Promote Yourself Week Kicks Off...

In September 2011, a group of Pinnacol's managers partnered with the Employee Services team (Human Resources and Learning and Development) to provide a series of training sessions called Promote Yourself Week to our employees with the goals of:

•Helping employees be better prepared for interviews

•Providing a platform for open, honest conversations about the hiring process

•Demystifying the hiring and interviewing process for employees

•Allowing employees to hear directly from people who have been promoted into leadership positions

Now, in 2013, we are doing Promote Yourself Week again. Monday was the kick-off with an overview of the hiring process, with yesterday's session covering the topic of how to prepare for the interview. Today's session is all about resume writing. Thursday we'll be sharing insights into Behavioral Interviewing and on Friday we'll touch on how to solicit, and more importantly act on, feedback after the interview.

As mentioned above, this event was really the brainchild of several of our managers, some of whom had themselves been promoted into their current roles. If you have interviewed with us in the past you know we talk about promoting from within whenever we get the chance and part of that involves helping our employees be as well prepared for their next career move as possible. Pinnacol offers its employees a multitude of Professional Development resources from training classes and seminars to mentoring and the ability to job shadow with people in other positions throughout the company. There are almost too many resources to choose from and Promote Yourself Week is designed to help guide internal  employees through some of those resources with the objective of helping them advance in their careers. Here's what one of our employees, Ken, said about some of the resources offered:


"Clarity. Efficiency. Guidance. If I had to sum up the value that I personally received from Pinnacol's professional and leadership development resources, I would use these words. These tools provided clarity for me in that I knew what professional competencies were valued by our leadership. With that information in hand, I knew where to focus my efforts. For me, step two involved finding educational resources to help me develop and improve in these areas, and that is where I noted the efficiency of the online tools. I did not have to spend a great deal of time locating my own resources. It had already been done for me by Amy and her team. What a great service. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I found guidance, and by that I mean I found people within our organization who were willing to help me grow. There were many such people who generously offered their time, knowledge and coaching skills, and I believe their efforts made a real difference in my professional and personal growth."

None of what we are covering is rocket science, and in fact most external candidates we see already know much of what we emphasize to our employees. Things like knowing what your career goals are, setting realistic objectives regarding your next career move, presenting yourself in a positive and professional manner, and demonstrating that you can add value to a team.

Anyone who has been in the job market over the last several years know how challenging it is to find a new position. Competition is fierce to say the least. One thing that never seems to change: the best prepared candidates, either internal or external, generally do tend to win out over their less prepared peers.

New Claims Opportunity available!

We have another Claims Representative opportunity on one of our Medium Account teams. While we would certainly love to see experienced candidates apply the team leader, Matt, is willing to also entertain bringing on an entry level adjuster. Entry level adjusters must have a minimum of a Bachelor's degree, while those with experience should bring 3 plus years of adjusting background with exposure to handling workers' compensation insurance claims preferred.

Our Claims Representatives work as part of a multi-functional team to bring claims to resolution. Assigned to specific policyholder accounts, Claims Representatives are expected to provide outstanding customer service to injured workers, policyholders, and other stakeholders. This position routinely staffs files 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. 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.

For those interested in not just a job but a career, claims adjusting is a rewarding and challenging field. Interested candidates are asked to apply on-line.

Business Director/Insurance Team Leader opportunities now open!

Due to several recent promotions we now have opportunities available for experienced Business Directors to oversee and manage the operation of two of our multi-functional insurance teams. These teams consist of underwriters, claims adjusters, nurses, customer support staff, and others. The Business Director is responsible for managing a fully loaded profit center with premiums in excess of $50M and directs efforts in developing and implementing strategies to provide competitive services and promote sales of new and existing insurance products and services.

Proven team leadership skills are required as these positions will lead 20 or more insurance professionals. Management experience within the insurance arena is desired and a Bachelor's degree is required for these positions. For prompt consideration please apply online. 

Executive Assistant to Vice President of Corporate Resources

We ar currently looking for an experienced Executive Assistant to assist our Vice President of Corporate Resources in the performance of executive duties, including administrative support and project management. Corporate Resources includes the Human Resources, Learning & Development (corporate training), Mail/Print & Records, and Facilities groups within our company.

The Executive Assistant performs a broad range of administrative duties including preparing reports and presentations, customer correspondence/customer relations, and serves as an ambassador of the department while demonstrating a professional and welcoming demeanor in all interactions with internal and external stakeholders and board members. Assists with the day-to-day efficient operation of the team while anticipating and proactively managing activities that command the Vice President’s time and attention. A core component of this role is setting up meetings, coordinating travel arrangements and calendars, managing mail, answering telephone inquiries and preparing reports and correspondence.

Duties also include assisting the Vice President in the establishment and maintenance of department budget, monitoring and verifying accuracy of department expenses against G/L, and providing the Vice President with trends and recommendations. The Executive Assistant also submits timely and accurate expense reports and invoices for the Vice President of Corporate Resources and team members.

An Associate’s Degree or equivalent work experience along with 4 years related experience is required. Direct work experience directly supporting a Vice President or other Executive in Human Resources is strongly desired.

Excellent computer skills in word processing (55 wpm), spreadsheets, electronic presentation software along with excellent spelling, punctuation, grammar, and verbal and written communications skills required. Must be able to maintain the highest level of confidentiality.

To apply for this opportunity, please apply online.

Passport to Wellness

For those of us who spend much, if not most, of our days behind a desk, getting enough exercise is a constant challenge. It's easy to get caught up in the ritual of a a busy work schedule and before you know it another day has flown by without getting anywhere near the amount of recommended physical activity. Employers are starting to get the message that healthy employees are productive employees and part of health involves getting getting up and out of our chairs and moving around.

Pinnacol offers all sort of health amenities to its employees from an on-site wellness center and classes to rewards and incentives to those who make the effort to take advantage of healthy choices. A new program just rolled out called Passport to Wellness. The program involves participating in upcoming wellness events both inside Pinnacol and out and offers incentives at different levels of participation.

I know the people who come up with these programs have their work cut out for them because its hard to motivate others to make healthy changes. I also know that some of the efforts have been successful. I can remember just a few years ago the on-site locker rooms and wellness centers were used by only a small handful of employees but now most days the wellness center is nearly full  and you have to wait for a shower at the end of a workout.

This weekend saw Denver host the Colfax half and full Marathon. This morning when I came in Silvia pulled me aside from her duties at our main reception desk to show me her medal for completing her first half marathon. She mentioned that just a year ago she wouldn't have been caught running because she had sore knees. Now she's completed her first half and is actually looking forward to doing more with aspirations of working her way up to the full marathon. She's also got her first "stamp" in her Passport to Wellness. Congratulations Silvia (and to all the other Pinnacol employees who also ran in this weekend's event) on a major accomplishment. You're a real inspiration to me and everyone else at Pinnacol!

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.  

Business Director Assistant opportunity now available...

Due to a recent promotion we now have an opportunity available for a Business Director Assistant to provide support to three of our business team leaders and their multi-functional teams.

Our Business Director Assistants perform a broad range of administrative duties such as: preparing reports and presentations using charts, graphs, and narratives , handling customer correspondence and customer relations, and working on special projects assigned by Business Directors. This position also maintains calendars for Business Directors, schedules meetings, makes travel arrangements and prepares team expense reports. Our Business Director Assistants also maintain calendars and time off schedules for the teams and review staff timesheets for accuracy. They also plan and execute various events including group volunteering and team building activities.

Successful candidates must be able to handle multiple projects simultaneously with minimal direction while exercising frequent independent judgment within agreed-upon limits. Business Director Assistants must be able to act independently and exercise initiative in the coordination of administrative policies, regulations, and guidelines, projects, and financial analysis and be able to maintain effective working relationships with people throughout the organization while communicating effectively with the public and other agencies and organizations.   Excellent computer skills in Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint, excellent verbal and written communication skills, along with the ability to analyze, assemble, and compile information for reports and 3-5 years of experience in support of managers are required. If this sounds like you, please apply on-line!