On Tuesday, September 21, Kyle Cavanaugh, Vice President for Administration at Duke University, joined Dr. Edna Chun’s Transforming Total Rewards class for an engaging talk on strategic total rewards programs. Kyle Cavanaugh oversees a broad range of functions at Duke including Human Resources, Police and Security, Parking and Transportation, Emergency Management, and other administrative areas. With a workforce of 43,000 employees, the university and its health system are larger than many cities in North Carolina. The areas Cavanaugh supervises include 400 staff, approximately 110 of whom are in Human Resources. A major focus of his position is the administration of Duke’s self-insured benefits plan and the university’s own retirement system.
Kyle Cavanaugh provided an overview of the scope, complexity, and breadth of Total Rewards programs (TR) at Duke and shared some of the strategic challenges and decisions that are involved in designing, implementing, and assessing these programs. He provided examples of lead and lag criteria in assessment of program effectiveness. Among the leading-edge TR programs at Duke he described is a rich tuition benefit for employees and dependents available based on certain eligibility criteria. This benefit adds significant financial value to the TR package for individuals and families and promotes retention.
Cavanaugh also shared some of the current TR program challenges that have arisen over the past year. Due to the pandemic, active exploration of remote work strategies is underway at Duke, although implementation requires consideration of work roles and responsibilities, since some staff positions, such as security and police, require on-campus presence. Cavanaugh also discussed the potential impact of name, image, and likeness (NIL) rules changes by the NCAA that now allow college athletes to receive compensation. Additionally, he provided an overview of the requirements involved in executive compensation at private universities, including addressing new tax law requirements as well as working with the governing board on an executive compensation committee.
The graduate students engaged in dialogue with Kyle Cavanaugh that further highlighted the choices involved in TR program design and development. His clear and cogent presentation provided great insight into the role of HCM leaders in strategic TR planning and implementation.