Wishing everyone a spooktacular Halloween!

The weather the last couple of days in Denver has been spooky all by itself as if it were trying to set the stage for that annual parade of costumed characters known as Halloween. Here at Pinnacol we have a lot of daring souls brave enough to dress extra special for work on this special day. Of course today dawned clear and sunny which will be nice for all the kids trick or treating this evening but anymore its as much about allowing the adults to have some fun as well. Walking around the floors of our building this morning I saw everything from Big Bird to traditional witches and pumpkins to the characters from the Wizard of Oz.

When I first got in the rumors were already flying about our Finance team going all out so I headed there first. When I first passed Kathy's office (who most days is one of our Associate Vice Presidents) and noticed she had a passing resemblance to Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz I knew that the rumors were true. Not only was the team in costume but they had decorated their work area right down to having a yellow brick road which I was more than happy to follow. Continuing down that magical road I stopped by the Cowardly Lion's cubicle (normally occupied by Vachelle, one of our accountants) and asked if I could get the group together for a quick picture. Sometimes I have to persuade people to allow me to take pictures for the Careers Blog but Vachelle and the Finance team were real troopers and didn't hesitate for a moment to accommodate my request. Even Jeff, our CFO, joined in coming as the Munchkin Coroner.

Some of our wonderful Finance team: from left Jeff, Catherine, Julia, Carly, Kathy,  Pam Alicia, and Brandon

Not to be outdone, employees throughout the building had made the effort to dress up in their favorite costumes. I couldn't take pictures of everyone as I had to hop on my broomstick and get back downstairs for a meeting, but here are a couple that I was able to take while flying around.

Alicia, one of our Business Services Representatives

 

Katie, Business Services Representative and Tina, one of our Claims Representatives

From all of us at Pinnacol, here's hoping you have a safe (but scary!) Halloween!

Manager of Records, Inbound and Outbound Mail and Print Operations –Corporate Services Manager opportunity

Due to a recent promotion we are looking to fill what we refer to as a Corporate Services Manager position. Corporate Services Manager may not mean much to many of you but what it really involves is management of our Records, Mail, and Print Operations team. I asked Amanda, who was recently promoted from this position into a Business Team leadership role, if she would sit down to share her thoughts about the role she was vacating, and she was gracious enough to say yes. As you will hear from Amanda, this position manages approximately 19-20 direct reports and the services provided by this group are critical in allowing everyone else at Pinnacol to do their jobs.

One of the major projects this group is involved in right now is helping Pinnacol make the move towards a paperless environment. Like any insurance company, we have thousands and thousands of policy and claims files going back many decades and many of these still only exist in hard copy format. We hope to have these files converted into digital format within the next several years.

We are looking for an individual to assume leadership of this group who certainly has the technical knowledge in records, print, and mail operations but perhaps of more importance is finding someone who is the right fit with the team. Strong interpersonal skills go without saying, but we are also looking for someone who is good at managing and developing people for continually changing roles both within the team as well as through advancement opportunities within the broader organization.

As with any management position at Pinnacol a minimum of a Bachelor's degree is also required. If this position sounds interesting we would love to hear from you! Please apply on-line via our company website.

Educational opportunities in Insurance

Anyone who visits this site knows that there are a wide variety of career options available with Pinnacol.  Information Technology, Nursing, Project Management, Claims Handling, Underwriting, Legal and many more. Nationwide the insurance industry is making an effort to attract folks who may not be aware of the diverse career options available. Education is a key component in helping prepare those exploring our industry but until recently it was somewhat difficult for people to find formal education that would help them get ready to enter the profession.

In 2011, Pinnacol partnered with the University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver) Business School to create the Risk Management and Insurance (RMI) Program, the only program in Colorado to offer both undergraduate and graduate business degrees with an emphasis in insurance and risk management serving the Rocky Mountain West and beyond. Since then, RMI courses have been taken by 300 students over five semesters, and 68 students are currently enrolled. RMI graduate placement is 100 percent at competitive salaries, and the program has received national recognition in Bloomberg Businessweek. If you are interested in exploring this educational option at the University of Colorado click here.

Pinnacol Board announces finalist for CEO position

Pinnacol's Board of Directors announced yesterday that they have identified a finalist for our open Chief Executive Officer position. The Board issued the following Press Release:

The Pinnacol Assurance Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Philip B. Kalin has been
selected as a finalist for the position of Chief Executive Officer. The Pinnacol board is gratified that after
an extensive, nationwide search a finalist with Phil’s background and talent has been identified in
Colorado.

Pinnacol is required by Colorado statute to publicly identify any finalist for the CEO position two
weeks before the position can be offered. That two-week period begins with today’s announcement.
Mr. Kalin is the only finalist selected by the Pinnacol board.

No additional statement will be provided until the choice of a CEO has been confirmed.

Don't let the Flu catch you by surprise!

We've had a mild Fall thus far and when the sun is shining and the snow is not flying its easy to think

about everything other than the Flu season. October traditionally marks the beginning of the Flu season in the U.S. For years Pinnacol has provided Flu Shots on-site to employees at no cost. So this morning I dutifully lined up with several hundred fellow employees to extend our arms in this annual ritual of flu prevention.

You might have heard several years back that Google tracked Flu-related search terms and found search activity to be a good predictor of how active the flu was by region. The chart to the right is already showing an uptick for this year and I think several of my co-workers in Human Resources have already laid claim to having some of the first cases of the 2013-2014 season. The nice folks in Kansas to our east are already reporting moderate flu activity, as are several other states.

During last year's flu season, 41.6 percent of U.S. adults and 56.6 percent of children were vaccinated. With such a low vaccination rate it would seem that we are at risk sooner or later for a whole lot of people suffering through the aches and pains commonly associated with flu symptoms. I checked with Vanessa, who oversees the flu program as part of her benefits administration work at Pinnacol, and she was hopeful that most employees would take advantage of the free shots.

One of my co-workers, who shall remain nameless, is as adamant about not getting the shot as I am about getting it. Thus far she has been fortunate in not getting the flu, but that's a gamble I'd rather not take. How about you? Are you planning on getting a flu shot this year?

For more information regarding this year's flu the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a good site and to see what Google is showing on flu trends (including State by State) click here. 

What's the Team Nurse Case Manager position at Pinnacol all about?

Sheri and Audra are two of our employees intimately familiar with the nursing role at Pinnacol. Both came from clinical backgrounds and both joined us originally in the role of Team Nurse Case Manager. We are currently looking to fill a couple of nurse positions on some of our teams so the timing was right to sit down with them to get their impressions of the nurse position at Pinnacol. As you'll hear, the nurse case manager role is not something many clinical nurses hear about as a career option while going through nursing school yet it offers challenges and opportunities not found in the traditional clinical environment. It also offers the chance to work a normal daytime business schedule which many nurses also find appealing after working nights, holidays, and weekends. Nurses at Pinnacol also have the opportunity to continue to grow in their career. Sheri is now a Business Director of one of our multi-functional business teams and Audra is a Nurse Specialist. We also have Strategic Nurse positions for nurses wanting to work with the most challenging medical claims.



I've had the chance to speak with Sheri previously about what she looks for in nurses and you can see what she had to say here. And several years ago I spoke with Deborah about what it was like coming on board with Pinnacol as a brand new Team Nurse Case Manager. You can hear her thoughts here. Thanks to Sheri, Audra, and Deborah you can now get a very good idea of what our Team Nurse position is all about. If you are a nurse who would like to be considered for one of our openings we ask that you please complete an on-line application via our company website. We look forward to hearing from you!

Pinnacol Top Chefs go head to head in Around the World Food Festival!

Rod, Kathy, and Nexis - 3 of our Top Chefs!

Every other year our Diversity Task Force hosts an Around the World Food Festival to show off the cuisine of some of the different cultures represented by our employees. The food is prepared by our employee chefs and let me tell you, we have some good cooks!

This year food from 20 different countries was represented and included items such as Aloo Chana Chaat from India, Arroz Con Pollo and Gandules Dip from Puerto Rico, Bulgogi from Korea and Lefsa from Norway. My favorite item, at least by name, was Forfar Bridies from Scotland which is a lamb dish encased in pastry.

As you might imagine, these Food Festivals are always well attended, and this year's was no exception. We jokingly say at Pinnacol that food is our 6th company value (along with Integrity, Excellence, Accountability, Teamwork, and Innovation) and new employees need to be wary of putting on a couple of extra pounds when they join the company. When the food is as delicious as at this year's Festival it's very difficult to abstain. If you'd like to try your hand at some of the recipes here are some from this year's sampling:

I'd be remiss if I didn't say a special "thank you" to all the employees involved in arranging and cooking for this extravaganza. The shame of it is we now have to wait another two years for the next Around the World Food Festival. The good news is that maybe by that time some of us can work off the extra calories consumed at this year's event!

Infrastructure and Cloud Services Manager opening!

We are now looking for an experienced IT manager who will ensure that the company's IT infrastructure meets the strategic needs of the business and exhibits very high degrees of reliability, security, integrity, availability, recoverability, security, and performance. Specifically we are looking for a strategic and proven manager to lead highly talented team through the following key initiatives:

• Data Center Colocation - We are targeting a complete data center move to a colocation by the end of 2nd quarter 2014. We are currently evaluating vendors to partner with. 

• Disaster Recovery Refresh - Our current plan is dated, our BCP location is no longer desired, and we are moving our data center to colocation. We have the opportunity to take a new and innovative look at our disaster recovery plan. 

• Infrastructure Refresh - We are starting a blank slate initiative around what it would look like to redesign or refresh our data center infrastructure from scratch. The outcome of this project will has direct impact on what we place at our colocation. 

This position will manage, control, and coordinate the Data and Network Services Team to include Data Base Administrators, System Administrators, Security Administrators and Operations Analysts. Requirements include an  in-depth knowledge of various network operating systems, databases and network technologies, excellent facilitation skills, and proven problem-solving abilities and strong abilities in the application of systems logic. A Bachelor’s degree, preferably in a field related to information technology along with five years of experience supervising an area related to IT infrastructure is also required.

Candidates must also be available to work evenings and weekends as necessary to implement and maintain systems without disruption to the business and be available during evenings and weekends for urgent communications and problem resolution. As always, we ask that qualified candidates apply with us on-line.

Opportunity available for Marketing Representative...

We are now looking for an experienced Marketing Representative to work with our Business Director of Marketing and Agent Services to oversee Pinnacol Assurance agent and Safety Group business.

This position is responsible for the relationship with assigned agents to ensure they are achieving production, growth and loss ratio goals by providing regular review of agency performance, superior customer service and sales support. Ensures that all necessary agent and Safety Group  training (technical, safety) needs are met; develops and maintains agent and association training programs to maximize productive relationships between Pinnacol and contracted agents and Safety Groups. Develops quality relationships, as measured by results, with our agent and Safety Group community through regular visits, entertainment and effective communication tools. Reviews and communicates production results with assigned agents and Safety Groups.

Our Marketing Representatives must keep abreast of current market conditions in order to suggest changes in strategy and/or services that Pinnacol Assurance provides in order to respond to changing market conditions that impact agent and Safety Group production objectives. They provide timely information to agents on new products and programs that will impact their agency and clientele. In addition, they make operational recommendations to improve Pinnacol's relationship with the agent and Safety Group community.

Candidates must have, or be able to quickly develop, expert level knowledge of Pinnacol underwriting procedures, NCCI underwriting manual, regulations and law for workers' compensation insurance in Colorado. The ability to effectively communicate in written and oral form at a professional level, excellent  presentation skills, and the ability to persuade/sell Pinnacol Assurance insurance products and services to policyholders is required as are strong customer service and negotiation skills. The ability to solve issues/problems to beneficial resolution for internal and external customers is critical.

Our Marketing Representatives must possess and maintain a valid Colorado drivers' license and provide proof of insurance and be able to travel via personal vehicle (Pinnacol offers an enhanced vehicle use reimbursement program) to meet with agent and associations and attend meetings with other agencies. Must be able to attend meetings and agent and association events outside of regular business hours.

Education or Formal Training

Bachelor's Degree from an accredited college or university with a degree in Marketing, Business Administration, Public Administration Insurance, or related field or equivalent work experience.

Experience

Position requires prior marketing and sales experience in the insurance industry with proven results. Property/casualty insurance and/or Colorado agent and Safety Group program experience required.

Compensation for this position includes base pay and bonus payments based on agent and company goals. Incumbents in this position are required to sign a "Trade Secret and Non- Solicitation Agreement."

For consideration, please apply online! 

Project Coordinator position now open!

Last year we moved all of our project management functions under one group. Previously different parts of the organization handled projects on their own with no standardization on how projects were implemented and run. Now our Project Management Team runs all projects across the company.

I met with Ken, who manages the Project Management Team about a new role he is adding to the group. The new position, titled Project Coordinator, will be the primary contact for all incoming project requests and will conduct the initial meetings with internal stakeholders to ensure projects gets off to a good start .  In addition to assisting the team's Project Managers with preparation and execution of large or complex meetings, the Project Coordinator will be also be responsible for organizing and updating training manuals, documents, process outlines, and templates.  The Project Coordinator position plans and facilitates organized and efficient project meetings, creates work plans, works with project sponsors to define and control project scope, and monitors day-to-day project life-cycle activities.  Ken expects the person in this new role to seek to improve efficiencies in project management processes and procedures while they perform a broad range of administrative duties including preparing reports and presentations, managing the department calendar, arranging catering and other meeting logistics, and tracking and managing the team expenses and budget. 

As I do with all managers when they have a new position open up, I asked Ken to expand upon what he is looking for in potential candidates. Similar to what we look for in all applicants at Pinnacol, candidates for the Project Coordinator role must have excellent verbal, written, interpersonal, communication and customer service skills. They must also be highly organized and have the ability to manage and prioritize multiple projects simultaneously. Strong attention to detail along with the ability to operate independently with minimal supervision is also required. Excellent computer skills and the ability to learn new software are essential.  A Bachelor’s Degree (or equivalent work experience) and a minimum of two years of project coordination and administrative experience is also necessary in this role. 

If this sounds like something you are interested in we would love to hear from you! To start the process, please apply on-line via our company website.