Cigna Named i4cp's Member of the Year

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Ball Corporation, HSBC, and Celgene also honored at the i4cp 2017 Conference

Cigna was awarded the Institute for Corporate Productivity's (i4cp) 2017 Member of the Year Award this week at the i4cp 2017 Conference: Next Practices Now. The award is presented annually to an i4cp member company that has demonstrated outstanding innovations and achievement in workforce productivity.

Karen Kocher, Chief Learning Officer of Cigna, accepted the award in recognition of Cigna’s continued advancement in human resources. The 39,000-employee company continues to see impressive share price growth, which has increased 223% over the last five years. Cigna ranks among the most active members organizations in the i4cp network and has been involved in various member programs throughout the year. Kocher also serves on i4cp's Chief Learning & Talent Officer Board.

Cigna was also a recipient of i4cp’s Next Practice Award in recognition of its efforts in improving onboarding and employee development practices.

Several other highly respected organizations were recognized for their achievements throughout the weeklong conference:

  • Microsoft was the recipient of i4cp's 2017 High-Performance Award, in recognition of its outstanding achievement as a high-performance organization. Microsoft has seen its share price double over the last five years, and under CEO Satya Nadella, has re-emerged as a more agile cloud-based organization. Kathleen Hogan, Executive Vice President of HR at Microsoft, who has led efforts to optimize the company culture for a knowledge-based economy, accepted the award.
  • Ball Corporation was honored with i4cp's New Member of the Year. In addition to seeing a steady increase in share price over the last five years (80%), Ball Corporation contributed significantly to the i4cp membership network, most notably by hosting an Exchange Forum for i4cp members last fall. Ball’s Senior Vice President of HR & Administration Lisa Pauley was on hand to accept the award.
  • HSBC was selected as the 2016 Exchange Member of the Year, in recognition of exemplary peer leadership and dedication to the advancement of the field of human resources. HSBC is involved in several of i4cp's Exchanges (peer working groups that help drive i4cp's research agenda).
  • Joe Garbus, Vice President of Talent and Leadership at Celgene Corporation, was the recipient of i4cp's Board Member of the Year, in recognition of his leadership and generous contributions to the advancement of the field of learning and talent management. Garbus is a member of i4cp's Chief Learning and Talent Officer Board, a strategic group of 30+ functional heads who serve to address and guide their field.

Each year, i4cp presents awards during its annual conference to companies its research staff, member services team, and/or thought leaders deem exceptional in the field of human resources and related functions. Next year's conference will be held March 26 – 29, 2018 in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Erik Samdahl

As vice president of marketing at i4cp, Erik is currently responsible for all marketing efforts for the company and works alongside several departments to execute organizational initiatives. He also oversees web development projects. Located in Seattle, WA, he brings over 15 years of Internet marketing experience, most of which are in the research industry.

Prior to i4cp, Erik worked as Internet Marketing Director at market research panel company GMI, where he was responsible for global online marketing and panel growth in several countries. He also managed the graphic design team and worked extensively with other departments on process improvements and plan development. GMI experienced exceptional revenue growth - several hundred percent - during his tenure. Prior to GMI, Erik founded FilmJabber.com, a movie review and information website that continues to grow in popularity and traffic.

Erik received a B.A. in Business Administration with a concentration in Management Information Systems from Western Washington University.