It didn’t take much convincing for Greg Hanson to join the team at First Nations Insurance Services (FNIS) after his retirement last fall.
After spending the previous 19 years with Saskatchewan Blue Cross, 11 years as Director of Sales, Hanson says the dynamic growth that FNIS is experiencing was something he wanted to be part of as the guy in charge of business development.
“What attracted me to FNIS was their commitment to their core values – honesty, integrity and trust,” says Hanson, who set up his Packham Avenue office at the start of November. “That aligned perfectly with my own values.” He has many years of experience dealing with First Nations people in Saskatchewan and felt very comfortable in taking his business acumen to FNIS.
Hanson says his role is to build on the already solid foundation in place at FNIS, which has been in operation since 1987. FNIS offers a variety of employee benefits and pension plans designed to meet the needs of First Nations, Aboriginals, and non-Aboriginal employees and their employers.
“To me, this is a challenge and things are changing in this province. Economics are changing,” says Hanson, who enjoys meeting new people every day. “Demographics in the workforce have changed dramatically. We need to be always aware of these changes and adapt quickly to support the clients of FNIS.”
A big role for Hanson is simply education for the valuable clients of FNIS about the benefits of their group insurance. He says with 30-plus years in the insurance industry, he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that he would like to share with clients.
As well, Hanson hopes he can play a role in mentoring and training others at FNIS who will follow him once he decides to wind down his career.
“One of my biggest concerns is that sometimes, an employee might fall through the cracks and not be properly prepared should anything happen to them or their families.”
He says many people simply do not ask questions about insurance and all the options that are available to them. Hanson believes that if he can engage Plan Administrators and their employees, information barriers can be broken down. He hopes he can help people with their questions and concerns regarding their benefit plan,
“Education is everything. Informed people will make better decisions.”
Hanson says that FNIS staff guiding people through the claims process alleviates much of the stress for the people not used to handling their health or dental claims, or even those people experiencing some level of trauma in their lives.
“What we do and how we do it here is extraordinary in my estimation,” says Hanson, when speaking about the commitment of FNIS to their clients.
When Greg is not at work, he is spending time with his family. He is married to Karen. They have 2 children, John and Jenna and 6 grandchildren. Karen is a retired teacher, John (married to a nurse) is an ER doctor and Jenna (married to a CPA) is a teacher.