HCSC's learning function went into high gear when federal mandates changed the way health insurers do business.
Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the healthcare industry has been preparing for an estimated 30 million Americans who are expected to enter the health insurance marketplace this fall. At Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), the fourth-largest health insurer in the country with more than 13 million members, the legislation not only has changed the way the company will do business, but also has raised the profile and strategic nature of employee training and development.
The learning function at HCSC now plays a critical role in setting, executing, and supporting the strategy of the enterprise. "Ten years ago, training was very traditional and reactive," says Joe Knytych, director of talent development. Knytych says that the learning function, which employs more than 200 and is decentralized into the business units, "has grown and matured considerably in recent years, evolving into a strategic support function."
Today HCSC employees consume more than 1 million hours of training annually by participating in a mix of facilitated, self-paced, and social options. "There is increased appreciation and awareness of the importance of employee learning by senior leaders," says Mike Kasper, executive director of learning and development. "We already had learning leaders and practitioners in place, but we have been able to structure an organization that has varied areas of focus and can ramp up quickly to meet business challenges."
Those challenges have been considerable. As the health insurance marketplace evolves from a group purchasing decision to one focused on individual purchasing decisions, through state and federal exchanges, HCSC is changing the way it does business at a foundational level. Organizational readiness was a key enterprise strategic goal in 2012, to which the learning function responded nimbly.
An enterprise education team with representatives from major learning departments rapidly assessed the learning needs of every division, generated a comprehensive report, secured additional funding, and implemented a cohesive set of learning solutions for everyone from frontline employees to senior leaders.
"What made the program so unique was that it included all operational areas with consistent messaging and had far-reaching impact," says Knytych. "Nearly every job role was touched, but there was a single point of contact for the businesses."
The shifting landscape also brought a new focus on retaining top talent. "Healthcare reform is a significant call to action, requiring employees to upskill and retool," explains Knytych. "We needed to keep our workforce engaged by investing in their development." HCSC's overall attrition and employee engagement are both holding strong given the company's commitment and focus on people.
Once onboard, new employees—especially new executives—must be assimilated rapidly. A new Executive Readiness Program launched last year establishes expectations about strategic leadership, ethics, accountability, and personal brand and influence. In their first two to three months on the job, new executives interact with senior leaders in a variety of settings and attend a multiweek blended course with a leadership coach.
"We're hiring more new vice presidents from outside the company than ever before," says Knytych. "With this program, we're setting them up for success."
Other specialized programs rolled out in 2012 targeted frontline leaders and customer service representatives, while an enterprise business literacy initiative targeted all 15,600 employees. The program was designed to enhance employees' awareness and knowledge of market opportunities and the company's business strategy—an enterprise strategic goal for the year. Offerings included role-based interactive courses, podcasts, strategy cohort programs, and an executive engagement tool kit.
Results were impressive: 96 percent of participants reported increased business knowledge and 90 percent reported knowledge gain.
Preparing for profound change sometimes can mean not only learning new ways but unlearning old ones. That was the case when HCSC implemented a new medical management system. Hundreds of employees had to "unlearn" extensive system processes and terminology in use for years.
The learning initiative leveraged experiential and discovery-style training that was preceded by up to seven e-learning modules based on role. The modules included simulations of the new system and scenarios that compared the old and new systems. Learners had to identify and replace old terms and processes with new ones, and had to earn a score of 80 or better to move to live training.
That three-day classroom session included team-based activities, challenges, games, and simulations. Learners demonstrated their knowledge through teach-back activities, which are creative and engaging presentations that showcased how they overcame prior knowledge and embedded the new. They also received follow-up training activities each week until the new system launch.
"Learning has really had the opportunity to innovate and raise the bar over the past two years," says Knytych. "I'm pretty happy about the results."