When Coreen Dicus-Johnson is asked about the keys to her success as the president and chief executive officer of Network Health, her answer is always the same. “It starts with the team,” she said. “Every one of our nearly 500 employees is vital to creating an excellent experience for our members.”
It is important to Dicus-Johnson that employees feel supported and cared for, just as she wants them to support and care for the members.
“When I took the helm of the organization in 2016, our culture was not something that generated a sense of pride, and employee engagement was at an all-time low,” said Dicus-Johnson, a Titan 100 Hall of Famer. “I made it a priority to improve it.”
Now, the organization’s employee engagement scored in the 84th percentile for its industry, the highest since surveying began. “Our work to improve employee engagement began with our senior leadership team taking accountability for creating and executing action plans,” said Dicus-Johnson. “We would not have been successful without leaders who believe in the value of a high-performing culture and who are willing to put in the work to achieve it.”
Network Health is a Wisconsin-based health insurance company that serves more than 118,000 people across the state. The company’s mission is to build healthy and strong Wisconsin communities. Network Health offers coverage to Medicare beneficiaries, employer groups, and individual and family plans.
The organization’s values—accountability, collaboration, innovation, integrity and service excellence—are at the core of Dicus-Johnson’s leadership style, and they set expectations for the team. “We take our values seriously and regularly recognize team members who exemplify them,” she said. “I take great pride in leading an organization that understands the importance of having a culture employees crave.”
Looking forward, Dicus-Johnson said the organization has a five-year vision to double top-line revenue from $1 billion to $2 billion, double its membership to 250,000, and reach top decile performance in employee engagement. “People buy our health plans for the benefits, and they stay for the service,” she said. “We refuse to be complacent when it comes to taking care of our team and our members.”
When reflecting upon her legacy, Dicus-Johnson said she wishes to leave a legacy that people who work with her know, first and foremost, that she cares about them as a person. “That is what matters most and ultimately leads to our success,” she said. “We celebrate together, and we are each other’s biggest cheerleaders.”