When Rob Green hung up his cleats on his college baseball career following a rotator cuff injury, it allowed him more time to go into his Business and Entrepreneurship studies.
His coach asked him what the plan was at the start of his fourth year, and Rob figured he could work at a bank, having heard about mutual funds. He was picked up by London Life, but asked to work in the employee benefits division.
“From there, I got hired along with 12 people from across the country who were trained specifically in employee benefits, group programs, and executive compensation strategies,” Green said. “London was bought by Great West, so I stayed on as an account manager and learned how two of the largest insurers operated.”
In 2008 Green, who grew up in Burlington, decided to tackle the challenge of building a new company, Green Benefits Group, which has since grown to help more than 2 million Canadians across nearly 13,000 businesses.
A Waterdown resident now, Green himself wants to be the difference-maker in the industry, and has no problem with being a public-facing voice.
“Even since the pandemic, our business has grown by more than 50 per cent, and our staff head count has grown by around 40 per cent,” he said. “We’ve been on a consistent trajectory for more than a decade growing anywhere from 16 to 20 per cent each year.”
Green Benefits is in competition with major insurance companies, such as Manulife and Sun Life, so finding a way to stand out in a field of big players means providing something that they can't.
For Green, managing administration costs, claims costs, and finding ways to make people healthier is the difference-maker.
“All organizations need to focus on three areas of an individual's well-being when they’re designing an employee benefits program,” Green said. “Their physical, mental, and their financial well-being are the three pillars.”
Outside of the office, Green hosts the Benefits Alliance Voice podcast, aimed at decision-makers behind the benefits industry. Green hopes the podcast will grow to a million listeners.
Running Green Benefits, which is located on Harvester Road in Burlington, is about more than providing benefits to businesses for Green; it’s thoughtful leadership, changing the way other companies operate whether or not they’re in competition with one another, and making things better and easier for the customer.
When he was just starting in the industry, he had no idea who was even paying to clean his teeth at the dentist.
“When I started, I don’t know if employees or employers valued the benefits program,” Green said. “They needed it because their competition had one, and now it’s imperative and companies are striving to provide more unique solutions than ever before.”
Business owners searching for those unique solutions can contact Green directly at 905-635-9091 ext 223.
