Open Communication...

Pinnacol has been interviewing candidates for our open CEO position for the last couple of months, and during that time John Plotkin, our Board of Directors Vice Chair, has been serving as interim CEO. This week I had the chance to sit in with John as he held one of several employee round tables where employees share what is on their mind and John can answer their questions directly. During his time with us John has made a conscious effort to engage frequently with employees by attending team meetings and holding these round table sessions. Employees greatly appreciate his efforts and I think most of us feel very comfortable sharing thoughts and concerns directly with him.

John's efforts are not without precedent. While I'm still just a young pup with only 16 years of service, I've seen similar efforts by the two prior CEO's I have had the privilege to work under. Gary Pon was CEO when I first joined what was then known as the Colorado Compensation Insurance Authority (commonly referred to back then as CCIA). Gary had been instrumental in transitioning our organization from its days as a State Agency. Gary held regular Breakfasts With The President and I had the chance to attend many of these sessions. When Gary retired and Ken Ross took the helm in 2005 Ken maintained the tradition with his Coffee Talks With Ken sessions.

When we have new employees join the company I've always encouraged them to sign up for these sessions with our CEO's sooner rather than later. Not every company sees their CEO take the initiative and time to meet regularly with employees, and not every CEO is astute enough to realize this is more a learning opportunity for them as leaders of the organization than it is for the employees who attend. I had a teacher in school who used to say that to learn you first had to listen and my impression is that Gary, Ken, and now John, appreciate that sentiment.

We don't know yet who our new CEO will be but we are looking forward to wlecoming them to the organization. Hopefully whoever next assumes this role will continue, by whatever name, the ongoing dialog with employees.