Accountant II opportunity on our Finance Team...

We have a new opening for an Accountant II on our Finance team. While not an entry level position, this is a great opportunity for someone with the right background to join one of our teams that doesn't have a lot of openings. I met with Kathy who heads up this group to find out what she is looking for. As you might guess from the title - Accountant II - this position generally handles more difficult & complex areas of accounting including:

-The review and approval of specific journal entries and specific reconciliations
-Researching applicable accounting guidance
-Assisting with significant Finance special projects, such as system conversions
-Coordinating, processing, reconciling, and implementing transactions
-Compiling and preparing monthly reports for management
-Preparing specific sections of NAIC (National Association of Insurance Commissioners) quarterly and annual statements and preparing related footnotes
-Reconciling balances between general ledger and back-up reports on a monthly basis
-Various general ledger reconciliations and accounting
-Preparing regular monthly journal entries
-Analysis of specific areas of accounting
-Balance sheet reconciliations requiring independent judgment

Kathy also shared with me that the primary responsibilities for this position will be:

Investment accounting and reporting
Premium receivable and bad debt
Fixed Assets
Internal Structured Settlement accounting
Backup duties for our Internal Structured Settlement program

The ideal candidate for the Accountant II position will have a strong background in company or public accounting and be someone who can analyze or build a process as opposed to simply following a procedure. As you might expect, a Bachelors Degree in Accounting (or equivalent professional experience) is required. To be considered for this level of position candidates will bring a minimum of 3-6 years related accounting experience. Insurance experience and a CPA is also a plus. To be considered for this opportunity please submit an application via our company website at www.pinnacol.com/careers.

Customer Service Representative opportunity now open!

We have approximately 38 different teams at Pinnacol Assurance. They all serve important functions but one of them serves an especially critical role. Our Customer Service team provides the answers and information to most of the phone calls and queries we receive on a daily basis. Due to a recent promotion within the team we are now seeking a customer oriented individual to join our customer service group.

Our Customer Service Representatives provide answers to customer questions via phone, internet, fax, and mail. While not a typical large call center environment (our representatives typically handle between 60-100 calls a day with average talk times of 2-3 minutes) we are looking for candidates who have some call center or related customer service experience along with strong PC/software skills, and excellent communication and customer service skills. Bilingual capability (Spanish/English) is a plus and candidates must have basic math skills and the ability to type 35 accurate words per minute.

If this sounds like you please complete our application via our company website!

What are you doing this summer? Financial Internship now available!

Are you...

•  a college student
• Currently a Junior or Senior
• studying Finance or Accounting
• looking for a paid internship this summer?

Pinnacol Assurance has a paid internship opportunity in our Finance team beginning in early June and lasting approximately 16 weeks. This position offers the opportunity to get hands on experience documenting business processes and performing testing of financial reporting controls while working in a professional and positive environment. You will be involved in planning, performing, and reporting on tests of financial reporting controls under the direction of the Financial Controls Analyst. You'll have the opportunity to benefit from exposure to audit, system and financial reporting concepts, to working with all levels of company management, and to the daily insurance operations of the company. Assignments may include testing of the controls over premium, claims, investments, payroll, receipts, disbursements, and systems.

No audit experience is necessary, as training and guidance will be provided during the internship. You must have basic Microsoft Word and Excel skills, have a strong orientation to detail and be able to work independently. Excellent written and verbal communication skills are a plus and you must be willing to work approximately 16 hours per week. The work schedule may be adjusted to fit your academic schedule if you are taking classes during the summer semester. As mentioned above, candidates should be seeking an undergraduate or post-graduate degree with an emphasis in either Accounting or Finance, have achieved either Junior or Senior level status, and have completed at least one intermediate accounting and one auditing course prior to the internship.

If this sounds like you please complete an on-line application via our company website and make the most of your summer!

Pinnacol is looking for an experienced Claims Representative...

I met this afternoon with Amit who manages one of our large account teams. He has an opening for an experienced Claims Representative who will work as part of a multi-functional insurance team to bring claims to resolution.

Our Claims Representatives are generally assigned to specific policyholder accounts as they provide outstanding customer service to injured workers, policyholders, and other stakeholders. This position routinely staffs claims with team nurses, return to work specialists, team leaders, claims experts and legal counsel as needed and makes use of all appropriate internal and external resources. Setting initial reserves, our Claims Representatives maintain current and accurate reserves for all assigned cases and negotiate settlements.

Depending on experience, this position can also serve as a technical resource to other team members including the mentoring of less experienced adjusters on complex issues and closure strategies.   

We are looking for someone who has 3+ years of adjusting experience with direct exposure to workers’ compensation preferred.  If you are interested in this opportunity, please apply online.

Project Coordinator opportunity now open!

We have an opportunity for someone to join our company in the capacity of a Project Coordinator. Pinnacol also has full-fledged Project Managers on staff so the Project Coordinator role is somewhat junior to a full-fledged Project Manager so things like PMP Certification are not among the requirements. I spoke some time ago with Beth who is now one of our Project Managers about the Project Coordinator role as she had once been in that position herself. Beth's progression is typical for this position - someone with administrative duties becomes involved in small projects, then works on larger ones and discovers that they have an aptitude and a passion for it. I'd guess similar progressions from administrative staff into project work exist at other companies and if this sounds like something you've done we'd love to hear from you.





The following is the actual job announcement:

Project Coordinator
Pinnacol Assurance is looking for a Project Coordinator to lead business projects, with emphasis on process, efficiency and quality improvements. The ability to provide clear direction and help clarify project goals, from both process and desired outcome perspectives, is critical. This position leads teams through the implementation process, develops and supports relationships within each project and functions as the hub for project execution and coordination. The successful candidate will be able to assist in developing best practices and tools for project execution and management while leading project proposal efforts in order to assist project champions with presenting the most complete and accurate business cases for approval and confirmation.

Other key functions:
• Plans and facilitates project meetings that are well organized, efficiently run, and ensures complete participation.
• Creates project work plans and revises as appropriate to meet changing needs and
requirements.
• Identifies project roles and resources needed.
• Monitors day-to-day project lifecycle activities. Manages stakeholder expectations by working with the project sponsor and team to define and control project scope.
• Resolves and/or escalates issues effectively and to the appropriate levels and identifies potential risk exposure and suggests solutions.
• Ensures project documents are complete, current, and stored appropriately while providing project status reports on a timely basis to stakeholders.
• Keeps project team and stakeholders well informed of changes within the organization that may affect the project and helps ensure that each project team member is utilized appropriately.
• Motivates project team to work together in the most efficient manner and mitigates project team conflict and communication problems.
• Conducts post-project reviews and reports recommendations in order to identify successful and unsuccessful project elements.

Requirements:
• Basic understanding of project management principles and practices, project lifecycle and processes, including demonstrated ability to effectively lead projects.
• Some knowledge of workers’ compensation/insurance industry preferred.
• Highly organized and detail oriented, yet able to see and grasp the `big' picture.
• Ability to effectively communicate in written and oral form and possesses facilitative leadership and presentation skills. Proficient in Microsoft Windows, Excel, PowerPoint. Experience and/or working knowledge of Microsoft Project desirable.
• Demonstrated ability to manage customer expectations throughout the project lifecycle.
• Bachelors Degree or equivalent professional experience required.

Interested candidates are asked to express their interest on-line at www.pinnacol.com/careers.

Medical Claims Associate position now available!

We have a new opening for a Medical Claims Associate, or MCA as we commonly refer to it, on one of our Large Account teams. In the workers' compensation claims world injuries experienced on the job span the spectrum from relatively minor cuts and bruises all the way to more catastrophic medical issues. Some claims will result in the injured worker missing minimal or no time from the job, while in others there will be substantial work time lost. Our MCA's generally handle the claims at the less  extreme end of the spectrum which allows our more experienced claims representatives to focus their attention on the more severe types of injuries.

Our MCA's identify and facilitate the appropriate resources for optimal case management and resolution with their activities focused on developing a proactive claims management plan. They work closely with our policyholders to facilitate the return to work of injured workers while providing quality customer service and effective coordination of resources while helping injured workers with their claim.

Successful candidates for the MCA position will have a basic understanding of medical terminology and human anatomy. Knowledge of the Colorado Workers' Compensation Act and rules of procedure is desirable. A minimum of a High School Diploma is required and medical training or a related Associates Degree is helpful. A minimum of 2 years of general office experience, preferably in an insurance and/or medical facilities setting is preferred with prior experience managing low severity indemnity claims and medium to high risk Non-Lost-Time claims a plus. If the Medical Claims Associate position sounds like something you are interested in we would love to hear from you! Please complete an application on our company website.

Being Heart Healthy at Work

Many employers, including Pinnacol Assurance, are working hard to help their employees adopt and maintain healthy (or healthier!) lifestyles. For as long as I have been with the company we've offered wellness classes, an on-site wellness center, and other incentives for employees to do something good for their health. I even have a company-provided health-coach/nurse who follows up with me on a quarterly basis. The challenge of course remains getting people to take advantage of and use these healthy options.

This morning on our "Industry News" section of our company intranet there was posted an excellent article: The Guide to Beating a Heart Attack written by Ron Winslow. At first I was inclined to skip over it as we see these types of articles all the time. For some reason though I opened the link and read what turned out to be one of the best articles I've seen.

The good news is that progress is being made. You probably already knew that heart disease and its consequences are largely preventable. Deaths from coronary heart disease in the U.S. have been cut by 75% during the past 40 years. Hospital admissions for heart attack among the elderly fell by nearly 25% in a five-year period during the last decade, a remarkable feat when many experts had expected the aging population to cause an increase in the problem.

The bad news is that nearly one million Americans will suffer a heart attack this year and cardiovascular disease remains the leading killer of both men and women. Particularly troubling are increasingly common reports of heart attacks among younger people, even those in their 20s and 30s.

What really struck me though, and what is most relevant to those of us who spend most of our days with our fanny glued to a chair, is a study from Australian researchers that found spending more than four hours a day in front of a computer or television was associated with a doubling of serious heart problems, even among people who exercised regularly. As one of the Doctors put it: for people who sit most of the day, their risk of a heart attack is about the same as smoking.

So what can you do? Perhaps you already work out before or after work and on weekends and here's this article saying that's not enough. The trick it seems is in part to simply keep moving throughout the day. When I do new employee orientation for folks joining our company I talk about all the healthy options we offer but now I'm going to spend a little more time talking about something as simple as getting up and out of your chair on a periodic basis. The article talks about getting up and walking around every thirty minutes or so and that the benefits from moving start as soon as you get up. For the more ambitious, walk up a flight of stairs and use the restroom or fill your water bottle on another floor. Take a break during the day and walk around your building. Feel the sun on your face and breathe the fresh air.  And don't forget to be....

Happy. The article wraps up with an interesting study by Wayne State University researchers who rated the smiles of 230 baseball players who played before 1950 based on pictures in the Baseball Register. Then they looked to see how long the players lived on average: No smile, age 73; partial smile, 75. Those with a full smile made it to 80.

The article also has many other heart-healthy suggestions so I'd recommend reading it. If you are like me, there's a lot of things each of us can do, some as simple as walking around, that really can make a difference and help us beat the odds of a heart attack.