Years ago when I joined Anthem it was one of the better places to work for in our industry. Now it's a place everybody is looking to leave as soon as they can. How did we get to this point? When did the leadership team start thinking employees are a cost that needs to be cut as much as possible instead of an asset?
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The changes happened after Larry Glasscock. He was a true leader. Anthem did become publicly traded while he was CEO which did begin a lot of the later transitions. However as others mentioned he truly cared about people. He gave and received trust snd respect.
If you work there, you may notice your screen pause and a small black window pop up and then close. That is Gail’s minions monitoring you. It takes automated screen shots and the program analyzes them, If 2 are the exact same, it means you were idle (presumable not working) between screen shots
Are you sure this is the case? I think it’s the VPN
It’s Gail. Larry Glasscock was CEO when we became Anthem. He is the one who insisted on AIP to share in the rewards of the company. Coworkers who were in the discussions told me he pushed hard and got it through. He believed if you take care of the employees, they will take care of the customers, and the company. We had a revolving door of weak leaders after him and now Gail is all numbers and doesn’t trust the employees. She wants people in the office to be micromanaged (Covid slowed that down) and she wants IT programs that spy on employees. If you work there, you may notice your screen pause and a small black window pop up and then close. That is Gail’s minions monitoring you. It takes automated screen shots and the program analyzes them, If 2 are the exact same, it means you were idle (presumable not working) between screen shots. It could mean you were on a call or working on a project, but it’s there to track you and make assumptions so beware.
When you don’t trust your people, they feel it and then they don’t trust you. I used to love working here, working far too many uncompensated extra hours because I felt like I was part of something big. Gail doesn’t talk to employees enough. And when she does, it’s not motivational or actionable, it’s a dog and pony show so she can tell the Board of Directors she met with employees so they will think she is a good leader.
Layoffs are intended for executives to hit short term numbers to protect their bonus. To hell with everyone else. I heard a big layoff is coming end of February as part of Fast Forward and small pockets are starting now. Mark my words, executive AIP will be adjusted due to unforeseen circumstances, but rank and file employees will not.
Meanwhile LinkedIn is where Anthem brags with posts about it being ‘most admired’ places to work. Three on our team are seeking exit. But where to? Not United - that’s worse than here. Why do we work for a health insurance company that is too cheap to print out and mail us benefit cards so we can actually use the benefits. It’s too complicated and they know that and make sure we don’t use benefits. Such a disappointment here. 12 hr days. Nitpicking. Always pointing out flaws and not very supportive. We all had a good laugh today knowing Anthem has to compliment itself to be recognized
It happened when Anthem hired Gail, an ex United Health Group executive, as the CEO.
When we became Anthem.
July 9, 2012, When Wellpoint (Anthem, CMIC, Community Mutual, HCC) aquired Amerigroup