netrashetty
Netra Shetty
Cigna (spelled using all capital letters as CIGNA) is a global health services company, owing to its expanding international footprint and the fact that it provides administrative services only (not insurance) to approximately 80 percent of its clients. The corporate headquarters are located at Two Liberty Place in Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. CIGNA also has a major footprint in the Phoenix, Arizona metro area running a full-service staff-model HMO with satellite clinics throughout the region.[1]
Cigna International Expatriate Benefits also operates under CIGNA corporation and provides benefits to customers around the world.
According to its most recent investor report[2] from 2009, CIGNA has approximately 29,300 employees.
Performance Planning
Performance planning is the process where in goals are set. Goal-setting should be done by the manager and the employee. To create a good performance plan, employees need to know where they are now (the current state) and where they want to go (the goal state). Goals should be measurable and achievable. The plan should include process and support during the execution phase to help managers and employees do the things necessary to have the plan succeed. This includes monitoring progress, identifying and addressing problems, and helping employees stay on their edge to maximize their growth and their performance. The plan should be modifiable during the execution phase to respond to changing circumstances (Zwell 2000).
Performance Appraisal
The performance appraisal process must help managers in measuring the adequacy of employee performance and aid in the creation of performance improvement plans. The Hotel must use a performance appraisal that will:
* Determine whether employees are producing acceptable performance outputs
* Determine whether performance meets or exceeds performance standards
* Determine if employees are performing acceptable activities
* Determine the level of internal and external satisfaction with outputs generated by employees
* Discuss how employee performance is helping the department and the organization achieve its strategic business and goals and objectives
* Design a performance improvement plan for employees
* Confront employee performance and make recommendations for improvement (Gilley and Maycunich 1998)
Performance Appraisal Tool – Management by Objectives
Management by Objectives (MBO) involves a joint determination by subordinate and superior of common goals, major areas of responsibility, and results expected; these measures are used as guides for operating the unit and assessing contributions of members (Miner, 2002). MBO is the best known of result-oriented methods of performance planning and review and, in some form; probably the most frequently used approach to performance planning and review. MBO is a target-setting or results-oriented approach to performance management. It recognizes that employees perform better when they have targets, and even better, when they have participated in setting those targets.
The organization must adopt a developmental approach in performance appraisal. A performance appraisal that aims at employee development can be used to motivate and direct individual performance as well as career development efforts. Emphasis should be placed on goal setting as well as review. The developmental approach in performance appraisal will allow coordination and cooperation between the manager, supervisor and employee.
The Rising Cost of Health Care
Much as I’d prefer to leave this Human Resources trend off the table, it’s not going away. The continually rising cost of health care insurance and health care is affecting what employers can provide in terms of additional benefits for their employees. The rise of employee payments for part of insurance coverage, the practice of seeking insurance first from a spouse’s employer, increased payments for covered family members, and higher health care provider co-pay office fees are all highlights of the rising cost of care
Made to Order Employment Relationships
Perhaps it’s the push from the millennials, and definitely it’s the availability of technology that facilitates the customization, but the made to order work relationship has become a dominant force in the past decade. Teleworking or telecommuting, a rare privilege in the 1990s, has taken workplaces by storm. One giant computer company reports that 55% of its employees not only telecommute, they work from home all of the time. A New York City publishing company allows telecommuting two days a week and employees can bargain for more.
Teleworking is not the only component of the new made to order work arrangements. Flexible anything has become the new norm. Flexible work hours, flexible four day work weeks, flexible time off for appointments, and the most important trend of all: Paid time off (PTO) allows employees to take time off when they need the time as it consolidates sick leave, personal time, and vacation time into a bank of days for employees to use.
Additionally, trends such as bringing baby or the family pet to the office also fall within this workplace flexibility.
Superficially, all of these components of the made to order Human Resources employment trend offer benefits for employees. But, they offer benefits for employers, too. Employers don’t need to police employee time. They need to make work and communication more transparent and measurable so the flexibility yields results. Their employees are more motivated and engaged, and less stressed out about family and life issues, because they have the time necessary to address work-life balance issues.
Cigna International Expatriate Benefits also operates under CIGNA corporation and provides benefits to customers around the world.
According to its most recent investor report[2] from 2009, CIGNA has approximately 29,300 employees.
Performance Planning
Performance planning is the process where in goals are set. Goal-setting should be done by the manager and the employee. To create a good performance plan, employees need to know where they are now (the current state) and where they want to go (the goal state). Goals should be measurable and achievable. The plan should include process and support during the execution phase to help managers and employees do the things necessary to have the plan succeed. This includes monitoring progress, identifying and addressing problems, and helping employees stay on their edge to maximize their growth and their performance. The plan should be modifiable during the execution phase to respond to changing circumstances (Zwell 2000).
Performance Appraisal
The performance appraisal process must help managers in measuring the adequacy of employee performance and aid in the creation of performance improvement plans. The Hotel must use a performance appraisal that will:
* Determine whether employees are producing acceptable performance outputs
* Determine whether performance meets or exceeds performance standards
* Determine if employees are performing acceptable activities
* Determine the level of internal and external satisfaction with outputs generated by employees
* Discuss how employee performance is helping the department and the organization achieve its strategic business and goals and objectives
* Design a performance improvement plan for employees
* Confront employee performance and make recommendations for improvement (Gilley and Maycunich 1998)
Performance Appraisal Tool – Management by Objectives
Management by Objectives (MBO) involves a joint determination by subordinate and superior of common goals, major areas of responsibility, and results expected; these measures are used as guides for operating the unit and assessing contributions of members (Miner, 2002). MBO is the best known of result-oriented methods of performance planning and review and, in some form; probably the most frequently used approach to performance planning and review. MBO is a target-setting or results-oriented approach to performance management. It recognizes that employees perform better when they have targets, and even better, when they have participated in setting those targets.
The organization must adopt a developmental approach in performance appraisal. A performance appraisal that aims at employee development can be used to motivate and direct individual performance as well as career development efforts. Emphasis should be placed on goal setting as well as review. The developmental approach in performance appraisal will allow coordination and cooperation between the manager, supervisor and employee.
The Rising Cost of Health Care
Much as I’d prefer to leave this Human Resources trend off the table, it’s not going away. The continually rising cost of health care insurance and health care is affecting what employers can provide in terms of additional benefits for their employees. The rise of employee payments for part of insurance coverage, the practice of seeking insurance first from a spouse’s employer, increased payments for covered family members, and higher health care provider co-pay office fees are all highlights of the rising cost of care
Made to Order Employment Relationships
Perhaps it’s the push from the millennials, and definitely it’s the availability of technology that facilitates the customization, but the made to order work relationship has become a dominant force in the past decade. Teleworking or telecommuting, a rare privilege in the 1990s, has taken workplaces by storm. One giant computer company reports that 55% of its employees not only telecommute, they work from home all of the time. A New York City publishing company allows telecommuting two days a week and employees can bargain for more.
Teleworking is not the only component of the new made to order work arrangements. Flexible anything has become the new norm. Flexible work hours, flexible four day work weeks, flexible time off for appointments, and the most important trend of all: Paid time off (PTO) allows employees to take time off when they need the time as it consolidates sick leave, personal time, and vacation time into a bank of days for employees to use.
Additionally, trends such as bringing baby or the family pet to the office also fall within this workplace flexibility.
Superficially, all of these components of the made to order Human Resources employment trend offer benefits for employees. But, they offer benefits for employers, too. Employers don’t need to police employee time. They need to make work and communication more transparent and measurable so the flexibility yields results. Their employees are more motivated and engaged, and less stressed out about family and life issues, because they have the time necessary to address work-life balance issues.
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