AFLAC, Inc.

TECHNOLOGY | CULTURE | BUSINESS
CANDIDATES | SAMPLE JOB LISTINGS | ARTICLES

TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW

AFLAC's technical environment includes an IBM CMOS 9672/R476, 160 Compaq NT servers, and 2,000 PCs in a client-server environment. Development on the mainframe is generally in COBOL and a little Assembler, with CICS, TSO, ADABAS, Natural, and Easytrieve. Development on the client-server side is generally in Visual Basic or C++, using Microsoft's COMTI to access the mainframe with DNA architecture, in a distributed communications environment, that includes Cisco communications hardware. Additional software used includes Crystal Reports, a report generation tool; DMS GT, a screen mapper, SQL-Server, to manage the server plantation; and SQL-Time, for inventory. Additional tools used include Expediter and Visual Studio.

Four thousand Panasonic laptops are used to support the field sales force with automation tools like the Open Image application. Each laptop is connected to a pen tablet that collects digital signatures, encrypts them, and transmits them via modem to Open Image (from Eastman Imaging System), which resides on a host server. There, the signature is married to the appropriate form in an application. Additional sample projects include the development of an interactive voice response (IVR) system to let agents check on the status of new policies. This was developed using tools from Lucent Technology and Conversant. The company recently implemented a correspondence workflow system that scans and indexes incoming mail, integrating all correspondence from each policyholder. A link to the database retrieves policyholder coverage data, which is presented to a clerk answering the inquiry, along with the correspondence. Skills needed to answer the request are rated in a 7-point system on the way in and assigned to the correspondence, so it can be queued and routed to someone with the appropriate skills for processing. The screens for this application were developed in Visual Basic. Eastman imaging software was used for scanning and digitizing the correspondence. Robots were written in C++ to direct images, update the ADABAS database, connect to an SQL-Server backend, generate error reports, match up correspondence with error reports and re-introduce the correspondence into a queue for re-work. COBOL was used for development on the mainframe side. The project took 12 months and 14 people.

CULTURE OVERVIEW

Corporate facilities include an onsite acute care clinic and daycare center as well as a wellness program. Employees can earn points toward prizes like water bottles and t-shirts through various health-oriented activities like using walking trails or getting a mammogram or blood pressure screening. The company has arranged a number of discount programs with local merchants for flowers, dry cleaning, movies, and cars. The company celebrates football Friday in honor of the Atlanta Falcons, inviting employees to wear Falcon memorabilia and go to a pep rally. The company sets aside one week a year as employee appreciation week, and offers treats throughout the year, like free popcorn and ice cream days. There is a formal Christmas party and company-sponsored teams for basketball, tennis, bowling, and volleyball. All employees are eligible for stock options.

As might be expected, AFLAC pays for supplemental insurance for its employees. It also offers the traditional menu of optional benefits that includes major medical, dental and vision insurance, group life, accidental death, and disability insurance. There are 401(k) and profit-sharing plans, with the company contributing a portion to the 401(k). Ten company holidays are observed, and employees have a pool of 16 to 26 personal time off (PTO) days to cover needs for illness and vacation. There have never been any layoffs.

Dress is business casual during the week, and casual, with jeans and tennis shoes allowed, on Fridays. Employees work in cubicles, with Assistant Director and above claiming private offices. Official hours are 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM. A typical week is 45 hours or less, but could soar to 80 hours during critical projects. There is a rotation schedule for oncall duties. Travel requirements are limited. Telecommuting is an option, but with only 3 of 360 people invoking the privilege, it is still rare. Commuting, for most, however, is a short ten minutes.

BUSINESS OVERVIEW

AFLAC, Inc., a holding company for AFLAC (American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus) offers supplemental insurance designed to provide its policyholders cash payments for expenses generally not covered by major medical insurance policies. This could include co-payment obligations, payment for the use of physicians outside a medical plan's coverage, travel expenses to reach treatment centers, continued salaries after medical coverage ends, nursing home or in-home care, even long-distance phone calls associated with care.

AFLAC was founded in 1955 and was among the first to offer an insurance policy for cancer treatment expenses. Brothers John, Paul, and Bill Amos started the company, offering insurance policies in Georgia and Alabama to start, then throughout the Southeastern United States. In 1974, AFLAC initiated service in Japan, introducing that country's first supplemental insurance policy for cancer expenses. It was only the second American insurance company authorized to do business in Japan. Today, AFLAC leads the insurance industry in supplemental insurance coverage in the United States, typically through payroll deductions at employers' sites, and is a leader in payroll marketing. It ranks first among foreign insurance companies in Japan, which accounts for 80 percent of its sales.

AFLAC's corporate presence can be felt in its commitment to a variety of organizations involved in efforts against cancer, and working to improve the lives of those fighting cancer, especially children. A small sampling of community projects includes corporate sponsorship for the Don Imus' Ranch for Children, the AFLAC Cancer Center at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, endowment of a chair for cancer research at the USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles, and support for the Ronald McDonald House.

AFLAC has more than 5,000 employees, including 2,300 at corporate headquarters. It insures more than 40 million people. A favorite of both small investors and Wall Street, returns to investors have been at the average annual rate of 27.2% over the last ten years. AFLAC is the most popular stock among the small, private clubs that are members of the National Association of Investors Corporation (NAIC). Its management was recently described by The Wall Street Transcript as one of the best in the insurance industry. AFLAC recently bought two of its competitors, Colonial and Providence, and exceeds the market share of its other competitors, including UNUM, Conseco and Aon.

CANDIDATES

There are 360 technical professionals at AFLAC, all working in the Information Technology division, supporting applications for the company's other divisions, which include Marketing, Client Services, Claims, and Finance. The company has a dual technical/management career path. On the technical side, there are careers in both development and systems programming. The career path on the developer's track includes Programmer Trainee; Programmer; Programmer Analyst I, II; Senior Programmer Analyst; and Systems Consultant I, II, III. A Systems Consultant III is at the same level as Team Leader. The management path continues to Assistant Director, Director, Second Vice President, Vice President, and Senior Vice President/CIO.

AFLAC hired 100 technical professionals in the last year and expects to hire 110 in the next year, to sustain a 20 percent growth rate. Turnover is around 12 percent. They rarely hire entry-level professionals. Candidates are found through advertisements (25 percent), employment agencies (25 percent), contacts (20 percent; there is a bonus for employee referrals), unsolicited resumes (20 percent), online recruiting (5 percent), and college recruiting (5 percent). AFLAC has a few contract programmers on staff and occasionally out-sources a turnkey project, but, in general, most work is handled with its own staff.

Team players with a strong technical background and good interpersonal skills summarize AFLAC's requirements for technical professionals. A college degree is a benefit, but the focus is on technical skills. Current staff members have an average of seven years of experience and range in education from high school diplomas to Ph.D. degrees. Reflecting its emphasis on building highly technical solutions to real-world business problems, staff members must have the ability to communicate technical issues to a non-technical audience.

ARTICLES

The Wall Street Transcript ( www.twst.com/info53.htm )

NAIC Better Investing/Investor News (April 2000)