Louisiana Blue employees are driven by our mission—to improve the health and lives of Louisianians. We put our passion for our mission into action every day and go the extra mile to care for our members. Our culture of caring is at the heart of every interaction on the job, within our walls and out in the communities we serve. We are driven by the core values of integrity, accountability and collaboration as we work to bring the Best of Blue to stakeholders and create a healthier Louisiana for us all. We embrace a culture of belonging, encouraging employees to bring their whole selves to work and supporting them through nine INclusion Networks open to all. Our culture also supports employees becoming their very best. In 2023, 51% of open roles were filled with internal talent, demonstrating our focus on developing talent and allowing our workforce to grow through new opportunities. In addition, 93% of job openings filled with external talent in 2023 were filled with employees based in Louisiana, reflecting our commitment to our people and our state. Louisiana Blue is a family—we care about each other, and we have fun together. Paid time off to volunteer, matching gifts and dollars for doers let us support the causes we love. We have an intense focus on work life balance with flexibility to work from home and reminders to take PTO. Our generous benefits, a robust wellness program, health fair, exercise classes, mindfulness training and support from EAP all make sure we stay at our best. We love coming together to share a meal, participate in a cultural event or volunteer at the food bank or a health fair. Anyone who is around us comments on the way we smile, greet and laugh with each other. It’s about the people—the ones we work with and the ones we serve.
Louisiana Blue is committed to attracting, recruiting and retaining the best candidate for every position and we believe that the only way to do that is to actively seek a diverse slate of candidates. Our Workforce Development team has completed the “Employing Abilities” training by the SHRM Foundation and we create partnerships with community organizations like Lighthouse Louisiana to find pathways for their members. We have an active (dis)Abilities INclusion Network that works to drive resources and awareness for those with all types of disabilities, visible and invisible.
Our talent acquisition team works closely with our Boots to Blue INclusion Network to help attract and recruit veterans. We have two veterans on the TA team and another as our communications partner. We have enlisted their expertise for interpreting military resumes and attending military career fairs. We participate in multiple career fairs throughout the year that target veterans and other military members. We have actively created content on our career site including the incorporation of a military translator tool to help veterans and former military to identify what roles would be appropriate given their military experience. We host veterans career seminars to help veterans transition to corporate life. We have created relationships with multiple college Student Veterans Association groups to recruit military students. Our Boots to Blue also supports our military and veteran employees, as well as veterans and military and their families in the community. Louisiana Blue is consistently named a top Military Friendly Employer by GI Jobs.
Our company actively recruits from HBCUs and the Urban League. We have enlisted talent ambassadors from our diverse workforce to help us in recruiting and showcasing our culture of belonging. We have partnered with multiple community organizations (Baton Rouge Youth Coalition, Cristo Rey, Youthforce NOLA, BlackTech NOLA and others). We also provide diversity and unconscious bias training to all employees, leaders and our Board. We recently converted our employee resource groups into nine INclusion Networks for African Americans, Hispanic & Latino Americans, Asian Americans, LGBTQ+, Veterans, Women, Parents+, Rising Leaders and employees with Disabilities. All INclusion Networks are open to all employees, whether they are represented or allies. They are called to reinforce the connections between us and actively promote change in our company and our communities. We provide regular programs and communications to increase understanding, celebrate our diversity and create equity. We have a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion department and have established a Diversity and Inclusion Task Force/Committee. Our supplier diversity program encourages employees to show up as who they are and to be comfortable expressing themselves.
We are proud to offer a rich variety of plan options to suit employees needs and those of their families. These health, wellness and retirement benefits are a vital part of our Total Rewards package. Louisiana Blue employees are the most important part of what makes our company a Best Place to Work and we are happy that we can offer employees the coverage and benefits that keep them healthy and happy.
– Employee Assistance Program (EAP) – The EAP provides employees at no cost, with tools and resources designed to help employees and their immediate family members overcome life challenges that can impact health, family life and/or job performance. Employees and their immediate family members are eligible for the EAP on date of hire.
– Wellness Rewards – The wellness program offers employees an annual (calendar year) cash reward of up to $1,000 for completion of required program elements.
– Paid Volunteering – The Team Blue Volunteer Program allows eligible employees to take paid time off during a workday to participate in an approved volunteer activity. The program encourages community involvement and may take many different forms. It enables eligible employees to volunteer at least one hour per month, up to a maximum of 16 hours per year, during normal business hours at a qualifying organization. Our Dollars for Doers program also means employees can volunteer for causes they are passionate about, and Louisiana Blue will make a donation of $15 to that nonprofit for each hour an employee, retiree or board member volunteers.
– Annual Incentive Program – We offer all employees an annual incentive program that is tied to the company’s performance on certain metrics.
– Sales Incentives – We have a commission program for our sales staff and monthly incentives for certain jobs in Operations.
Recognition – In addition to an informal Focused Recognition program open to all employees, we have a Spot Award program where individuals can receive cash awards for going above and beyond their normal work responsibilities. In addition, we have annual celebrations throughout the year to recognize and thank our Team Blue volunteers, our administrative professionals, our nurses, our pharmacists, our veterans and our customer service employees. Employees are also recognized with service awards in five-year increments and there is a service recognition ceremony for employees meeting milestones of 10 to 50+ years. As part of our annual Angel Awards, we recognize a Blue Angel, an employee who goes above and beyond in volunteer efforts that improve the lives of Louisiana children.
Team Bonding – Every week, Louisiana Blue hosts Together Tuesdays, with free, themed lunch buffets. Employees are encouraged to gather and have lunch together. We also hold company-wide town halls and celebrations of different cultural holidays and traditions, such as Diwali, Juneteenth and Chinese New Year, during which we share music, dance, food, crafts and fun facts. We hold Talent Shows, Wellness Palooza and Fall Carnivals, all of which encourage our employees to come together to celebrate each other. We host National Walk at Lunch Day and quarterly wellness challenges that promote physical, mental and emotional health. Louisiana Blue also encourages leaders to schedule volunteer activities as team-building events. Teams come together to pack meals, hygiene kits, Christmas bags and so much more. This year we launched our Teams, Leagues and Clubs initiative to create even more opportunities for our employees to have fun together through sports, games, books clubs and other activities.
Community service is one of our top priorities. Louisiana Blue provides each employee 16 hours of paid time off to help them give back to our communities. Each month, the company provides dozens of volunteer opportunities across the state, especially for the Martin Luther King Day of Service and Love the Boot week. Outside of those Team Blue opportunities, our company’s Dollars for Doers program donates a minimum of $15 per volunteer hour to any full-time employee, retiree and board member at any non-profit they choose. In addition, Louisiana Blue has a robust matching program for employees’ gifts to nonprofits.
In 2023, the company’s 3,000+ employees spent more than 45,000 hours on community service projects, including hands-on and pro bono support for nonprofit organizations. Together, Louisiana Blue and its employees gave more than $4.2 million in support of hundreds of nonprofits that provided more than 17 million services (health screenings, checkups, meals, etc.) to Louisianians. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation made more than $4 million in grant awards to Louisiana nonprofits working to improve public health. In 2024, the company has already been named to the Civic 50 list for the 6th year and named first in the nation for integrating community service and support into its business operations. The Points of Light Foundation’s Civic 50 is a list of the 50 most community-minded companies in America.
In Shreveport specifically, we support the Community Foundation of North Louisiana’s Give for Good, the Bridge Alzheimer’s & Dementia Resource Center, Martin Luther King Health Center, American Cancer Society, Food Bank of Northwest Louisiana, Shreveport Regional Arts Council and many more nonprofit organizations. Shreveport is also an annual site of our pack parties for MLK Day of Service and Operation Warm’s Coat distribution.
Our Healthy You, Healthy Blue wellness program is part of our health plan benefits. It is an incentivized, outcomes-based health program that provides a cash reward to employees who complete and meet certain measurements, complete health screenings or participate in wellness programs such as weight management, prenatal care and mental health counseling. The program includes a high-risk track where employees are required to complete metabolic syndrome programs. Additionally, we award points, prizes and entry into drawings for participation in many activities, such as challenges and competitions that promote movement, heathy eating and scheduling down time.
Louisiana Blue offers a wide variety of tools and resources that help contribute to the overall health and well-being of our employees. These include programs/offerings such as an onsite health fair inclusive of biometric screenings, annual free flu shots, quarterly wellness challenges and more. Our Healthy You, Healthy Blue portal offers an online system for tracking completed program elements, offers fitness tools and resources and a personal health assessment, as well as personally tailored plans for learning more about healthy eating, exercise, sleep habits stress and much more.
Employees can create personalized nutrition plans via our dietician consultants, fitness consulting programs, risk-reduction programs, virtual fitness classes, one-on-one health coaching, take-a-break program (promotes stress relief, stretching, breathing, etc.), weight management program, diabetes prevention program, disease management program and a maternity program. We offer an extensive calendar of online fitness classes provided by health coaches and trainers. The classes are provided several times a day and cater to a variety of fitness levels. In addition, we promote activity with several other supportive efforts such as walking meetings. There is also a walking treadmill desk in our Shreveport district office for employees who want to move and work at the same time.
As the oldest and largest, Louisiana-based insurance company, we are entirely focused on improving the health and lives of Louisianians. This means running a very tight ship, where we routinely pay all employees and run all eight of our regional offices on a net 16% of each premium dollar each year. Our more than 3000 employees, 18 of whom are based in Shreveport, are dedicated to the 1.9 million Louisianians who rely on the Cross and Shield for their health insurance needs. The company’s strong balance sheet allows the company to operate efficiently on small margins, passing along the lowest rates possible to our members. Louisiana Blue processes about $7 billion in claims for our members each year with high customer satisfaction scores as measured through the Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys. About 16,500 businesses have health insurance with us. The entire State Office of Group Benefits (over 200,000 public employees and their dependents) have coverage with us. Over 35,000 federal government employees in Louisiana choose Blue. Almost every school board in the state uses Louisiana Blue to provide or administer their health benefits.
Over the years, we have implemented several strategies to enhance workplace culture and allow our employees to be their best. We foster an inclusive and collaborative work environment in which employees share ideas, concerns and feedback through regular team meetings, employee engagement focus groups, culture conversations and pulse surveys. We prioritize work-life balance and flexibility even as we implement our return to office initiative. We invest in professional development programs to enhance employees’ skills so they can grow within the organization. We recognize and reward employee contributions through formal and informal recognition programs. Lastly, we organize regular team-building activities to create a sense of connection and community. These events range from Together Tuesdays to Team Blue volunteer events. By fostering a sense of belonging and camaraderie, we have built a positive and engaging workplace culture. These strategies create an inclusive and growth-oriented culture. We regularly hold Culture Conversations both for leaders and individual contributors. These small-group, intimate conversations allow employees to share with their peers both their ideas and their concerns in a safe space. We have also implemented listening sessions as part of our employee INclusion Network meetings, providing an additional outlet to discuss difficult topics in our world, community or company. Our INclusion Networks have shifted from focusing on awareness and inclusion to a focus on action, making a difference and creating a culture of belonging. Last year, Louisiana Blue was recognized as a Best Place to Work in Baton Rouge and Shreveport, placed on DiversityInc’s 2023 Top Regional Companies List, the Forbes 2023 Best Midsize Employers List and was named a Top Military Friendly Employer.
What the employees have to say:
“Working for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana has given me the opportunity, over the past 53 years, to contribute to our mission statement of improving the health and lives of Louisianians. Experiencing the help and assistance we bring to families has been a reward I only wish I could relive again from the beginning.” –James Bustillo, Special Accounts Coordinator
“Blue Cross is a big company, but it has a family feeling. The company also encourages and respects my role as a volunteer in the community. When issues are identified organizationally, I am engaged as a community representative to be a part of the solution.” –Dr. Dee Barfield, VP, Chief Medical Officer, Medicare Advantage
“Working with Blue Cross is a privilege. It allows me to be a patient advocate to go onsite to local hospitals to provide case management to our members. Assisting them with their healthcare needs and achieving their optimal health is very rewarding. I also love that Blue Cross is so involved in the community doing many outreaches from cancer support to food packing and disaster relief. One of my favorites is Operation Warm where we go to a few elementary schools and give out coats—their smiles and the happy faces we see when we write their names on their coats melts your heart!!!” –Samantha Bruscato, RN, BSN, Care Management Onsite RN