Top 100 application

a word from OUR EXECUTIVE

DEAR CANADA’S TOP 100 EMPLOYERS,

We feel privileged to provide you with this application to Canada’s Top 100 Employers. This award is more than just a placard for us—it’s an opportunity to tap into the pulse of our organization and gauge how we’re doing as an employer. We truly believe that our people will deliver our vision. We recognize how talented and engaged employees are directly linked to business success. That’s why our people always come first, and we strive to offer them the support they need to succeed. When employees’ talents and career aspirations intersect with the organization’s needs, great things can happen.

From enhancing our digital experience to being named a top Canadian brand to tackling significant challenges presented during COVID-19, our teams have pulled together to reach some truly outstanding achievements this year. In these pages, you’ll find stories and accounts of what makes Alberta Blue Cross such a special place to work. It’s not the numbers and figures that make us stand out—it’s the people and the energy they bring. We are tremendously proud of all that our employees have accomplished, and we’re even prouder to work with them, for them, every day.

As with past years, we’re excited about our continued commitment to workplace wellness—to ensure that our people are not only healthy, but well. We ramped up our wellness efforts this year by encouraging our employees to take part in our first ever wellness screenings, which allowed participants to target specific health and wellness goals. We also brought our community into our wellness plans by hosting our inaugural Wellness Summit and by unveiling Pisani Plaza, our new wellness park. Together, we believe we are the healthiest workplace in Alberta.

As a leading benefits provider in Alberta, we compete against national and international organizations. But we have something they don’t: a culture of wellness and innovation diligently built over years of employee consultation and input. We listen to our people, we believe in our people and we owe our reputation to our people. They are our competitive advantage.

Mark Komlenic President and CEO Mark Razzolini Vice-president of People, Wellness and Innovation

ABOUT US

“Alberta Blue Cross has become so much more than my employer over the years. The Alberta Blue Cross family is an extension of my own— diverse in every way, accepting and tolerant. Our leadership team is challenging themselves to think differently about the responsibilities they have to their employees and are acutely aware of what it takes to bring out the best in their people.

I am proud to call myself an employee of Alberta Blue Cross, because I know how much they care about their employees, their customers and the community at large, regardless of their differences.”

Tarick Fadel, director, analytics, research & pricing

ABOUT OUR BUSINESS AND VISION

At Alberta Blue Cross, we passionately believe we have an opportunity to impact lives for the better through our commitment to wellness.

We currently serve more than 1.8 million Albertans, making us the largest health benefits provider in the province. We’ve grown to more than 1,200 employees who work at our headquarters in Edmonton and five additional branch locations throughout Alberta. We administer health programs for provincial, territorial and federal governments and provide benefits to groups and individuals. Alberta Blue Cross is a provincial organization with a strong national reach. As a not-for-profit benefits provider, we serve members across the country with best-in-class benefits and administration services.

We cover just about every type of health benefit, including prescription drugs, dental, vision care, preferred hospital accommodation, emergency medical travel, ambulance, home nursing and chiropractor, as well as life insurance and short- and long-term disability coverage for group plan members.

More than that, we are wellness leaders. We are paving the way in prevention and wellness through our wellness strategy and Blue For Life vision. Our Blue For Life vision is designed to serve our customers over their lifetimes, shifting with their needs as they transition through every age and stage of life—so they never have to leave their Alberta Blue Cross plan behind. Our industry has been quite stable for decades, but we have recently been seeing a shift, with new competitors and a demand for technological integration, choice and flexibility. Through our vision, we are positioned to get ahead of the change to be the best in Alberta and across the country.

Through all of our business decisions, we put our people first. We are guided by the belief that our employees will deliver our vision.

SIGNIFICANT BUSINESS DEVELOPMENTS

2019 was another year of significant progress for Alberta Blue Cross. We continued to drive and deliver upon our Blue For Life vision, through growth in our business and the evolution of our organization to better serve our customers and to position us for continued success.

We surpassed a key milestone in 2019, breaking through the $3 billion mark in annual revenue for the first time. Our business units saw strong activity as we worked closely with government program sponsors to evolve government benefit program offerings; worked with employer group plan sponsors to ensure sustainable plan management while seeing growth in life and disability benefits; and expanded our individual health plan offerings and grew our base of customers, including significant growth among retirees.

Evolving our organization

In June 2019, president and CEO Ray Pisani announced his retirement after a 35-year career with Alberta Blue Cross, including serving for nearly a decade as president and CEO. Following his announcement, the board began a thorough selection process to ensure the continued success of our organization. This concluded on November 14, 2019, with the appointment of Mark Komlenic, who had been serving as our chief operating officer.

Delivering on customer experience

Our customer experience strategy reflects our commitment to keep our customers at the centre of everything we do, striving to make every interaction they have with us a positive one. In 2019, we focused on bringing our established strategy to life. We started by getting to know our customers better, meeting with both our individual and group customers to find out first-hand what our customers are experiencing and what’s most important to them. Through the sessions, we’ve been able to assess our practices and identify ways to improve customer experiences. To hold ourselves accountable, we developed scorecards to measure our progress on our customer experience initiatives.

We also had the chance to personalize our experiences with customers through our baby boxes and greeting cards. The baby box program gives us a way to acknowledge one of the biggest events in our individual health plan members’ lives—the birth of a child. Through the program, we send small gifts to our customers, congratulating them on the arrival of their new bundle of joy when they add a newborn to their individual plan. Our greeting cards are a personalized way for our team to reach out to our members to let them know we’re thinking of them through the good and the bad.

Transforming our digital experience

Excellent customer service doesn’t stop on the phone. For us, it’s also the key to our digital experiences. We’re focused on creating seamless, intuitive online experiences that let our customers take control of their benefits and health journeys. To do this, we made several digital enhancements last year. To make bills and payments easier, our member site now allows customers to view bills, update their payment details, make payments and change preauthorized payment information online. We implemented our benefit lookup—a tool that allows plan members to look up eligible benefits and other important information related to their health benefits. We made a host of other updates, including downloadable ID cards; a Flex system refresh; online coordination of benefits for plan administrators; online submissions for dietitians, nutritionists, occupational therapists and nursing provider services and more. The intent of every digital change is to meet our customers where they are and to empower our customers with accurate, easily accessible benefits information.

Enhancing our mental health offerings

We are deeply committed to mental health. To strengthen our commitment to it, we implemented enhancements to our Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) and improved accessibility to our Individual Assistance Program (IAP). EFAP and IAP provide customers and their families with accessible and confidential counselling and support services. For no additional cost, we added lifestyle and specialty coaching services and e-services to all EFAP plans and to our bridge plan—making it easier for plan members to access support in a way that fits with their lives. We also enhanced the psychology benefit for all employees to $2,000, regardless of their plan selection.

Making an impact

Our retiree plan—providing quality coverage for retirees—increased by 200 per cent this year. We also saw growth in our individual health plan customer base and growth among our employer group plan customer base as groups added life and disability to their employee benefit plans.

The inaugural Wellness Summit

On October 10, Alberta Blue Cross’s firstever Wellness Summit, put on in partnership with Alberta School Employee Benefit Plan (ASEBP), was sold out. Three hundred business and community leaders joined us for the event, which focused on the core elements of what it takes to create healthy workplace cultures and workplaces where everyone thrives. We explored fresh perspectives and practices around core elements of healthy workplace culture, supplied practical tools and resources to shift workplace culture towards wellness and provided meaningful dialogue around workplace wellness. We were thrilled to see the great feedback and results.

TATIONINDEXAMONG BENEFITSCARRIERSOPERAT

TSEHGIH

COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE, COMMUNITY & SERVICE

According to Leger

$300,000

GIVEN IN 2019 TO SIX COMMUNITIES THROUGH OUR HEALTHY COMMUNITIES GRANT PROGRAM

675,000 CUSTOMER PHONE AND EMAIL INQUIRIES HANDLED ANNUALLY

SIX OFFICES ACROSS ALBERTA

TOP 30

ONE OF THE LARGEST ALBERTA BASED CORPORATIONS

1,248 EMPLOYEES

80 HUNDREDS

SCHOLARSHIPS AWARDED TO ALBERTA STUDENTS EACH YEAR

OF ORGANIZATIONS SUPPORTED through our Hearts of Blue charity, Casual for a Cause days and community support initiatives.

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1.8 MILLION ALBERTANS COVERED

5,700+ EMPLOYER GROUPS

HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of individual health plan members Programs administered for provincial, territorial & federal governments

In 2019 more than 64 MILLION claim lines processed With a value exceeding $3 BILLION

97% OF CLAIMS ELECTRONICALLY PROCESSED ONLINE

95% PERCENTAGE OF REVENUE PAID OUT IN CLAIMS:

AWARDS

Over the years, Alberta Blue Cross has received various significant recognitions and awards, a reflection of how we pursue excellence in all areas of our business.

Canada’s Most Trusted Brands of Health and Dental Insurance 2020

We were proud to be recognized for our excellent health and dental benefits, as well as our leadership in the insurance landscape. Every year, Reader’s Digest surveys its readers to identify the brands they trust the most by asking them to vote in 31 categories.

Canada’s Healthy Workplace Month Great Employer Award

Canada’s Healthy Workplace Month Great Employer award celebrates organizations large and small that are committed to nurturing a physically and psychologically safe and healthy workplace for their employees. We were honoured to be among the 2019 recipients of this award.

Financial Wellness—Certificate of Merit, as part of Excellence Canada’s 2019 Awards Of Excellence

Canada’s Top 100 Brands 2020

Blue Cross came in as the highest ranked benefits provider in Leger’s annual survey of the top brands in Canada. Leger compiles their annual rankings based on six core pillars of corporate responsibility: financial strength, social responsibility, honesty and transparency, attachment, quality and innovation.

Alberta Blue Cross was awarded this commendation at the 2019 Awards of Excellence. To win this award, organizations must demonstrate a strategic, integrated approach to employee financial wellness by demonstrating excellence in areas such as awareness building, the provision of education, financial programs and the provision of employee support. We are committed to wellness in all aspects, and we were honoured to receive this recognition.

OUR RESPONSE TO COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented us with challenges we’ve never faced before. Our people remain our top priority, no matter how difficult the road ahead seems.

Protecting our employees

On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the COVID-19 outbreak is a pandemic. On March 16, in an effort to maintain employee health and well-being, we closed our doors to the public and made the decision to send as many of our employees home to work as we could. Our IT and HR departments worked tirelessly over that week to empower and equip our employees with the necessary tools and supports to work from home. Employees were given remote desktop access, laptops, docking stations—whatever they needed to work safely and successfully. By Friday, March 20, all Alberta Blue Cross employees were out of the buildings, except for a small crew of essential onsite employees at our head office needed to keep essential services running. During this time, we had to shift our way of thinking and doing business to ensure a seamless transition while keeping up our same incredible customer experience.

To ensure the health and safety of our on-site employees, we brought in a specialized decontamination and sanitization company to support us in installing customized equipment to bring in more fresh air and pull contaminants from workspaces. Employees received masks, gloves and sanitizer and are following strict social distancing measures.

The financial well-being of our employees is an important focus, so we immediately stopped charging employees for parking and transit passes. We also continued to provide a monthly transportation allowance to all employees, which can be used to cover any extra home expenses, such as Internet and phone usage.

The dedication and tireless efforts of our internal teams helped ensure that the transition to working from home was a smooth one. We were incredibly impressed with all of our employees and how they came together, and the patience and dedication exhibited. Mobilizing all of our employees is no easy feat, but thanks to a tremendous group effort, we have been successful.

• The Executive Committee has made hard decisions in a short amount of time and ensures that every choice they make keeps employees safe. Their leadership helps staff stay focused, calm and connected during a very stressful ordeal.

• Information Technology has equipped staff with laptops and docking stations, granted hundreds of employees remote desktop access and worked to strengthen our network capacity so everyone can successfully work from home.

• Human Resources executed the pandemic plan and acts as a central point of contact, ensuring that employees are engaged, informed and their unique needs supported and addressed as the COVID-19 crisis unfolds.

• Corporate Communications works to keep employees and customers informed of the latest changes. They write and coordinate timely updates and maintain the COVID-19 hub for all Alberta Blue Cross employees.

• The Wellness department helps our employees stay connected to each other and their well-being during social isolation. Virtual wellness classes are offered three times a week for all employees at home, and virtual lunch and learns are held every two weeks.

“This is a difficult time not only for our customers across Canada but for all Albertans. As each of us personally knows and feels the challenges that our families, friends, co-workers and neighbours are facing right now, we’re committed to doing what we can to support our fellow Albertans through this time of uncertainty.”

Mark Komlenic, president and CEO

Supporting our community

After ensuring our employees were taken care of, we focused on our customers. We offered proactive travel refunds to our individual products members, and we reduced premiums by 25 to 50 per cent for our individual and group plan customers. These reductions are not deferrals—Alberta Blue Cross customers will not have to pay anything back at a future date.

We were also able to support our community through our Community Impact team and ABC Benefits Corporation Foundation. We believe in lifting each other up, and that remains especially true in hard times.

Some of the initiatives we took part in include:

• Text4Hope. Early on, we partnered with Alberta Health Services to sponsor their Text4Hope campaign, a free service providing ongoing daily Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) text messages written by mental health experts. Text4Hope is supporting an estimated 250,000 Albertans during COVID-19.

• Community donations. Thanks to our community foundation, we were able to make significant donations during COVID-19. Boyle Street, the Bissell Centre, the Distress Centre and The Alex all received donations of $1,500 each. When Fort McMurray was hit by flooding during the pandemic, we also gave $1,500 to the Fort McMurray food bank and another $5,000 to the Red Cross to aid flood relief efforts.

• Safe volunteering. Our staff stepped up to safely volunteer during COVID-19. Some donated their used computer equipment to local schools so students could learn remotely, others sought out volunteer opportunities through Alberta Cares Connector and many continued to donate blood through our Partners for Life program.

Finally, our community foundation committed $500,000 to address priority needs and support Alberta’s most vulnerable populations.

• A coordinated approach with the United Way is stabilizing food security and compromised essentials.

• A partnership with the Mental Health Foundation is addressing increased suicide rates among youth and adults.

• Support for grassroots community initiatives is assisting isolated and rural communities.

• Contributions toward the Community-Based Seniors Serving Sector initiative is enhancing connections between health care and vital community social resources for Alberta’s 600,000 seniors during social isolation.

Maintaining our culture

Although our employees are physically distanced from each other, we have worked hard to maintain our culture of wellness, innovation and growth. Dedicated contacts on the HR team support employee needs quickly, and we encourage our employees to share and learn from each other. Our employee newsletter, virtual wellness events and online learning opportunities all provide ways for staff to stay engaged.

During this uncertain time, we are keeping lines of communication open. Daily emails are sent to all employees with information and resources, our executive team meets weekly with directors to inform them of key business decisions and our president and CEO holds a weekly town hall conference call to connect with all employees and provide the latest updates. We also encourage our employees to share their experiences, suggestions and tips.

The following are several initiatives we implemented to promote employee wellness and connection during isolation:

• Virtual ergonomic assessments. Employees are encouraged to book an online meeting with our facilities team, who provide ergonomic tips and advice for setting up a home office.

• Remote wellness breaks. Three times a week, our internal wellness team leads a live wellness break over Instagram TV (IGTV). Employees, customers and social media followers can join them for a quick round of boxing, HIIT, resistance training or stretching.

• Online lunch and learns. We continue to organize lunch and learn sessions every two weeks that employees can join remotely via WebEx. Topics include eye care, nutrition, financial planning and dealing with COVID-19 stress.

• An online COVID-19 hub. Using Intrablue, our employee intranet, we built an online COVID-19 hub to support employees working from home. In addition to the latest news and updates, our COVID-19 hub features wellness activities and discussion boards, privacy and security tips, ergonomic supports, training opportunities and other relevant resources.

Looking to the future

We’re learning from the COVID-19 pandemic. Our Risk and Assurance Services and Human Resources departments have partnered to develop a pandemic playbook, which will help us deal with pandemic situations in the future.

The pandemic playbook outlines the actions and communications that are needed based on a number of different pandemic scenarios. We have also clearly identified responsibilities, decision making and the various policies and guidelines in place to support employees and our business during pandemic situations.

We hope we don’t have to do this again. But with our talented staff and quick-thinking leaders, we know we can. We are a people-driven, people-first organization, and that will remain true no matter

At Alberta Blue Cross, we believe we have the responsibility to impact people’s lives for the better. Wellness moves beyond benefits as we believe we all deserve to be and live well. We empower healthy and vibrant individuals, workplaces and communities, and we strive to ensure our people feel their wellness is our priority.

Positive behaviour change is a key component in achieving this goal—our staff are empowered with the support, tools and resources they need to adopt healthy behaviour in the areas of wellness that mean the most to them: physical, mental, social and financial.

WELLNESS STARTS WITHIN

“I think wellness empowers people to be the best version of themselves, so they can bring that greatness to the organization.”

Brittany Van der Ohe, wellness analyst

HEALTH AND WELLNESS LEADERS

We are committed to creating wellness solutions that shift thinking from treatment to prevention. We achieve this by keeping people well through innovative solutions that drive behaviour change and by empowering people to take that next step to live their best life.

Internal wellness team

Alberta Blue Cross has a dedicated team focused on employee wellness. This group of wellness experts organizes ongoing wellness activities, including fitness classes, 15-minute wellness breaks, employee social groups and our annual wellness fair. Wellness is diverse and continually changing; this team ensures our employees are heard and wellness supports are adapted to meet individuals and departments where they are at.

Wellness champions

Since 2018, our wellness champions have helped us carry out day-to-day activities that support the health and well-being of all employees. Wellness champions act as wellness advocates for their departments and organization—they’re empowered to support creativity and innovation so everyone can participate and engage in wellness.

don’t have to know the whole journey; you just have to take the first step.

Mental health training

Mental health is a key priority for our people. We know that when our employees are given the tools, resources and strategies to be their best, it contributes to success in their work and personal lives. We are dedicated to fostering a safe and accepting workplace for everyone. All managers are required to participate in mental health training, and last year, all employees were offered training in The Working Mind program from the Mental Health Commission of Canada. Other creative endeavors include meditation challenges, a live panel discussion of lived experience and lunch and learns on relevant topics such as resiliency and dealing with burnout. We are committed to ongoing training and education for our employees so we can reduce stigma in our workplace and cultivate a thriving culture.

Let’s talk art therapy

Preventing burnout

“I believe that down the road, companies are going to have mandatory mental health programs, so it’s nice to work for a company that doesn’t do it because they have to, but because they see the value in it.”

Amber Yanitski, wellness project coordinator

“Having fitness facilities on-site makes it so convenient to grab a few co-workers and head down for a class. Whether its squats, stretching or step, your focus, mood and heart-rate are elevated for the day ahead!”

“What works for me when I am stressed: Zumba. It feeds my soul! Forget about your hang-ups and just move with the music.”

“I feel like there’s a lot of support behind improving the health of our people and our customers.”

Chelsea Dufresne, workplace wellness advisor

Kelle Cloutier, graphic design specialist

Julie Craig, manager, IT I&O Project Management Office

PART 4, QUESTION 31E PART 6, QUESTION 38

HEALTH AND WELLNESS PROGRAMS

Fitness, free and on site

Alberta Blue Cross believes in breaking down barriers, especially when they keep people from living their best lives. By providing our employees an on-site fitness facility, we’ve tackled two of the biggest barriers that prevent people from fitting in regular exercise: time and cost.

The Balance Centre is our wellness facility. It’s a calm, peaceful space where employees of all skill levels can access first-rate fitness classes and equipment. The Balance Centre is built to work with our employees’ needs and schedules. By having a fitness facility in our main building, employees can save time on their commute to the gym. The Balance Centre is open Monday to Friday from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m., granting employees fitness access no matter what their schedules look like. Additionally, all our fitness facilities and classes are free to employees.

The Balance Centre was designed based on employee input and feedback. It features a weight and resistance training room, cardio room and group fitness room, where up to four instructor-led classes are held each day. We offer morning, lunch and afternoon classes, all of which range from 30 to 45 minutes and include workouts like yoga, HIIT and Zumba. Employees of all fitness levels can find an activity that works for them, and we’re constantly adding new classes and equipment.

All classes are led by our in-house certified instructors. Instructor certification is supported by Alberta Blue Cross.

Balance online wellness program

We prioritize the health and wellness of our employees, and we want them to prioritize it too. To help our employees on their wellness journey, we introduced Balance, an online resource that assists with tracking and managing health. Employees start by completing a health risk assessment then Balance provides a customized action plan that leads towards lasting change. Employees can learn, track and earn points for prizes, all while improving their health.

Last year, we responded to customer feedback by giving Balance a digital overhaul. The new design prioritizes user experience and allows members to add trackers from Fitbit, Garmin, Misfit and Wear OS by Google. This is a first-of-its-kind project in the market and continues to be a priority area as one of our signature wellness solutions.

Paid wellness breaks

On top of regular breaks, every employee at Alberta Blue Cross receive a paid, 15-minute wellness break each day. This provides an opportunity for employees to go for a walk, have a stretch or take part in a guided meditation session—whatever they need to recharge and refocus.

To support our employees, we schedule daily wellness break sessions like mindful meditation and move and stretch. These sessions are led by our internal wellness team. To ensure all of our employees can participate, we hold them throughout our main office and virtually on our Intranet. This year, we also started livestreaming our wellness break videos through IGTV so people outside of Alberta Blue Cross can participate.

Standing up for ergonomics

If you don’t feel your best, you can’t perform at your best. That’s why we offer our employees one-on-one sessions with an ergonomic specialist. Together, they can adjust an existing workspace to meet the employee’s needs. In 2019, a total of 65 ergonomic assessments were conducted.

Wellness campaigns

Wellness is more than a goal—it’s a journey, and we support our employees year-round by promoting internal wellness campaigns that educate, motivate and inspire employees on their journeys to physical, mental, social and financial wellness. Some campaigns we’ve run include the following:

Meditation challenge. To combat holiday burnout, we offered a 10-day meditation challenge in December. Four meditation sessions were held each day and guided meditation recordings were shared online with remote staff.

Nutrition month. March is nutrition month. On top of informative newsletter articles, we held a lunch and learn session and live demo called “putting nutrition into perspective” and encouraged employees to take advantage of their benefit plan to speak with a dietitian.

Financial planning. A majority of employees identify finances as a major stress. To combat this, we held several lunch and learn sessions throughout the year on financial planning and brought in financial planners for individual one-on-one consultations.

Putting a face on mental illness. To increase awareness of mental health, we shared the stories of people who struggle with mental illness in an attempt to decrease the stigma. Employees were encouraged to share their own stories and directed to resources that could help.

Gratitude challenge. This was an opportunity for employees to build a more positive outlook on life by spending 30 days tracking three things a day they’re grateful for. This is a proven step in enhancing overall well-being.

Wellness screenings

In December 2019, employees at our Edmonton and Calgary offices participated in an on-site wellness screening event administered by registered nurses from Lifemark. Participants underwent a comprehensive screening to gain insight into factors that contributed to their wellbeing and to help them take the another step in their wellness journey. After their assessments, participants could enter their results in their Balance accounts and earn bonus points.

• 53 per cent of the screened population have no health risks at all.

• 67 per cent of participants showed minimal signs of mental health and depression, with only 25 per cent showing a mild score.

• All our risk measures were lower than Canadian national averages except for HDL (high density lipoprotein) cholesterol and triglycerides.

Wellness fair

Each year, we hold a wellness fair in our Edmonton head office. This year’s theme—Growing our Gratitude— encouraged employees to take steps towards leading healthier, more balanced lifestyles. The fair featured local experts who taught employees about physical fitness, mental health and mindfulness, social well-being, financial wellness and nutrition.

Optional and extended health benefits

We’re a wellness-driven organization who strives to make our employees’ lives as enriching as possible through a wide range of health benefits.

We want our employees to be healthy— that’s why they have a variety of plan options to choose from.

We want our employees to be happy— that’s why we offer flexible health and wellness spending accounts.

We want our employees to reach their goals—that’s why we offer full-time staff $4,000 a year for educational assistance and part-time staff $2,000 a year.

Every employee has three different benefit plan tiers to choose from. Depending upon selection, they may also have the option to direct funds to either a Health Spending Account (HSA) or Wellness Spending Account (WSA). Regardless of which plan they choose, Alberta Blue Cross covers 90 per cent of plan rates, putting more money back in our employees’ pockets.

All three plan tiers offer up to $2,000 per member for psychology services. On top of that, we’re proud to offer our employees the Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP). EFAP provides short-term, confidential and voluntary support services to help people through issues such as work-related stress, family problems, bereavement and eldercare. Employees can make an appointment in the way that works best for them: in-person, over the phone or online.

Small steps make a big difference.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. At Alberta Blue Cross, we believe the little things make a big difference in our employees’ journey to physical, mental, social and financial wellness.

Fresh fruit. We provide bowls of fruit throughout our buildings so employees can help themselves to a healthy snack. Flexible hours. We offer employees flexible working hours that allow them to build up time and take an earned day off every month.

Transportation allowance. Each employee receives a $90 transportation allowance per month and is encouraged to commute using environmentally friendly options.

On-site flu shots. We arrange for a team of registered nurses to provide flu shots on-site to employees before every flu season.

Self-care in the stairs. Employees are encouraged to take the stairs, and each floor contains a motivating message to keep them moving.

Games to socialize. Employees can borrow a variety of board games and outdoor games to play with coworkers during lunch hours and breaks.

Sport and social clubs. We offer a variety of clubs for our employees to join including sports teams, language clubs and board game clubs.

PISANI PLAZA, OUR NEW WELLNESS PARK

Watch our wellness park being built

In 2008, Alberta Blue Cross purchased a building and a small piece of land just behind our head office, on the corner of 107 Street and 100 Avenue in Edmonton. After holding on to this property for ten years, we made the decision in 2018 to convert the area into a park for our employees and neighbours.

As we began planning the project, the key driver was to create a space for wellness. That could mean a space where people can be physically active, and it could also mean a space where people gather together socially. We wanted our employees and others working downtown to have a welcoming, accessible natural setting right outside their door.

Our Facilities department led the project, and we spent several months gathering employee input and holding engagement sessions. The final piece of our wellness park was deciding on a name. We settled on Pisani Plaza, named for Ray Pisani, our president and CEO who retired in January 2020 after 35 years of dedicated service. As CEO, Ray was instrumental in leading the development of Blue For Life, the first long-range vision and strategy for Alberta Blue Cross.

Introducing

PISANI PLAZA

We held a soft opening of the park in November 2019. The park includes seating areas, bike parking, a small creek bed and bridge, an open grassy area and soon, a beautiful mural. The mural will celebrate the natural beauty found in Alberta, and the concept was developed through employee and neighbour engagement sessions. Two Edmonton artists are painting the mural, which will be completed in 2020.

To further the wellness aspect of the park, we will be hosting employee events in the space as well as fitness classes led by our instructors. While the park is owned and maintained by Alberta Blue Cross, it’s open to the whole community, and we can’t wait to share this space with our downtown neighbours and the rest of the city.

Our new wellness green space, honouring Ray Pisani’s 35-year career at Alberta Blue Cross.

“As an organization, we’re focused on wellness—empowering healthy, vibrant people, workplaces and communities. A green space like this creates an environment where people are encouraged to go outside, gather together and be active, which are all key aspects of overall wellness.”

Ray Pisani, former president and CEO and namesake of Pisani Plaza

COMMUNITIES INVOLVED IN OUR

We actively invest in the well-being of the communities where we live and work. Our employees are committed to giving back and are passionate about connecting with their communities—this is how we can impact so many great causes and initiatives across our province.

“Community is at the heart and soul of Alberta Blue Cross. Our history is built on the passion and dedication our employees have for their communities and is at the core of our purpose—to help people live their best lives.”

Rebecca Smillie, manager, Community Impact

COMMUNITY INVESTMENT

We live in the communities we serve and we serve in the communities where we live. Our community investment is all about bringing vibrancy to our communities. We partner with community groups and develop programs and initiatives we’re proud to be a part of to help people get healthy, live healthy and stay healthy.

In 2019, we deepened our engagement in the communities we serve with involvements across the province including nearly 100 sponsorships that facilitated interaction with tens of thousands of Albertans. We stepped up to show Albertans that we’re more than their benefits provider— we’re their partner in wellness.

This year, our Street Team was hard at work at several lunchtime events, the St. Albert International Children’s Festival of the Arts, the Alberta Sport Connection Masters Games, Family Night at the Edmonton Valley Zoo and Corporate Challenge.

Change Health Community Program

Collaborating with government, health care, businesses and community leaders, the CHANGE Health Community Program (CHCP) helps Alberta families to pursue lifelong healthy nutrition, active lifestyles and positive social connections. Combining physician, health professional and academic expertise from the University of Alberta with Primary Care Networks, schools, local businesses and community organizations, the CHCP will customize wellness-focused health for 1,000 Alberta families in five years. We initially piloted the program with our internal staff, and in 2019, we launched the public-facing program and began implementing sessions and preliminary evaluations.

Healthy Communities Grant program

We’re proud of our Healthy Communities Grant program, which awards $300,000 in grants to support community projects that promote active living and health and wellness. In 2019, we gave six communities $50,000 each to help make their dreams of active living a reality. Each community chose to invest their grant in building a school or community playground, providing a place where kids can be healthy and families can gather.

“Fundraising can be such a lonely and daunting task, especially when your community has done everything it can for you. Finding out we were receiving funds through the Healthy Communities Grant Program was like winning the lottery—it alleviated the anxiety and doubt that we wouldn’t complete our playground. It was like Alberta Blue Cross really saw us, our community and our kids.”

Keylock,

Carrie

Healthy Communities Grant program recipient project committee co-chair

Scholarship program

Each year, we present more than 80 scholarships ranging from $750 to $1,500 to students from more than 20 Alberta post-secondary institutions, with most awarded by the institutions directly to full-time students based on academic achievement and financial need. Over the 20-year life of this program, we have provided more than $1 million in support of post-secondary education in Alberta. Our scholarship program for Indigenous students helps to address education inequity faced by Indigenous peoples in Alberta by making post-secondary studies more financially accessible.

Calgary Pride

The Calgary Pride Festival promotes equality, celebrates diversity and brings colour to Calgary’s streets.

Our Street Team celebrates the day with Calgarians and Albertans from around the province to promote a city free from discrimination against gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation.

Grey Cup Festival sponsors

As an official sponsor of the Grey Cup Festival held in Calgary, we got the chance to celebrate with our community, sharing games, swag, Canadian pride and lots of smiles with more than 50,000 people enjoying the national event.

EMPLOYEE-LED INITIATIVES

Our employees are empowered to take the lead on community and corporate initiatives. The success of many of our fundraisers and campaigns is because our employees care about their communities.

Hearts of Blue

Hearts of Blue is a charity operated and funded by Alberta Blue Cross employees and supported corporately. Hearts of Blue supports dozens of local and less-recognized charities across the province. It allows our employees to support organizations that are important to them. In 2019, Hearts of Blue contributed more than $15,600 to charities across Alberta, including Calgary Community Kitchen, Compassion House, Kids on Track, Meals on Wheels, the Rainbow Society of Alberta and the Edmonton, Calgary and St. Albert Food Banks.

Days of Giving, organized by Hearts of Blue, gives all Alberta Blue Cross employees the opportunity to volunteer in their communities on paid company time.

Hearts of Blue and Operation Friendship are important, at a broad level, because being part of an organization that cares about community and actually walks the walk has become something I care more and more about. It shows the humanity and the commitment to community that we really do have here.”

Gayathri Sreekanth, manager, Health and Dental Applications

United Way

For the annual corporate campaign in support of United Way, Alberta Blue Cross employees raised $122,210—the most Alberta Blue Cross has ever raised! Combined with our corporate contribution, we raised a total of $265,000. The huge success of the campaign can be largely attributed to the amazing work of our United Way campaign team and employee ambassadors. Alberta Blue Cross was proud to win the 2019 Campaign Committee of the Year award, the highest honour at the United Way’s annual Red Tie Gala. This honour was the result of their hard work engaging our organization in the 2019 let’s tackle poverty United Way campaign.

Row for Kids

Every year, our Alberta Blue Cross rowing team holds a series of fundraising events to support the Row for Kids rowing race in September. In 2019 the team raised $17,801 for the Stollery Children’s Hospital.

MS Bike Ride

In 2019, the corporate cycling team joined the MS Bike Ride for the second year, with 11 cyclists riding almost 200 kilometres from Leduc to Camrose and raising nearly $9,000 for the MS Society of Canada.

Casual for a Cause

Casual for a Cause has been happening on a regular basis since 1999. One Thursday a month, employees donate to a charitable cause in exchange for the opportunity to dress casually. Each year, Casual for a Cause days raise more than $20,000 to support various causes throughout Alberta.

At Alberta Blue Cross, we are firm believers in growing our people. From educational assistance to our short-term incentive plan, we tap into the pulse of our workforce and strive to keep our employees happy, motivated and empowered.

GROWING TOGETHER

CANADA'S TOP 100 EMPLOYERS  2021  ALBERTA BLUE CROSS

“I’m proud and grateful for the mentorship and opportunities I’ve been given through my career. I started in an entry level position, moved to team manager, then into management, then into senior management. I’ve been given great mentorship and the leaders I’m surrounded by are incredible.”

Tarick Fadel, director of analytics, research and pricing

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

We want our employees to have the tools they need to reach their goals. By offering educational assistance and ongoing training, we help our people grow through all stages of their careers.

$834,000 SPENT ON EMPLOYEE TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN 2019

Educational assistance

Our educational assistance program enables employees to reach their full potential, both personally and professionally. Every permanent full-time employee is eligible for up to $4,000 a year to pursue higher education, training programs and professional development courses. Permanent part-time employees receive $2,000 a year.

Leadership development program

We often grow our leaders within our own walls, and our Leadership Exploration and Development (LEAD) program provides future leaders the opportunity to participate in learning and development experiences with an assigned mentor. Employees receive an individualized development plan that reflects assessment results and incorporates mentor, project lead and manager feedback.

Last year, our future leaders were asked to participate in organizational challenges that directly contributed to major corporate projects, such as policy training and awareness, meeting standards and guidelines and expansion of the CHANGE Alberta Program. When they completed their work, they were given the opportunity to present their recommendations to the Executive Committee.

BLUniversity

Our employees come from a wide variety of backgrounds and have a range of different hobbies and interests, so it’s not surprising they have a lot of knowledge to share. That’s why we started BLUniversity, an in-house training program designed for employees to share their knowledge, ideas and passions.

The following are some of the topics covered last year:

• Home composting

• Cryptology

• Mind and meditation

• Instant pot cooking

• Acrylic painting

18 225 SESSIONSPARTICIPANTS

BLUshops

Along with BLUniversity, we offer lunchtime workshops through our BLUshop program. BLUshops occur monthly and emphasize health and wellness through a hands-on approach. Each session introduces a different topic and host, many of whom are external to Alberta Blue Cross.

The following are some of the topics covered last year:

• Food and finance

• Preventing burnout

• Art therapy

• Putting a face on mental illness

• Ten healthy habits of money management

12 350 SESSIONSPARTICIPANTS

Toastmasters

Blue Toastmasters, our organizational chapter, is open to all Alberta Blue Cross employees. We encourage our people to get involved to continue to build their confidence, leadership and public speaking skills. All fees are covered by Alberta Blue Cross.

Learning and Development portal

The Learning and Development portal allows staff members to sign up for online in-house training. Employees can sharpen their skills by taking training on project management, collaboration and SharePoint or stay up to date on industry standards through compliance courses on cybersecurity, privacy and anti-spam legislation.

“I truly feel like I’m part of a family who makes not only my personal well-being a priority, but also those who matter most to me. The support I get from my team on both a professional and personal level is unreal.”

San Lam, customer experience coordinator

PROGRAMS FOR EXPERIENCED EMPLOYEES

Mentorship programs

We value diversity and the knowledge that employees of all ages bring. To ensure each generation is getting the support and engagement they need, we’ve established an internal mentorship group. As our staff continues to grow and experienced employees begin to retire, it becomes even more important to share insights and pass down knowledge.

Our formal mentorship program is designed for anyone aiming to become a high-potential leader. This program utilizes a three-pronged approach that includes internal and external training, one-on-one mentoring with an experienced leader and accountability for a live corporate project.

We also encourage employees to take part in informal mentorships. These relationships are supported through training and resources on our intranet site.

Pre-retirement support

We support our employees through all stages and transitions of life. As our mature employees reach the ends of their careers, our Human Resources department offers phased-in work arrangements as a way to retain their knowledge and skill sets. Additionally, we hold complimentary retirement planning workshops for all prospective retirees. These workshops are run by a team of professional retirement planners who help employees make informed decisions about their futures.

Service awards

All employees receive service recognition awards on their first anniversary, fifth anniversary, and every five years afterward. Certificates are also awarded to long-serving staff members of 25 years or more. At years 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45, employees receive a Canadian Association of Blue Cross Plans certificate. At years 30, 35, 40 and 45, employees receive a Blue Cross and Blue Shield Award certificate.

Our annual Memory Makers event celebrates long-service employees and retirees with 20 years of service or more. Each year, members enjoy a dinner and award ceremony that honours those who are new to the memory makers club.

ALBERTA BLUE CROSS HAS

258 EMPLOYEES WITH 10+ YEARS OF SERVICE

89 EMPLOYEES WITH 20+ YEARS OF SERVICE

33 EMPLOYEES WITH 30+ YEARS OF SERVICE

Performance-based and other rewards

PART 10, QUESTION 46

Short-Term Incentive Plan. We share our success with our employees—that’s why we introduced the ShortTerm Incentive Plan (STIP) for all permanent employees. STIP provides an annual targeted incentive of up to five per cent of an employee’s base pay, paid out every April. The incentive plan is based on our achievement of corporate performance targets.

Spirit Award. The Spirit Award is presented annually to an employee who exemplifies our culture and exceeds expectations in our community involvement initiatives. The recipient is celebrated each year at our company Christmas party.

Sales awards. The President’s Award and the Top Sales Representatives awards celebrate members from our Group and Individual Sales teams for high performance.

Blue Stars corporate recognition system. The Blue Stars corporate recognition program makes it easy for our leadership team to formally recognize exceptional employees. Managers can reward their staff members who go above and beyond in a way that is flexible and tailored to their individual employees.

Peer-to-peer recognition. We do a great job of informally recognizing a job well done. Through the Give Feedback tool in Workday (our human resources portal) employees can provide structured feedback and recognize anyone within our organization.

Employee referral program. We believe our employees are the best and will attract the best. Through our referral program, employees receive a $500 referral bonus if they refer someone who’s hired and a $750 bonus if that person celebrates two years with Alberta Blue Cross.

Employer group referral program. We reward our employees when they refer an employer for a new group benefit plan. Anyone who refers a new group receives a Visa gift card.

Christmas gifts. Every year, our Executive Committee presents each employee with a Christmas gift to thank them for all their hard work. Last year, every staff member received an oil diffuser with two bottles of essential oils, hand delivered by a member of the Executive Committee to celebrate the season.

“My favourite thing is knowing the team here has my back. We work hard at being the best and most cohesive team as humanly possible.”

Susan Middleton, customer service representative

Improving the employee experience

Last year, we implemented a new Human Resources and payroll system called Workday. Workday provides an improved employee experience through better information management, enhanced functionality and a modern, intuitive user interface. Benefits to employees and managers include the following:

• A faster and more efficient way to update personal information

• All changes can be made online—no paper forms required

• Mobile access through the Workday app

• Live, dynamic view of the Alberta Blue Cross organizational chart

• Access to real-time information and reporting to empower decision making

Employee engagement survey

PART 10, QUESTION 45

When our employees speak, we listen and we strive to ensure our people have multiple avenues to express their opinions and ideas. One of our key tools is our yearly employee survey. In 2019, 86 per cent of our employees participated in the survey and our engagement score was 86 per cent—the highest engagement score we’ve ever had. The feedback we receive from our employee survey allows us to plan for future initiatives and growth.

Top five questions 2019 score

I feel Alberta Blue Cross has a welcoming and inclusive culture respecting people of all backgrounds 95%

I feel Alberta Blue Cross is committed to enhancing workplace wellness

I want to grow and develop with Alberta Blue Cross

I know what is expected of me

I feel Alberta Blue Cross is a great place to work and would recommend it to others

88%

88%

86%

86%

“Alberta Blue Cross is doing a great job in building and maintaining an inclusive culture! They are very understanding of individual needs.”

Anonymous response to our 2019 diversity survey

DIVERSITY CHAMPIONING

Alberta Blue Cross believes in building a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the qualities and differences of the communities we serve. We know that in order to be successful, our workforce must represent and value the experiences, backgrounds, perspectives and needs of our customers.

CANADA'S TOP 100 EMPLOYERS  2021  ALBERTA BLUE CROSS

SCHEDULE 1

Annual employee engagement survey

One of the questions in our annual employee engagement survey is “I feel Alberta Blue Cross has a welcoming and inclusive culture respecting people of all backgrounds.” Since it was added in the survey in 2013, this has consistently been the top-ranked question. In 2019, our score was 95 per cent.

Diversity and inclusion policy

Although Alberta Blue Cross has long welcomed employees from many diverse backgrounds and sought for all employees to achieve their full potential (as evidenced by our exceptional employee engagement survey results), we have recently made several tangible “moves to further support diversity and inclusion within our workplace. This began by ensuring our Talent Management Strategy included goals and actions emphasizing our commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce.

We then created a formal Diversity and Inclusion Policy that outlines our objective of strengthening respect and understanding for diversity and inclusion among our employees. The policy lays out our corporate principles, requirements, roles and responsibilities surrounding diversity and inclusion.

Diversity survey

In 2019, we assessed our current state and general awareness of inclusion in our workforce by partnering with Diversio, a Canadian leader in the diversity and inclusion field, to survey all Alberta Blue Cross employees. It was a point of pride for us when the survey demonstrated that we have a very dynamic and inclusive workforce. We received an above-industry average, overall inclusion score of 81.3 per cent. Some of the strengths that were highlighted include the following:

• Alberta Blue Cross is far above industry average in regard to our representation of women.

• We are within the industry average for representation of the LGBTQ2S+ community and individuals with disabilities.

• Our flexible work options are uniquely strong.

• Our feedback and review processes were indicated as strong, objective and fair to all employees.

Diversio also presented us with some steps we could take to improve our diversity and inclusion efforts even further. These included establishing a diversity and inclusion committee, implementing diversity and inclusion training for all employees and within our leadership development programs and celebrating Pride and non-western holidays.

Diversity and inclusion committee

In the fall, a call went out for passionate individuals to lend their voice and time to be part of the committee. With an outpouring of interest from our employees, the committee was formed in October 2019. They are now working to develop activities and programs that champion diversity and inclusion within our workplace.

Diversity and inclusion is not about building and implementing programs, it should be a fundamental aspect of the employee experience and felt throughout everyday aspects and behaviours. Our diversity and inclusion philosophy

“We have such a positive, inclusive, healthy work culture, like nowhere else I have ever seen. The work-life balance is encouraged and supported.”

Kimberly Germsheid, junior medical underwriter

Pride

On June 7, 2019, we held our first official pride celebration, featuring a presentation by Marni Panas, the program manager of Diversity and Inclusion for Alberta Health Services and a longtime advocate of gender identity and gender expression. She shared her expertise in health and culture safety for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and two-spirited (LGBTQ2S+), as well as stories from her life as a transgender woman. Alberta Blue Cross also created bracelets featuring our logo and pride colours, which all employees could wear to show their support for and celebration of the LGBTQ2S+ community. We also championed a “wear your pride colours” day.

Social and language clubs

Many Alberta Blue Cross employees speak or are learning second languages. Because of this, Alberta Blue Cross supported the creation of our Spanish speaking club. Our Edmonton Sport and Social club teams, Toastmasters club and internal board games groups bring our people with similar interests together. Employees come from many areas in the organization, bringing their diverse backgrounds together to participate in friendly competition, meet new people and develop lifelong friendships.

Friday prayer

As part of our commitment to recognizing and respecting the religious beliefs of all Alberta Blue Cross employees, space in our Balance Centre is provided each week for our employees to gather for Jumu’ah, the traditional Muslim Friday prayer. All employees are welcome to join and learn about the culture and traditions.

“Every day, we recognize that our diverse workforce brings innovative ideas and perspectives to all levels of our company.”

Mark Razzolini, vice president, People, Wellness and Innovation

Learning and Development

In 2019, new leadership and core competencies were established, which included outlining the expected diversity and inclusion behaviours in the organization. The leadership competencies were then embedded into our Succession Management Program. Over the course of the last six months of 2019, every member of our management team was assessed on these competencies. From these assessments, we were able to identify the types of training required at our management levels to support our leaders with awareness and understanding of diversity and inclusion.

Other learning and development initiatives included lunch and learn sessions throughout the year, which offer financial, social, mental and physical health advice and learning to our employees.

Community support

Alberta Blue Cross has partnered with a number of organizations that support diversity and inclusion in our communities. We are a proud sponsor of Global’s Woman of Vision, the Network of Empowered Women, Inclusion Alberta and the Pan Disability Connection. We have also built partnerships with NorQuest college (in support of Indigenous and new immigrant education), the Bredin Institute (for newcomers), Momentum Counselling (for mental health) and Credit Counselling Services (for financial health) to support the attraction and recruitment of diverse individuals and to contribute to the engagement of our employees.

We recently implemented our Indigenous Engagement Strategy, focused on understanding and supporting our Indigenous communities. This includes training for employees, building awareness of the careers and benefits we offer at Alberta Blue Cross and community wellness initiatives. Our recruitment strategy was updated to reflect the goal of increased representation of Indigenous peoples and other diverse groups within our workforce.

We have also conducted customer and market focus groups and surveys to build customer profiles, giving us a deeper understanding of where we are successful and where we have opportunities to improve in understanding our customers’ diverse needs. Journey mapping is ongoing to keep us informed of how our customer and market needs are changing—taking us beyond traditional segments of age and gender.

We are very proud of the steps we have taken over the past year to foster diversity and inclusion within our organization and our communities, and we look forward to further enhancing the employee experience at Alberta Blue Cross into the future.

putting

OUR PEOPLE first

Our people are at the heart of everything we do. If our employees are not fulfilled and engaged, then our organization is not successful, no matter what the bottom line shows. We firmly believe that people are our greatest asset and we have a number of tools and resources to ensure their health, safety and happiness are always prioritized.

LIVING OUR VALUES

Our values were created by, for and with our people. They represent who we are, what we stand for and the culture that guides us. In all we do, we keep our values at the forefront.

INTEGRITY AND TRUST

We are respectful, ethical, honest and inclusive in all that we do.

WELLNESS AND FLEXIBILITY

We promote and inspire a healthy culture of support, adaptability and compassion across our workplace and our communities.

CUSTOMER COMMITTED

We are accountable and committed to our customers and passionate in the delivery of an exceptional customer experience.

EMPOWERING POTENTIAL

We support learning and growth while fostering a diverse environment that cultivates collaboration and innovation.

PART 5, QUESTION 33

CELEBRATIONS AND SOCIAL EVENTS

Our people are worth celebrating. We make sure to take the time to celebrate birthdays, holidays, city events or just the nice weather.

Edmonton and area Corporate Challenge

Every year, we join dozens of companies around Edmonton by taking part in Corporate Challenge. We encourage our employees to join a sports team, participate in trivia night or donate blood in the corporate blood drive.

Blue Sky Grill

One of our favourite traditions is the annual summer barbecue on our rooftop patio. The Executive Committee grills up lunch for our employees as a thank you for all their hard work. Employees pay a small fee with all proceeds going to charity. In 2019, we raised more than $1,600 for the Rainbow Society of Alberta.

Pancake breakfasts

Summer is festival season, so we like to kick it off in style. To celebrate the start of K-Days in Edmonton, we hold a pancake breakfast for all staff. Our Calgary office also marks the start of the Calgary Stampede with a pancake breakfast at the office.

Annual Christmas party

Last year’s Christmas party saw our highest attendance ever. Under the theme “jingle and mingle,” guests enjoyed a buffet dinner, photobooth, hypnotist show, DJ and dance floor.

Children’s Christmas party

This family-friendly event is held every year, and 2019 saw nearly 800 guests attend—a record number. Children took part in cookie decorating, crafts, laser tag, face painting and a special visit from Santa.

Anniversaries and retirements

Milestones deserve to be recognized. When one of our employees reaches a milestone anniversary or retirement, in addition to a cash recognition, employees celebrate their milestone with their department.

Family fun events

We love it when our employees’ families get to be part of our celebrations. Throughout the year, we hold a variety of family-friendly events at amusement parks, water parks, ski hills and picnic sites.

Staff assembly

Every two years, we host an all-employee assembly to update our staff on our strategic direction and take a look back at our past accomplishments. Our 2019 staff assembly theme was “Reframing the conversation” and focused on reframing how people think about wellness, mental health and the customer experience.

The 2019 staff assembly was held at the Citadel Theatre, one of Edmonton’s most iconic venues in the heart of the historic Arts District. We were happy to welcome guest speaker Jessica Holmes to talk to our employees. Best known for her role on the Royal Canadian Air Farce, Jessica is a comedian, author and mental health advocate. She spoke candidly about her struggles with both post-partum depression and, as she puts it, “regular, run-of-the-mill, garden-variety depression.” Our employees gained new insights into how to live and thrive while taking care of their mental health.

COMPANY-WIDE COMMUNICATIONS

Our employees feel engaged because we keep them connected. Our internal communications, overseen by the Corporate Communications department, keep everyone informed on upcoming events, procedural changes, day-to-day happenings and big-picture decisions.

Intrablue

Our employee intranet page houses vital information about working at Alberta Blue Cross. The latest news, company procedures, wellness resources and employee directory all live on Intrablue, along with our style guide, floor maps and benefits information. Intrablue is interactive for employees—people can comment on a news story, promote an upcoming event or post on our company buy and sell page.

News to Use

News to Use, our company newsletter, is distributed electronically every week and contains a wealth of information on what’s happening at Alberta Blue Cross. We work hard to keep up employee engagement through team features, event announcements and company news.

Service Desk emails

Sometimes, employees need to know about an update immediately. For news that can’t wait, our Service Desk sends out a company-wide email so everyone can stay informed.

SharePoint

Collaboration is central to our success. As a result, each department has a team SharePoint site where they can easily store, share and edit documents with each other.

Keeping us posted

No matter where they go in the Alberta Blue Cross buildings, our employees know what’s happening around the office. Lobby posters, elevator posters and TV screens are updated regularly with the latest company news and events.

Peer-to-peer communication

We have a number of important groups within Alberta Blue Cross who have news to share, so we’ve designated floor champions who can send relevant information to their teams, ensuring that no one misses the latest updates.

Our employees are our voice

We strive to make sure our internal communications resonate with our people, and we recognize the importance of including employees in our committees and initiatives. Our employees are our champions, and we value the unique, diverse perspectives and backgrounds they bring.

Some of the employee-led committees who help drive communications include the following:

• Alberta Blue Cross Staff Association

• Wellness Committee

• Diversity and Inclusion Committee

• United Way Committee

• Hearts of Blue

• Row for Kids

• Partners for Life

Each group is led by employees, for employees, and use the communication tools available to them to keep our workforce engaged and informed.

FAMILY-FRIENDLY POLICIES

A healthy work-life balance is key to a fulfilling life. Our company policies are built with our employees and their families in mind so that at the end of the work day, we can all focus on what truly matters.

Higher education awards

We recognize the importance of higher education and the impact it has on our children’s futures. To make sure that post-secondary education is not out of reach financially, we offer the Higher Education Awards to the dependant children of our employees. The awards provide a scholarship of up to $1,000 each academic year, to a maximum of $4,000 per dependant, to students registered at an accredited post-secondary institution in a full-time, continuous program of at least two years.

Summer student program

College or university students looking for a summer job can apply for positions at Alberta Blue Cross. We had 40 summer students work with us in 2019. At the end of the summer, our students are celebrated with a company barbecue.

Flexible sick and family care days

Life happens and we want our employees to take care of themselves and their families when it does. Every full-time employee has up to 12 sick and family care days each year, and part-time employees have up to nine days. We have no restrictions on whether employees use these days to care for themselves or an unexpected family situation.

Flexible days off

We offer our employees flexible working hours, as well as the ability to bank time to take an Earned Day Off (EDO) every month. EDOs can be scheduled at the employee’s discretion with management approval.

Time off for the holidays

Every Christmas, Alberta Blue Cross employees are given five consecutive days off, allowing our staff to spend more time relaxing with friends and family without dipping into their vacation time.

FACILITIES AND FEATURES PART 4

We’ve designed our spaces to inspire wellness, innovation, creativity and functionality. Thanks to our dedicated Facilities department, in collaboration with our business areas and employees, we’ve created a space that works for the people using it.

Head office

QUESTION 30A

In the heart of the city. Our head office is located in downtown Edmonton, just steps from the city’s beautiful river valley. A brick road lined with Tyndall Stone lamp posts leads to our historic legislature building, the High Level Bridge, walking paths and city parks. We’re also within walking distance of many restaurants, cafes, shops and city festival grounds.

An easy commute. Edmonton’s light rail transit (LRT) stops just one block away from our head office, and we’re nearby several major bus stops. For those employees who prefer to bike to work, we offer secure bicycle racks and on-site shower facilities. Parking stalls are also available to rent. Getting to work shouldn’t break the bank, so regardless of how our employees commute, all permanent staff members receive a $90 monthly transportation allowance.

A modern new look. Renovations have been ongoing at our head office since 2018; three floors have been completed already. Our remodeled workspaces are flooded with natural light and come complete with collaborative workspaces, social eating areas and new washrooms. These workspaces were designed with the employee experience in mind and are meant to increase productivity, lower stress, improve mood and support the circadian rhythm.

Flexible work style policy. We have established a flexible and innovative workplace that fosters a culture of excellence, increases productivity, improves employee engagement, enhances organizational wellness and gives our employees the best use of their space. We are committed to providing alternate work arrangements, when feasible, to our employees. Through our flexible work style policy, we work with our teams to ensure they can work with the flexibility they need, in the spaces and locations that are most suitable for them, and equipped with the technology that works best for their roles.

Distinctive features

Beautiful greenspaces. Our head office is nestled in the middle of Edmonton’s majestic river valley, the largest expanse of urban parkland in Canada. Employees can enjoy more than 22 parks and 150 kilometres of trails, and in the summer months, our staff take advantage of our location to run the river valley stairs, have picnics, take walks, go trail running or splash around in the legislature pool. During the winter, our employees visit the nearby skating rinks, enjoy the Victoria Park IceWay or take in the Christmas lights on the legislature grounds.

Rooftop patio. Employees can head to the roof from early spring to late fall to catch a few rays on our rooftop patio. The sunny space can be used for formal gatherings, like summer barbecues and social celebrations, or informal gatherings, like lunch breaks or meetings.

Staff lounge. Our staff lounge is an area where our employees can get together to socialize. It’s equipped with state-of-the-art audio and visual equipment, a kitchen facility complete with a dishwasher and refrigerator, as well as bistro-style furniture and artwork. It can seat up to 70 people; employees can book it for large meetings, presentations or celebrations.

Sick room. The sick room in our Human Resources department provides a quiet place to rest for anyone feeling unwell during the work day.

Wellness park. Last year, we opened Pisani Plaza, a dedicated wellness park right behind our head office. Pisani Plaza provides a space for both employees and the public to gather, rest and enjoy nature. In addition to sharing a lunch or outdoor meeting, our staff uses it to take part in wellness breaks, meditation sessions and yoga classes. Read all about it in our “Wellness starts within” section.

Balance Centre. The Balance Centre is our on-site fitness facility. Read all about it in our “Wellness starts within” section.

BlueWatch. Our joint health and safety committee, BlueWatch, keeps our employees healthy and safe. BlueWatch is a team of safety-minded employees and managers who are responsible for addressing current and future workplace health and safety issues. Employees and managers bring their perspectives together to enhance the effectiveness of safety overall. They work as a team to proactively address issues such as physical safety, harassment, bullying and violence. They share relevant tips and updates with the rest of Alberta Blue Cross.

CANADA'S TOP 100 EMPLOYERS  2021  ALBERTA BLUE CROSS

THANK YOU

for considering Alberta Blue Cross for Canada’s Top 100 Employers award. It’s an honour we look forward to every year and especially now as we strive to protect our employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We’re very proud of everything we’ve accomplished this past year, and we hope the passion we have for our work and our people is evident throughout this application. With a strong focus on wellness, diversity, growth, community investment and employee happiness, we are confident that we’ll continue to thrive in the years to come.

Thank you for your time. We appreciate your consideration.