bad decisions about technology changes affect everyone, yet no changes are made
Middle management is over-worked and reflects poor senior management decisions
Inconsistent work policies damage employee morale
Antiquated technology and systems affect everyone
Slow to change
Senior management disconnected from workplace realities

Advice to Senior Management

Place more importance on how your management team treats workers than how well they make presentations and produce for the bottom line. In the end, this new kind of emphasis will pay off. Management here seems driven to expect more and give less in terms of recognition and respect. The workplace is suffering for this. Hire people more for their attitude and less based on 'skills' and academic resume.

Pros

Good benefits. Good 401k and retirement plan.

Cons

Promotions are slow. Antiquated systems. Managers out of touch with their employees.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to the grunt workers at the bottom of the totem pole.

Pros

Great benefits package and good communication from the top

Cons

My experience is that when a manager /supervisoris not right for the job they don't manage them out very effectively.

Advice to Senior Management

when people work hard reward them because working hard everyday when you are not rewarded is awful. Thats all. I like working for blue shield other than that.

Pros

Close to public transportation
Good people working there (but waiting for economy to pick-up to begin job search)

Cons

Old management style
Out dated systems
Management only provides negative feedback
Inept VP remains employed & reporting to CFO
Employees afraid to report management abuse because of retaliation fears. Especially by the Director of the Procurement Department

Advice to Senior Management

You are Blue Shield of CA. Why are you attempting to put more Californians out of work by outsourcing jobs? We all understanding finding ways to work more efficiently but you need to do your part by hiring skilled employees, managers that have managerial skills then provide us the tools, resources and training needed to be effective and efficient on our job. This is how we stay cutting edge and achieve world class status. If you don’t care to provide these tools than why should I care to give my best?

Whoever heard of IT not being able to attend trade shows or conferences? This company is cheap! You will use the knowledge that is acquired during these conferences but all management sees is the money that is being spent to attend instead of how valuable networking can be the reach process.