To every season change change change

If you come in for an interview with us its likely you'll meet with either myself or with my counterpart Megan. As we speak with folks we are always curious to see what they really know about our company. One of our favorite questions asks candidates if they know how long Pinnacol has been around. It doesn't take much research by anyone who visits pinnacol.com to find out we will be celebrating our 100 year anniversary next August. Those who don't know we've been around that long generally guess that we are 20-30 years old and they are surprised when we tell them about our upcoming centennial.

To say there has been a lot of change in the last 100 years is an obvious understatement and change continues to this day. One of my favorite truisms is that if your not moving ahead then you are falling behind and behind that sentiment is the reality that change is a constant. One of the changes Pinnacol has been working on for some time is to digitize all of our records. Periodically Craig and Jose let me see some of the artifacts they uncover and recently they brought over a tome entitled "Employee Accident Index". This particular volume was for the period May 1942 through May 1945 and covered the alphabet from Aa through Go. There's nothing wrong with digitized records and they certainly make it easier for all of us in the modern world to get our work done. Nonetheless I sometimes wonder if we don't lose something by not being able to interact with things like this. Pictures alone can't do justice; simply hefting it gave me pause - to the point that I actually went over to our wellness center and put it on the scale. This one volume of the "Employee Accident Index" weighed in at 14lbs.


The other aspect that gave me pause was the time period covered - May 1942 through May 1945. This period obviously encompasses the majority of the second World War, an event that, again to understate it, changed the world. While millions of Americans were involved in conflict overseas millions more were going to work on the home front and yes, they periodically experienced injuries on the job which are chronicled row by row by row in the "Employee Accident Index". And our company's employees during that time were there to take care of them. The injuries weren't too much different then than we see today though certainly the frequency of industrial accidents has declined dramatically in the last 70 years. Reading through the employers listed reads like a who's who of Colorado companies with many of them still around today.

Opening the Index's heavy front hinged cover I came to a page where someone had, in beautiful cursive, inscribed the dates covered. They could have simply printed it, or even typed it, but it's clear some employee at our company took the extra time and extra effort to write it out in flowing script. Their message carried across the years - they took pride in their work then just as Pinnacol's employees take pride in the work we do today. As we experience a changing modern world its nice to reflect that we are not alone - we stand on top of the foundations left for us by those who came, and worked, and changed the world, before us.

Human Resources Manager opportunity now available!

The official title for this position is "Human Resources Manager: General Administration, Benefits, Wellness, Payroll". That's a long title but this is a very important role at Pinnacol as it's responsible for several functional areas within Human Resources. including employee benefits, wellness, leave management and payroll. This position serves as a strategic business partner and member of the management team by working with our business leaders to drive initiatives that create value and enable the business to achieve and sustain outstanding performance. We've long held to the philosophy that if we take exceptionally good care of our employees they will in turn take exceptionally good care of our customers and this position is critical in how we implement that belief. 

Ensuring our HR programs are aligned with Pinnacol's Total Rewards Strategy this role provides the strategic direction for the design, administration and evaluation of market-competitive, cost-effective and comprehensive employee benefits program to include medical, dental, vision, defined benefit plan (PERA), defined contribution plans, life insurance, employee assistance program, education assistance program, adoption assistance program, leave of absence, short term & long term disability, flexible spending accounts, wellness/population health management and other employee benefits.

This position is also responsible for the financial management of the organization's self-funded health plans and conducts analysis of benefits costs and booking/billings of self-funded plans, overseeing monthly vendor premiums and contract including stop loss insurance, administrative service fees and utilization fees, and monitoring health plan trust activity in collaboration with consultants and finance team.

The Human Resources Manager provides benefits and payroll consultative services to management and employees and there is heavy interaction with management and employees on benefits issue resolution, benefits interpretation and COBRA, FMLA, ADAAA and other statutory leave issues and administration. This position also oversees $47million+ payroll and manages the outsourced payroll process to ensure timely payment of salaries, taxes, legal assignments and benefit plans.

This position has supervisory duties include managing 2 non-exempt staff, 1 exempt staff, outsourced on-site payroll vendor and external relationship with HRIS vendor (UltiPro).

Management positions with Pinnacol do require a minimum of a Bachelors Degree and for this position that could be in Business, Human Resources, Psychology, or Communications or related field.  along with that degree candidates for this role should also bring a minimum of eight years related HR experience; prior management experience and PHR/SPHR certification is preferred.

If this position sounds interesting to you we would ask that you please apply on-line via our company website. There you can also see the full job description as well. We look forward to hearing from you!

Software Quality Assurance Manager position just opened

We have a new position that has been created for a Software Quality Assurance Manager. This new role will develop, establish, and enforce quality assurance processes, standards and measures for our Information Services group.
Overseeing a contingent of QA Analysts the Software Quality Assurance Manager will direct research and development in support of business cases, proposed projects, and systems requirements over the course of software development lifecycles. They will also apply proven analytical and problem-solving skills to help validate IS processes through careful testing in order to maximize the benefit of business investments in IS initiatives.
As one might expect, successful candidates for this role should bring extensive knowledge and experience overseeing the design, development and implementation of quality assurance standards and practices for software testing along with the strong knowledge and proven ability to train Quality Analysts to work in an Agile Scrum development methodology. Excellent coaching, listening, presentation, and interpersonal skills, strong knowledge of system testing metrics, best practices and methodologies, and direct hands-on experience with ad hoc query programs, automated testing tools, and reporting software are also required.
A Bachelor’s degree in software engineering, computer science, or business administration is preferred along with at least 5 years direct experience managing all aspects of a QA team.  Prior QA Manager or QA Lead experience for major application integration and/or major application product release is preferred. If this sounds like your background we would love to hear from you and ask that you please complete an application on-line.

Executive Assistant opportunity is now available!

Pinnacol Assurance is seeking an Executive Assistant to support our Vice President of Medical Operations and Healthcare Strategy. If you have experience as an Executive Assistant and are one of the best at supporting the work of your senior manager this might be the right opportunity for you!

The right fit for this position includes a self-starter with a very high level of initiative, exceptional verbal and written communications skills including world-class phone etiquette, a  focus on outstanding customer service and professionalism, and the ability to coordinate and manage complex projects and deliverables.

Candidates must also bring the ability to maintain effective working relationships with personnel involved in the operations of the organization and to communicate effectively with external stakeholders. Excellent organization skills and the ability to multitask and change direction are also an important requirement for this position.  

This role requires a team player who is able to participate and contribute to department initiatives and willing and flexible to help others. Excellent computer skills in word processing (55 wpm), spreadsheets, electronic presentation software are also critical.

If this Executive Assistant opportunity sounds interesting please apply via our company website.

Wellness continues to pay dividends for one of our retired alumni

We have a blog similar to this one that goes out during the year to our Pinnacol alumni. The average tenure at Pinnacol is 10 years so when employees leave they tend to want to stay informed about what's going on with the company and with other alumni. Recently one of our alumn's shared that she had completed quite an athletic accomplishment.

Wellness initiatives at Pinnacol are nothing new and our benefits team of Vanessa and Paige do a tremendous job of creating a unique blend of offerings to help employees stay healthy.

One of our alumn's, Anne, has taken wellness to a whole new level having just completed an Ironman competition held in Boulder. No stranger to long distance events this was her second Ironman. Anne retired from Pinnacol several years ago and clearly hasn't slowed down at all. Congratulations Anne on quite an accomplishment. Knowing Anne, she's probably already training for Ironman #3!

Pinnacol Foundation awards $400,000 in Scholarships for 2014-15 school year

For the upcoming 2014-215 school year the Pinnacol Foundation has awarded $400,000 in scholarships to 113 students across Colorado.

“We are immensely proud of each of these students, and especially proud of the 61 scholars who are first generation college students,” said Carole Sumption, chair of the Pinnacol Foundation Board of Directors. “We are delighted to be able to help these students as they work toward their academic and career goals, and know these students will soon be making valuable contributions to our Colorado communities.”

Over the last 14 years the Pinnacol Foundation has given scholarships totaling nearly $3.3 million to the children of Colorado workers who were killed or seriously injured in work-related accidents. Created in 2000, the Pinnacol Foundation assists those families after a workplace accident. Since the Pinnacol Foundation’s inception, it has awarded scholarships to over 400 children of injured workers. The average scholarship amount is over $3,500 for the upcoming school year. Students may use the funds at any accredited institution of higher learning for vocational training and undergraduate degrees, and may reapply up to five years or to age 25.

One of this year's scholarship recipients, Samantha Manion, has a father who was injured in a work related traffic accident which left him permanently disabled. Samantha, who will be attending Community College of Denver this Fall, is one of the many first generation college students awarded a scholarship this year. Samantha shares, “The Pinnacol Foundation has done so much to help me with my goals. It is really great to be able to focus on what I actually want to do instead of worrying about how I am going to pay for it.”

To qualify for a Pinnacol Foundation scholarship, a student must be the natural child, adopted child or stepchild of a worker killed or seriously injured in a compensable work-related accident while employed by a Colorado-based business. The Foundation grants scholarships to students regardless of the insurance carrier.  Scholarships are awarded based on the severity of the parent’s injury, financial need, academic achievement, social responsibility (including employment), recommendation letters and a personal essay. Scholarship applications are accepted annually February 1 through April 15.

Product Manager - Enterprise Content Management position now available!

We are looking for an ECM Product Manager to drive the vision and roadmap of our enterprise content management product to ensure business success. Products include electronic capture, business process management, document retention and retrieval. Collaborating with developers, IS managers, business analysts, and executives to meet the business's needs, this position ensures the overall success of these products, not just the delivery of software.

While not an actual management position this role is responsible for assisting in all management functions of the team including: hiring, discipline, establishing performance expectations and providing performance evaluations to staff, time keeping activities, etc.

Candidates should have experience implementing taxonomies, metadata and workflow in content management and collaboration solutions along with experience designing, developing and implementing an Enterprise Content Management solution utilizing Kofax, Perceptive/ImageNow or similar system (experience in these solutions would include document management, document imaging, and workflow). This position requires broad knowledge of systems that integrate with ECM technologies, including Oracle Weblogic, Oracle Forms, communication technologies, and multiple backend database technologies.

Candidates should also bring proven leadership skills with the ability to effectively lead product vision and a small team of software developers to achieve that vision. A Bachelors Degree or equivalent experience on a year for year basis in Computer Science, Information Systems, MIS or Related Field along with 5 years of advanced technical IT experience (i.e. programming, quality assurance, business analyst, etc.) is required and candidates should also have 3-5 years' experience working with Enterprise Content Management and collaboration technologies. Insurance related experience is a plus.

If you are interested in this role we'd love to hear from you! Please apply via our company website.