A CEO’s Insights

Mentors can be the key to a successful career. Yet Pinnacol’s recent research into Colorado workers’ attitudes, needs and aspirations uncovered that a whopping 70 percent of Colorado workers don't have a mentor. And less than half say their supervisor helps them manage their careers.  As Colorado’…

I write a lot in this column about how businesses can think about disruption and transformation in their industries. But a truly fundamental transformation is that of the nature of work and workers. I’m not talking about the rise of robots and artificial intelligence. I’m talking about how our…

Colorado’s legislature was the scene of an extended debate this year over the issue of paid family and medical leave. Ultimately, legislators amended a bill that would have created a state-run paid leave program to a series of studies of potential approaches and costs. As you can imagine, the bill…

The evolution of a company is, in some ways, like human evolution. You’ll find a lot of failed experiments in the homo sapiens family tree: offshoots that didn’t have quite the right physiological makeup to succeed in their environments. Although it’s common to use the phrase “survival of the…

A consistent theme in these reports is workforce availability and development. As a CEO, getting and keeping the employees we need is top of mind. There’s one aspect of workforce development, though, that I don’t think gets enough attention: ongoing skillbuilding to ensure that the employees you…

Digital disruption. Business transformation. Transform now or be left behind. Today is the slowest rate of change you’ll ever see. As business leaders, we read – and probably utter – phrases like these every day. Ironically, concern about the pace of change and the need to get ahead of it has…

Everyone knows the labor market is incredibly tight these days, and every month these reports show it. What’s less clear is how to set one’s company apart to get, and keep, the employees you want. This is a topic we are constantly thinking about at Pinnacol. While I wouldn’t presume to say that we…

These reports paint a picture of a rapidly-changing business landscape: new companies starting, new deals being made, new technologies gaining a foothold. And every business leader is aware of how his or her own industry is being transformed. But how much are we relating these developments to the…

For those of us who have lived in Denver for any length of time, the diversification of our economy illustrated in the Monthly Indicators Reports is striking. Take a look at the supersectors tracked in the reports: Natural resources & construction Manufacturing Wholesale & retail trade…

As CEO of a Colorado business, I look to these Monthly Economic Indicator reports from the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. (Metro Denver EDC) for early insights into the trends that will shape Colorado’s economy and the businesses we serve. Every month, I’ll be sharing some thoughts about…