It's an Amazing Thing...

One of the amazing tools provided by Google is a tool called Google Analytics. For those of you who have blogs of your own you probably already know all about this. Analytics allows a blogger to see how many folks are accessing their blogs, how long on average they spend on the site, what the most-read content is, and where the reader is located. The last, where the reader is located, is always fascinating to me. As a Colorado-based, and focused, company I would have anticipated that most of our readers come from in-state and that is in fact the case. But in the year that this blog has been up we've had readers literally from around the world.

For example, in the last month we've had 14 visits from India. Folks in Hyderabad, Chennai, and New Delhi are spending above average amounts of time reading the blog. I've always wanted to travel to India (congratulations, by the way, for your victory yesterday in the 2nd semi-final of the Cricket World Cup) and when I look at Analytics I wonder about the people behind the numbers - what their lives are like, what they are seeing when they look out from their windows, what the background noise is, and what the air feels like.

Ramakrishna Temple, Chennai

Hyderabad and New Delhi are in the news frequently enough that I am somewhat familiar with them, but Chennai is a complete unknown to me. Curiosity usually gets the best of me so I Googled Chennai to learn more. Turns out that Chennai, formerly known as Madras, is a shortened form of Chennaipattinam, the name of the town that grew around Fort St. George, which was built by the English in 1640 (their first Fortress in India). Today Chennai is the 5th most populous city in India and the 36th most populous in the world. Located on the Bay of Bengal, the city has a booming automotive industry and is sometimes referred  to as the Detroit of

Srirengam Temple, Chennai

India. It also has a thriving film industry. Chennai is one of the world's fastest growing cities, and is expected to grow 2.5 times its current size by the year 2025.

I don't know if Pinnacol will ever hire one of our readers from outside the U.S., but I'd like to think that it's a possibility. So, to our readers around the globe, thank you for reading, and if you are ever in the Denver area, we'd like to say hello.

You Can Do Everything Right, and Still Have a Tough Time Finding a Job...

I know from a candidate's perspective it is very frustrating in today's market to find a job, let alone a new career. I hear it from almost every candidate I speak with, including several today. It's often easy for candidates to fall into the trap of blaming themselves for how long it's taking to find a position and there is no doubt that Colorado's job market is as challenging as it's been in decades.

I've spent the last two days at a conference celebrating Great Places to Work and in getting caught up on my e-mails and news I saw a study highlighted in an article by Greg Griffin in the Denver Post from Wednesday that paints a picture in stark contrast to the companies I saw at the conference who appear poised to surge out of the recession if given half a chance.

Conducted by Colorado State University, the study  illuminates what has occurred over the last decade in our state:

• While the Western Slope and central-northern mountains created a net 12,200 jobs in the last 10 years, the front range, including the greater-Denver area, actually lost 5,000 jobs over the decade
• Since the start of the recession in December 2007, Colorado has lost more than 126,000 jobs eliminating any job growth that had occurred in the first 7 years of the decade
• During the same time frame Colorado's labor force added more than 300,000 people and the working-age population soared by 575,000

According to the economists who wrote the report, Martin Shields and Michael Marturana: "In many ways, Colorado has lost a decade."

Job-seekers today can do everything exactly right - have the correct blend of education, skills, and experience, have impeccable references, and network like they invented the term - and still be unable to land a job. That is an incredibly frustrating situation for anyone to find themselves in. This recession will eventually come to an end; when it does it will take a long time to forget the 1st decade of the new millenium.

To see the Colorado State University Study "Has Colorado's Economy Lost a Decade?", click here.

A very interesting day...

What do you call a day when you get to hear a successful turn-around story straight from the mouth of Intel's VP of Human Resources Richard Taylor, have lunch followed by a keynote address by Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh, sit in on several intriguing and informative breakout sessions, and then end with a session by Maxine Clark, the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Bear of Build-A-Bear Workshops? For folks attending the national Great Place to Work Conference in Denver put on by the Great Place to Work Institute it's just part of the routine. But for me, attending the conference for the first time, it's like being a kid in a candy store. Most of the companies recognized on the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For in America list are in attendance and there are folks from many different countries as well. I sat next to folks from Finland and Japan and that was just at breakfast.

Why are all these people in Denver?  To share their knowledge about what makes a company a great place to work. Pinnacol is honored to have made the Great Place to Work list in the Medium size company category and what I am learning is that we are doing many of the things our larger (much larger!) counterparts are. Pinnacol is not alone in recognizing that taking care of our employees results in our employees taking better care of our customers but every company takes it's own special path to developing a great culture and work environment.

Tony Hsieh was probably the most unique presenter as he detailed his philosophy that delivering happiness (to employees, vendors, customers, and everyone they come in contact with) is the cornerstone of Zappos success. For those of you unfamiliar with Zappos, they sell shoes, clothing, and other items but their real product, what really sets them apart, is service.

The conference, being held at the Hyatt Regency,  wraps up tomorrow, but the inspiration will last a long time!

New Opportunity for Decision Support Analyst!

Our I.S. group is busy! We have an additional opportunity for another Microstrategy Decision Support Analyst to create and maintain business intelligence tools.

The ideal candidate for this opening will have 3+ years experience with business intelligence tools (Microstrategy preferred) and SQL. We are looking for a great communicator with the technical expertise to support projects that require heavy analysis and problem solving. This position works independently as well as part of a team designing and constructing BI solutions and candidates will need to be able to effectively communicate findings to management and help devise business intelligence strategies.

A Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience is required. Project management skills and insurance experience are a definite plus. This position is based at our Denver (Lowry) headquarters. If you know someone who might be interested please pass this on. If you are interested, please complete an expression of interest on our company website at www.pinnacol.com/careers.

Should you have a Twitter Account during a Job Search?

Even though we currently have a small number of opportunities open with Pinnacol I'm still out on the web browsing recruiting and job-related sites to see what's trending, to find new ideas and methods, and to stay connected with folks who may someday become Pinnacol employees. That includes monitoring some of the key job sites who, in recent years, have become a much better resource for job seekers than simply a place to find jobs. One of the partners we sometimes use is Great Insurance Jobs.com. This morning they sent me an e-mail that included a brief article by Roger Lear, one of the co-founders of Great Insurance Jobs,  about why candidates should strongly consider having a Twitter account. From a job candidate's perspective, Twitter is perhaps the most under-utilized tool out there. I thought I'd pass along his tips as they are as concise and cogent as I've seen:

 "Can you tweet your way to the next great job? You may already know that you can use Twitter to find jobs that are "tweeted" by companies (Twitter.com/InsuranceJobs1). What you may not realize is that there a few advantages to having your own Twitter account during a job search that can help you.
Here are some reasons why having a Twitter account can really be beneficial to you during your job search:
1. Depending on what survey you read, over 50 percent of employers today are using Google to find your online identity. A well done Twitter account will put your name and identity at the top of this list.
2. A Twitter account allows you to control the content a potential employer will find about you if they do research your name. For example, if you are looking for a job as a graphic designer, your entire Twitter account can be devoted to tweets about the programs you use, interesting facts and links to your work. In addition, Twitter has a profile section that you can write a short "bio" about yourself, about your skills and your desire to find a great job.
3. You can "follow" companies that you have a desire to work for in the future. Many companies have established Twitter accounts and their tweets usually reflect what the company is doing. By following them, you may get a tweet about jobs open at their company.
4. You can find job leads at companies you don't follow. Twitter search engines allow you to put in search terms like "underwriter jobs Orlando". Any tweet with those words will appear. The better you get at search terms when using Twitter, the better results you will get.
5. Recruiters (in house and third party) and staffing firms are using Twitter to find candidates for their open jobs directly. If you are not in Twitter, they will never find you to contact you about the job they are recruiting for. Many of the jobs recruiters have are NEVER advertised.

Here are some tips to get started:
1. Go to Twitter.com and sign up for an account. Your username should be your name if it is available. If not, use your_name. Do not use any name that is cute or unprofessional.
2. Fill out the bio with key words about what you do and what you are looking for in your next job. Use key words that recruiters would use to find you.
3. Add your picture. This validates your profile. If you don’t have a professional head shot, get one done professionally. (Target does a good job.)
4. Research companies you want to work for and follow them.
5. Tweet regularly about things in your industry. Find tweets from others and retweet them to your account.

Twitter can be a great tool in your job search if done properly. During a job search, Twitter is not about how many followers you have. It is a great vehicle for you to get your name and online identity in the hands of potential employers with you in 100 percent control of the content."

Pinnacol has several Twitter accounts including a company account and one specifically for careers. There is still not (and probably never will be) a one and only best way to look for and find a job. Having a Twitter account just adds another tool to the toolkit.

E-Verify Self-Check Now Active in Selected States

As an employer, Pinnacol uses the E-Verify System  to assist in verifying the work authorization of new employees joining our company. We have been using E-Verify since July 2006 and overall our experience has been very positive. The system slowly continues to expand its functionality. For example, in recent years the system was updated that when someone presents a U.S. passport or some other types of documention the photo from the document appears on-line to verify against the individual we are actually hiring. One can envision the day sometime in the future that all documents provided as proof that someone is eligible to work in the U.S. will have such a photo-matching tool. I'm well aware of the national debate that is swirling around E-Verify but from an employer's perspective any tool that makes it easier rather than harder for us to be in compliance with the law is welcome news.

This morning I received an e-mail notification of a new service from E-Verify meant not for the employer but for the perspective employee. Rolled out initially only to residents of 5 states (Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, Mississippi, and Virginia) and the District of Columbia the new E-Verify Self Check program allows anyone residing in those areas to self-check their employment authorization, even if they are not necessarily applying for a job with a new employer.

Why bother, you might ask? The old adage of 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure' applies - finding out that something is possibly amiss with your documents is probably easier, and less stress-inducing, to know about and fix than under the time constraints imposed if an Employer discovers the problem with your documents for you. The most common thing we see with E-Verify (though our experience may not be the same as other employers) occurs with women who have recently been married but have not updated their social security card with the name change. Trying to fix this during the first couple of days as a new employee can be nerve-wracking when added to the stress of starting a new job.

I tested the E-Verify Self-Check for myself this morning and as happens with new systems it wasn't 100% glitch free to start. At first it didn't recognize that I was a resident of Colorado but after a quick call to their support line I was able to enter my information. It took all of about a minute to get the result. If you'd like to give it a try here is the link:
E-Verify Self Check.

Be Notified of Pinnacol Career Postings via E-mail

The folks at Google do a lot of things right which is part of the reason this Blog resides on Blogger.com. One of their new enhancements, or as they call them -"Gadgets", that I've been waiting for gives you the ability to be notified of our blog postings automatically via e-mail. At the top of the Blog you'll see a header saying "Follow by Email". Simply type in your e-mail address and submit and you'll be sent a daily email message when Pinnacol Assurance Careers has new content.

Two extraordinary lives

Pinnacol has as its core mission providing workers compensation insurance protection to Colorado employers and their employees. Ultimately its about protecting life through preventing accidents on the job wherever possible and ensuring care when an injury does occur.

This morning I was talking with someone and asked why the flags were again at half-staff in front of our building. My first assumption was that it was a soldier killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. That was not the case - there were actually two reasons for the flags to be lowered this morning. One was  Governor Hickenlooper's decree that flags be lowered to half-staff on all public buildings statewide on Tuesday, March 15 in honor of Limon police officer Jay Sheridan, 27, of Limon. Sheridan was killed on the job March 9 while serving a fugitive warrant in Limon, 90 miles east of Denver. The other was to honor Corporal Frank Buckles, the last of the more than 5 million Americans who served during World War I. He died Feb. 22 at his home in West Virginia at the age of 110.

Quite a contrast between a life cut short too soon and another that witnessed more than a century's worth of American, and world, history. Frank Buckles was born in 1901 and was 14 years old when Pinnacol's predecessor first was established in 1915. When the U.S. entered World War I he first sought to enlist in the Marine Corp. and then the Navy but was turned down by both. He finally successful in enlisting in the Army in August 1917 at the ripe old age of 16. Pinnacol doesn't even accept applications from candidates this young but off to war Mr. Buckles went.

Buckles at age 16

Buckles was sent to Europe on the RMS Carpathia, which had rescued RMS Titanic survivors five years earlier. While on the Carpathia, Buckles spoke with crew members who had taken part in the rescue of Titanic survivors. Once in Europe he served in England and France as an ambulance driver. Discharged in 1920 he then worked for a variety of shipping companies and was in the Phillipines when Japan invaded in 1941. He would be a prisoner of war for the next 3 1/2 years.

After the second World War he returned to the U.S., ultimately settling on a farm in West Virginia and was still driving a tractor at the age of 103. When asked about the secret of his long life, Buckles replied: "Hope," adding, "When you start to die... don't." Limon Officer Jay Sheridan didn't get that option, and, for today at least, two extraordinary lives will be remembered and honored.

The Story of Water

Pinnacol tries very hard to promote green activities through its employees. We work in a very energy-efficient building, we have recycling bins on all of our floors, and we have a very active 'Green Team' to keep us on our environmentally friendly toes. This morning one of our employees, Ryan, who works on our communications team, wrote an internal blog for our Green Team's intranet page. I thought I'd share it because it made me stop and think. Even though I have heard the message over and over again, I still, like you probably do, occasionally reach for bottled water. So here's Ryan's gentle reminder that even the simplest of our actions can have a big impact.

It seems like the same few ways to help the environment get drilled into us over and over again: Recycle. Take a five-minute shower. Ride a bike to the store. Ride the bus to work. The problem is, some of these things are a huge pain. A bus ride from my home in west Denver (which is right on two major bus routes) to Lowry takes an hour and 20 minutes, compared to a 30 minute drive - I know, I've done it. And while I very much enjoy the time to read or play a game on my phone without two tiny people vying for my attention, I still like my kids and don't want to spend an extra hour and a half away from them. And have you ever tried to ride a bike with a gallon of milk and a two boxes of Cap'n Crunch? It's not easy - done this too.

That's why switching from bottled water to tap water is so refreshing (pun!). It's incredibly easy. You can re-use a Dasani bottle, or head to REI for a thoughtfully-designed vessel that will make you feel cool. Then simply fill it with delicious Rocky Mountain tap water. Who knows, it may have come from one of those bubbling alpine brooks in the Coors commercials! Take it wherever you go, even to restaurants where you'd be tempted to buy a bottle of water. And we've got ice cold water in the dispensers in every break room here at Pinnacol.

Between the production and disposal of the bottles, plus all the shipping, bottled water is incredibly inefficient and wasteful. Especially considering much of the bottled water you drink is simply tap water, filtered (Dasani, Aquafina). So go out and get a water bottle. And watch the video below for a little background on how fancy bottled water gets to your hands.



Of course, nothing in this world is ever really easy. As I was driving in to work this morning there was an interesting story on the radio explaining that all of these new "BPA Free" water bottles still have plenty of 'estrogenic' chemicals in them. It really is a full time job watching out for Mother Earth, but every baby step we take can still make a difference...

What's next? Apple unveils new IPad

One of my co-workers had sent me the clip from Apple's unveiling of the new IPad today in San Francisco. I know a lot of our staff are already using the first generation IPad and are exploring what the device means in terms of work functionality (and yes, they are a whole lot of fun too...). Steve Jobs described the new IPad as the next step in "post-P.C." devices. As I write this I'm still typing away on one of those "pre-IPad P.C.'s", but I'm wondering how soon will come the day when the big box in front of me is replaced by a "post-P.C." device, either Apple or otherwise. Generations coming of age today may never actually own a P.C. just as many of you have never worked at a computer terminal.

I was speaking with a couple of our Business Directors and we were wondering about things like doing first interviews via the new IPad. Right now the number of business apps seem somewhat limited, and those there are somewhat clunky, but that will change. As Steve Jobs announced the 2nd generation of his device I couldn't help wonder what the fifth, sixth, or tenth generation will be capable of. Stay tuned! The IPad 2 ships to stores beginning March 11th.

Linking Employee Wellness to Workers’ Comp Costs

Danielle, one of the people I have worked with on our Employee Services team, has taken on a neat new project offering a new service to our policyholders. Danielle's background is rich in training and development but this new project is a great example of how Pinnacol allows employees to continue to expand their horizons. Her new project involves helping to roll out a Health Risk Management program to our policyholders. Ultimately the program is another way Colorado employers can help manage their workers' compensation insurance costs.

Traditionally, when employers look for ways to lower their workers’ compensation insurance costs, they focus their attention on beefing up their safety programs to prevent injuries. While safety programs are essential, what about those employees who, based on their lifestyle, seem to put themselves at greater risk of injury despite the best safety measures?

One of the biggest challenges for businesses today are costs associated with poor employee health. Pinnacol's Health Risk Management (HRM) program will measure the effect of lifestyle and health risks on workers’ compensation costs over a 3-5 year period. Participating employees will have access to a personal Health Risk Assessment (HRA), telephonic coaching, and a wide array of online tools and resources. These resources, offered by one of our vendors -Wellsource Health Solutions, will help raise awareness and empower employees to make healthy lifestyle changes.

The work Danielle is involved in has the goal of enrolling 30,000 policyholder employees into the Health Risk Management program. If you know a Pinnacol policyholder who might be interested in signing up or learning more, have them contact their agent, Danielle at 303-361-4768, or Karen at 303-361-4784.

Thanks, Danielle, with sharing information about this unique work that you are doing, and good luck with the project!