Becoming the Best...

Several years ago our CEO Ken Ross set for us the goal of becoming the best workers' compensation insurance company in the nation. This is a tremendously lofty goal given that there are more than 500 insurance companies across the U.S. that can sell this line of insurance. Approximately 200 of those are licensed to sell workers' compensation here in Colorado.

Like any journey, our path to this goal is fraught with trips and falls. One of the things I've admired about this organization since I first started is that regardless of how good we are at any particular moment we recognize that we are far from perfect. It is the striving for improvement that makes the journey worthwhile. Pinnacol has been in the news a lot this summer and over the last several years. Some of the stories have detailed our pluses, others have explored (in great detail!) our shortcomings. The reality is that we may not be as great as some of these stories make us appear to be, or as bad as others would make it seem. In all things there is a kernel of truth and the challenge of our organization remains what it has always been - to seek out that kernel, good or bad, and learn from it.

Our policyholders and other stakeholders would likely agree that in balance Pinnacol has more going for it than against it. The company continues to return dividends to most of the companies that insure with us, rates have decreased dramatically over the last decade, and we continue to guarantee coverage to any Colorado company regardless of the risk that they bring.

By contrast, I was reading this morning in Business Insurance magazine that California's workers' compensation system may need a complete overhaul. One sign of California's woes is the California Insurance Rating Bureau's proposal for a 30% rate increase. California happens to be the largest workers' compensation system in the nation, dwarfing Colorado by comparison. As proof that size does not always matter, no one in our industry would highlight California as having the 'best' workers' compensation system in America. So there is room for optimism as Pinnacol continues on its quest to become better and better. Will there be more stumbles in the future? Perhaps. But, as one of our team leaders, Amy, puts it in a video we show new employees, this is a continually learning organization. And if, as Confucius said nearly 2,500 years ago, "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step", that's a pretty good place to begin.