TOP
50
BLUE CROSS AND
BLUE SHIELD OF FLORIDA
No. 10
Business Type: Health Insurance
Corporate Headquarters: Jacksonville, Fla.
Number of U.S. Employees: 9,300
Annual Worldwide Revenues: $6.97 billion
At Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida (BCBSF),
commitment to diversity starts at the top, with CEO
Robert I. Lufrano involved in everything from diver-
sity workshops for leadership to the development of the
diversity director’s title. Formerly vice president of diversi-
ty strategy and development, Tony Jenkins’ title recently
Robert I. Lufrano
CEEOO
Tony Jenkins
VP iceofPCreusltidueranltCoofmpetence
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and Diversity Systems
was changed, with Lufrano’s guidance, to vice president of cultural
competence and diversity systems,
which better reflects the reorganized department’s shift in focus.
“He makes sure he is actively
involved,” Jenkins says of Lufrano,
with whom he meets quarterly to
discuss the state of diversity at the
health-insurance provider.
On either The DiversityInc Top
50 Companies for Diversity or 25
Noteworthy Companies lists for
the fourth consecutive year,
BCBSF stood out this year because
of its CEO commitment, unbiased
retention and high number of
blacks and women in management.
The company had 34 percent more
women in management than the
Top 50 average ( 57 percent vs. 42. 5
percent) and more than twice the
amount of blacks in management
than the Top 50 ( 19. 5 percent
vs. 9. 7 percent).
“The company aims to satisfy
the needs of our customers and
deliver a differentiated experience”
that is above and beyond their
expectations in regard to products
and services, Lufrano says. “One
example of a way to do this is by
having a diverse work force that
mirrors the marketplace we serve.”
In its effort to support employees’
development, BCBSF offered more
than 225 educational diversity workshops and sessions that drew more
than 15,000 attendees last year. With
a total work force of about 9,000,
there were repeat attendees, those
Jenkins lovingly refers to as “diversity
groupies.” Some of the company’s
larger business units, including operations and IT, mandate that employees attend at least one session a year,
but many of the workers attended
sessions voluntarily.
That education extends to senior
leaders. Last year, the company created diversity workshops for the leadership team of every business unit,
including one for the CEO and his
direct reports, to whom Jenkins
reports. “The leadership sessions are
very important for us because this
has to start at the top,” he says. “If it’s
important to leaders, it becomes a
priority for all employees.”
—T.J. DeGroat
