harrah's entertainment, inc

Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.:

Rewarding Our People

Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.:

Rewarding Our People

2

Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.: Rewarding Our People

Agenda

• Background• Front Burner Issue• External Environment• Internal Environment• HR Gap Analysis• Strategic Issues Facing The Firm• Action Research Model• Conclusion• References

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Background

• Harrah’s History– Fortune 500 public gaming corporation– Headquarters based in Paradise, Nevada– Annual revenues of $8.9 billion

• New operating strategy in 1997– From service driven to customer focus

• Key Personnel: – Phil Satre becomes President / COO in 1991 & CEO in

1994– Gary Loveman was hired COO / CMO in 1999 & current

CEO since 2004– Marylin Winn, offered VP of HR in 1999

(Source: Delong & Vijayaraghavan, 2003) (Source: Wikipedia, 2013)

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Front Burner Issue

How to motivate employees with current incentive plan or newly designed

programs to improve customer service metrics at each of Harrah’s

establishments?

“How do you change the working premise of our people from being controlled by the limitations

to realizing their possibilities”By Gary Loveman, Chief Operating Officer, Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. (Source:

Delong & Vijayaraghavan, 2003)

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External Environment: Key Success Factors

• Service Differentiation Customer Service

• Brand Recognition• Customer Loyalty• Attractions• Marketing• Number & Type of Game Offerings• Physical Environment & Atmosphere

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External Environment: PEST Analysis

• State regulations influence who can gamble, where, and what types

Political & Legal

• Fluctuations can impact business

• Labor market demographics

Economic

• September 11Social/Cultural

• Information Management Systems

• Player equipmentTechnological

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External Environment: Porter’s 5 Forces

Substitutes

Suppliers

Buyers New Entrants

Rivalry

Moderate

Weak Moderate

Weak-Moderate

Strong

•Internet gambling/ gaming•Resort vacations•Cruises

•Low switching costs•Harrah’s buys in high volumes

•Consumers•Price sensitivity•Economic conditions

•High barriers to entry •Economic conditions• Regulations•Highly profitable industry

•MGM Mirage•Park Place•Strong brand recognition


Internal Environment

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Strengths

Competitive

MindsetRewarding Hard WorkLowering TurnoverIncreased Customer Satisfactio

n

WeaknessHigh Expectations

Impacted Psychological Contract

No Ties to Operating IncomeCompetitors Copying

StrategyOpportunities

Re-evaluate Incentive Program

Create Ties to Operating Income

Set targets for Customer Satisfaction

Solicit Feedback From Employees

Threats Maintainin

g a Competiti

ve Advantage

Intense Competiti

onLegal and Regulator

y Environme

ntOnline

Gaming

SWOT(Source: Delong &

Vijayaraghavan, 2003) (Source: Datamonitor ,

2007)

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HR Gap Analysis

• Harrah’s HR Gap Analysis– Is a tool used to compare actual employee satisfaction

with potential employee satisfaction.– Is Harrah’s HR strategy bringing the company to the

next level?

• How effective is Harrah’s HR Strategy?• Where does Harrah’s HR strategy want to be in the

future?“

"My job is to make money for Harrah's Entertainment by creating a great climate for

customers and employees.“By Marilyn Winn, VP of HR, Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. (Source: Abowitz, 2010)

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HR Gap Analysis

• How effective is Harrah’s HR Strategy?– Reduce the turnover rate– Implemented job application and interview processes– A new reward system was instituted – The entire property had to increase its scores to benefit– To maximize customer’s positive experiences

• Where does Harrah’s HR strategy want to be in the future?– Needs to motivate, encourage, solicit buy-in from all employees– Remove blinders from decision-making by self-analyzing the

strategy – Must develop a feedback loop mechanism – Implement a reward system that would recognize employees’

contribution (Source: Young, 2011)

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Strategic Issues Facing The Firm

• How to implement Harrah’s customer relationship strategy?

• How to maintain a competitive advantage by utilising key performance indicators in the gaming industry?

• How to implement a gain-sharing program that would recognize employees contribution based on the achieved target?

• How does Harrah’s decrease its volatility by predominantly being in the in the U.S. market?

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Action Research Model - Step 1: Gathering DataType of Information

Needed• How employees

view management• What motivates

employees• Who wants to learn

what• Why headquarters

and operations do not get along how to integrate the two cultures

How to get the Info

• Employee and management surveys

• Observation• Interviews • Company document

reviews• Anonymous

employee comment drop boxes

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Action Research Model - Step 2: Feedback

The “What” of Feedback• Important findings from data gathering such as:– Management’s view of themselves vs. Employee’s view– Potential causes of problems– Correlations between customer service and financials

The “How” of Feedback– Comparison charts– Compilation of best and worst sample surveys and interview

notes– “Sandwich Critiquing”– Comments and ideas always welcome (open

communication)

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Action Research Model - Step 3: Diagnosis

• Management acts strictly like management leadership?

• Employees feel demotivated by compensation system difficulty reaching incentives

• Employees want intrinsic as well as extrinsic rewards; i.e. Pride in company and monetary rewards

• Headquarters and management are decreasing productivity due to lack of communication and collaboration

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Action Research Model - Step 4: Action Planning

• Communicate to everyone why, how, and when changes are going to occur

• Hire new employees that fit learning culture• Implement job rotation and job shadowing to

encourage leadership potential• Succession planning• Create realistic performance objectives• Provide leadership training to management• Educate operations personnel and

headquarters personnel

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Action Research Model - Step 5: Action Taking/ Interventions

Organizational Learning Interventions– Encourage learning as part of culture – Job rotation & job shadowing

• 5 Disciplines to Becoming a Learning Organization1. Personal Mastery2. Building a Shared Vision3. Mental Models4. Team Learning5. Systems Thinking

(Source: Senge, 1990)

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Structural Interventions Geared Towards Becoming a Learning Organization

• Define performance objectives – Goal setting interventions: instructs employees about the

goal setting process and how to set specific goals (Source: Saks & Haccoun, 2010)

• Have employees help create these objectives– Self-coaching: reflection of one’s own performance to

establish performance maintenance and improved goals– Upward feedback: providing employees with data on the

frequency with which they displayed desired behaviors (Source: Saks & Haccoun, 2010)

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Management Development Interventions

• Educate managers on their functions:1. Controlling (less)2. Organizing3. Planning4. Leading (Emphasis)• Interpersonal Skill Assessment• Interpersonal Skill Learning• Interpersonal Skill Practice• Interpersonal Skill Transfer

(Source: Saks & Haccoun, 2010)

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Action Research Model - Step 6: Evaluation

• Follow up with all managers and employees

• Communicate : (open communication)–Outcomes on a daily basis debriefing at

end of shifts/ workdays–Debriefing at end of week, month, year–Areas still in need of improvement– Take any suggestions on how to improve–Outline where improvements have been

made

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Action Research Model - Step 6: Evaluation

Monitor and Evaluate• Productivity• Revenues• Employee Turnover/Retention Rates• Customer Satisfaction- Surveys• Employee Satisfaction- Surveys• Compare employee comment box items• Change where needed

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Conclusion

• At the heart of any company’s successful strategies, employees are always the key.

• Employees are the ones who carry out the plans crafted by upper management.

• Not enough to incentivize employees to partake in organizational strategies.

• Corporate strategic plans must have a set target.

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Questions?

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References

Abowitz, R. (2010, May 25). The Movable Buffet: Rallying with Marilyn Winn. Retrieved March 21, 2013, from Los Angeles Times: http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/25/entertainment/la-ca-vegas-20100523

Business Week. (2006). Top 10 Casino Racetracks in the U.S. Retrieved March 19, 2013, from http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/06/0604_racetracks/source/8.htm

Datamonitor . (2007, January). Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.: Company Profile. Retrieved March 21, 2013, from Datamonitor : https://wiki.umn.edu/pub/Carter/WebHome/Harrahs.pdf

Delong, T., & Vijayaraghavan, V. (2003). Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.: Rewarding Our People . Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing.

Kim, R. ( 2012, July 31). Info 563 Reflection: Harrah's . Retrieved March 19, 2013, from http://kimdongoug.blogspot.ca/2012/07/info-563-reflection-harrahs.html

Saks, A., & Haccoun, R. (2010). Managing performance through training and development. 5th Edition. Toronto: Nelson Education.

Seeklogo. (2008). Harrah's - Logo Vector Download . Retrieved March 19, 2013Senge, P. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York:

Doubleday.Wikipedia. (2013, March 18). Caesars Entertainment Corporation. Retrieved March 20, 2013, from

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesars_Entertainment_Corporation

Young, M.-L. (2011, April 27). Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.: Rewarding our People. Retrieved March 21, 2013, from Word Press: http://michaellouisyoung.wordpress.com/2011/04/07/harrahs-entertainment-inc-rewarding-our-people/

harrah's entertainment, inc

Documents

harrahs hr strategy

people external environment

harrahs entertainment

retrieved march 21

retrieved march 19

job shadowing

delong

open communication