From the outside, it would appear that Cliff Mason is trying to fill some very big shoes, but drill deeper and you see that he’s finding his own path.
As Dan Rashke’s successor at Total Administrative Services Corp., he took the helm of an organization that has been forward-looking and strategic, but he is building on that legacy with an impressive list of accomplishments, earning him the Large Company Executive of the Year award.
Federal philanthropy
TASC is a third-party administrator of employee benefits programs, and while Mason has only been there for three years, he’s already put his stamp on the organization by reshaping the management team and bringing key projects to fruition. They include a new, online charity enrollment and donation systems for the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), the development of the ACA Employer Reporting service, and the successful launch of the TASC Card, a program that allows cardholders to spend funds reimbursed from his/her flexible spending account, all on one card.
Most notable is the implementation of a new, online charity enrollment and donation system for the Combined Federal Campaign, which Mason calls “a real milestone for TASC and for charitable giving.” On the Combined Federal Campaign, TASC partnered with the Madison-based Give Back Foundation to completely revamp the way federal government employees give to charities. The government’s previous charitable giving program was more than 60 years old, paper-based, inefficient, and costly.
| Come celebrate with Cliff Mason and our other winners at the Executive of the Year Awards on February 15. |
“TASC was able to come in and completely revamp that program so that now it’s an interactive, online program that allows charities to apply online and be chosen online to allow federal employees to go online and search for the charities of their choice and then actually pledge money that we pull from federal payroll providers,” Mason explains. “So we completely transformed that program, not only for federal employees worldwide, but also federal retirees. It really is going to have an impact on federal employees’ ability to give, and on the charities and the amount of money they receive.”
Mason also believes the system is a model for state governments, and TASC has had conversations with some states interested in adopting it.
Another advantage of the new program is that following a breach at the federal Office of Personnel Management, it’s the first internet-based system that was certified to meet enhanced security standards. Mason believes cyber security is becoming one of the most important components of business stability, and the federal certification process that TASC went through on the CFC will pay dividends as the company replaces some of its older internal platforms with cloud-based systems.
With Mason confident in the U.S. economy, it’s an ideal time to invest. “We began last year spending money to rebuild a big chunk of our technology, and we’re doing that for a couple of reasons,” he explains. “One, we’re optimistic about the future and we believe it’s time to replace some of our older platforms with cloud-based system, but also with an eye toward security. We believe that security is going to be one of the most important components going forward of business stability, and we have utilized some of the standards from what we learned from the federal program into the new technology we’re building.”
Mason’s so optimistic that TASC hired 220 employees last year, including many at a new Madison call center set up for the federal Combined Federal Campaign, and it anticipates hiring again this year. “We’re very bullish on the business trends that we see,” Mason notes.
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Remote possibilities
Under Mason’s direction, TASC will continue to be a model in other ways, as well. Of its 950 employees, only one-third are based in Madison, and the ability to work remotely has not only opened opportunities for the rest, it enables the company to attract and retain more associates, even those who have moved away from Madison. One valued employee got married and moved to Tennessee to be with his wife. In the past, TASC would have lost him, but with its remote structure, he’s still an employee today.
“Technology today allows us to bridge the gaps that existed just a couple of years ago,” he notes, “and we find that by having an employee working at a remote location, either at their home or in an office, that it’s just as productive as having someone sit here in our office in Madison.
“We also believe it’s applicable to all types of industries. As a matter of fact, we even have some call center employees who work remotely, and we find they are as productive, if not more productive, than others.”
New kid in town
Mason hasn’t forgotten Rashke’s contribution to TASC and to his own tenure as the organization’s chief executive. “TASC and Dan have always looked forward and we’ve always been a strategic organization. Over the past year though, as someone who came into the organization three years ago, we really had an opportunity to shape the organization. I hired a number of new officers, a new chief technology officer, a new chief people officer, moved and promoted from within a COO and a chief sales officer, so I’ve had a chance to revamp the team. Dan put the wheels in motion in some cases, but my team has really been the one that has been able to bring this home.”
For Mason, the Executive of the Year honor means a lot because he’s relatively new to Madison. “I’ve been here a little less than three years, but I’ve come to love my community,” he says, “and have been impressed with the business leadership in the community and the partnership that exists in this community between business and the public sector.
“It means a lot in that my success is determined by the great team that I have here at TASC, and my success is attributable to them and their hard work. So while it means a lot to me, it also means a lot to our entire team here at TASC.”
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