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Record: 1
Title: Mixing Up Its Game. (cover story)
Authors: Ruiz, Gina editors@workforce.com
Source: Workforce Management; 8/28/2006, Vol. 85 Issue 16, p1-25, 7p, 6c
Document Type: Article
Subject Terms: *CASINOS
*EMPLOYEES -- Recruiting
*HOTELS
*GAMBLING industry
Geographic Terms: MACAU (China : Special Administrative Region)
Company/Entity: WYNN Resorts Ltd.
NAICS/Industry Codes713210 Casinos (except Casino Hotels)
721120 Casino Hotels
721110 Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels
713290 Other Gambling Industries
Abstract: The article discusses how Wynn Resorts adapted its mass-hiring
practices to staff its new hotel-casino in the Asian gambling destination
of Macau. Management took out a two-page advertisement showing a
stage and a rising curtain. The advertisement listed the types of jobs
that would be available and encouraged readers to log on to the
company's recruitment Web site to send résumés electronically. The
company received almost 70,000 applications, representing about 25
percent of Macau's workforce. INSET: Wynn looks to improve its
retention odds.
Full Text Word 3191
Count:
ISSN: 1547-5565
Accession Number: 22294326
Database: Academic Search Premier
Mixing Up Its Game
How WYNN RESORTS adapted its mass-hiring practices to staff its new hotel-casino in the
Asian gambling destination of Macau
Arte Nathan works in Las Vegas, but he doesn't like to gamble--at least not when it comes to
recruiting employees. Yet, Nathan's latest mission required the steely nerves of a poker ace along
with some old-fashioned luck. He is helping his boss, Las Vegas hotel-casino magnate Steve
Wynn, break new ground in the Asian gambling mecca of Macau, a former Portuguese colony
some 40 miles southwest of Hong Kong.
Nathan's responsibility: hire 5,000 employees in a small coastal region with a workforce of just
260,000 people and prepare them for the early-September opening of Wynn Macau, a $1.1
billion luxury resort-casino. Normally, Nathan would be unfazed by such an assignment. After
all, he has helped Wynn--the mastermind behind high-profile Las Vegas properties like the
Mirage and Bellagio hotels--open six casinos. Nathan also designed the recruiting strategies for
the hiring of 35,000 employees.
But this isn't just any workforce project. This is Wynn Resorts' initial foray into Macau, and time
is of the essence. Like Hong Kong, Macau is considered a special administrative region of China
in a one-country/two-economies system. His competitors are flooding Macau's 10 square miles.
The area's century-old gaming industry is witnessing a dramatic rebirth since Macau was opened
to foreign interests in 2001, ending local casino tycoon Stanley Ho's 40-year monopoly of
Macau's gambling halls. Analysts also assert that opening a casino in Macau is a way for Wynn
to cross-promote his domestic properties, which historically have lured Asia's high rollers to Las
Vegas.
The stakes indeed are high. Macau's gaming revenues totaled $5.97 billion in 2005, according to
Alberto Expedito Marcal, director of the World Trade Center Macau, and there are stratospheric
predictions for its future. Analysts believe Macau's annual casino revenues are quickly closing in
on those of Las Vegas, which along the Strip tallied $6 billion last year, while its metro area
totaled $9.7 billion.
Predictably, Macau's burgeoning wealth has drawn Wynn's old Las Vegas rivals. U.S. casino
giant Las Vegas Sands Corp., which operates the Venetian hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, opened
the $260 million Sands Macau in 2004. Next year, Sands Corp. plans to open the Venetian
Macau, a $2 billion all-suites hotel, casino and convention complex. Additionally, MGM
Mirage's $1.06 billion MGM Grand Macau is under construction and due to open late next year,
while Harrah's Entertainment Inc. recently opened talks to buy a stake in Macau casino operator
Galaxy Entertainment.
With so much on the line, Nathan wants nothing to get lost in translation. "I know that a one-
size-fits-all approach would flop," says Nathan, Wynn Resorts' senior vice president and chief of
human resources. Nathan, who joined Wynn in 1983, recognized early on that wooing workers in
Asia would be different from how it works in Las Vegas, home to fast-paced hiring practices.
"We laugh about it, but Americans are hard-charging and direct. We may not be as sensitive to
the niceties of relationship building as they are in other parts of the world," he says.
Given Macau's dynamics, Nathan was hard-pressed to craft recruiting strategies that not only
captured the imagination of the local workforce, but also won their trust. Mass-hiring techniques
that are effective in Las Vegas were tweaked to focus more on bonding with potential
employees. Every aspect of the hiring campaign was adapted to the local language, culture and
business environment.
ESTABLISHING A BOND
Getting Wynn Macau up and running is as much about forming relationships as it is about the
bricks and mortar that went into its construction, according to Nathan. Before formal recruiting
began, the company toiled for two years to develop a personal foundation in Macau.
"You can't just jump into discussing job opportunities like you would in the U.S.," Nathan says.
"In Macau, you first have to develop a relationship with somebody and hope that you will gain
their trust so that they may consider employment with you."
In fact, establishing trust is fundamental to any aspect of workforce management in the Chinese
market, says Alia Santini, global human resource specialist at AXA Rosenberg, an international
management investment firm with four offices in Asia. "Failing to build a team community or
rushing to get ahead quickly is counter-cultural," Santini says. "It's a sure way to get people to
close up."
Nathan has been navigating the tricky path to hiring a workforce with the help of Wendy Yu,
who in June 2003 joined Wynn Macau as HR executive director. Yu has 16 years of HR
experience in Macau. Just as important, she was raised there. Besides Yu, much of the senior
management team is made up of locals. The move not only gave Wynn access to individuals
with valuable insight into the local market, but also helped to underscore its commitment to
developing the workers in the community. "It spoke volumes about the company's local
intentions," Yu says.
The Macau team has a lot of local control, Nathan explains. "I can tell them, 'Here is what we did
in the past and here is why we did it,' but they interpret it to their environment," Nathan says.
"Some things work the same, others differently."
Creating a bond with Macau's residents entailed not only reaching out to government and
business leaders, but also publicizing Wynn's brand. Ensuring a high-profile name for itself was
important for the company, since status and reputation carry a lot of weight in the market.
"Having a strong employer brand is critical in China," says Peter Zhang of Mercer Human
Resource Consulting in Shanghai. It is not uncommon for companies that lack name recognition
to compensate by offering premium salaries, he explains.
When construction began for Wynn Macau in June 2004, it was widely covered by the Asian and
gaming media, and awareness of the company quickly grew. It was at that point the company
moved ahead with staffing plans. Making a good first impression would be critical to Wynn
Resorts' success.
PERSONAL TOUCH
Nathan understood that reaching out to employees in Macau would require a different approach--
one that fits the framework of the culture.
"Everything was tailored to the local audience," Nathan says. Every form of communication,
ranging from the Web site to the application process, is offered in both English and Cantonese,
the predominant regional language. Unlike standard hiring practices in Las Vegas, there were no
job fairs or mass employment calls in Macau, only intimate gatherings.
It might seem like a tall order, considering that some 8,000 workers must be hired--5,000 to open
the casino and an additional 3,000 during the second wave of staffing several months down the
road. But, as Nathan explains, Macau is a small community where running into an acquaintance
is common. Since inquiring about a new job could be a sign of disrespect to a current employer,
candidates place a premium on discretion. And in a culture where relationships are highly
valued, job fairs could be considered too impersonal.
Not surprisingly, many companies in Asia tend to steer away from career fairs, according to
Marcal from the World Trade Center Macau. Almost 40 percent of respondents in a Mercer
survey on attraction and retention strategies in China said they do not use fairs as a recruitment
tool.
There were special considerations when newspaper ads were placed. The company could not
apply the same promotional strategy as in the U.S., where full-page ads in Las Vegas papers
signed by Wynn read, "It is time that we meet again." Such ads work in Las Vegas, where Wynn
is a household name and local talent is familiar with his properties, but not overseas. The
communications campaign had to be more functional.
Management took out a two-page advertisement showing a stage and a rising curtain. The ad
listed the types of jobs that would be available and encouraged readers to log on to the
company's recruitment Web site to send résumés electronically. Many of the Web site's images
are of Asian people working as a team, driving home the point that this is a company where
locals are valued and camaraderie is widespread.
To Nathan's surprise, thousands of candidates had access to the Internet, enabling them to apply
online. The company received almost 70,000 applications, representing about 25 percent of
Macau's workforce. "We were ecstatic," Nathan remembers. "It is our biggest success story to
date."
To handle the influx of résumés, the company partnered with talent management software
provider Vurv Technology, which also participated in staffing efforts for the $2.7 billion Wynn
Las Vegas hotel and casino that opened in April 2005. Vurv's system collates information and
scores applicants based on their professional experience. Those who rank highest are considered
more carefully for interviews. Hiring managers are kept up to date on the status of every
applicant.
Vurv's technology did more than just make recruiting faster and more efficient; it also trimmed
the need for HR staff by about 55 percent in Macau, where there were 60 hiring managers. Wynn
Las Vegas, by comparison, needed 135 hiring managers. Nathan said there were many
similarities in the two recruitment systems, but Vurv's ability to customize its software allowed
the Macau hiring managers to adapt the service for text messaging. Multi-language capabilities
also came in handy.
Some 90 percent of the résumés came from the online recruitment site. In Macau, however, e-
mail accounts were not the primary channel for keeping in touch with candidates. Instead, the
company relied on text messaging, which is nearly ubiquitous in Asia.
GOING THE EXTRA MILE
Tailoring recruitment to the local market raised a host of implications for the staffing process.
For one, the size of a text-message screen meant less information could be conveyed to the
candidates. Instructions about meeting times or addresses didn't fit, for instance. Consequently,
much of the text messaging was used to prompt candidates to contact the call center or to go
online for more information.
Wynn Macau began accepting applications in November 2005, but the job offers were not
actually extended until April. The company spent a lot of time hosting small gatherings and
informational sessions, a strategy that served to forge stronger bonds with the applicants. In fact,
the topic of employment did not even come up in the initial meetings because the primary goal
was to put candidates at ease and answer questions about the company.
"Every time we put our face in the public, we did it in such a way that people felt good about the
way we treated them," Nathan says. "It was a matter of respect and understanding for the
candidates and for their culture."
What took Wynn five months to accomplish in Las Vegas will take about 11 months in Asia.
"In the U.S., the process is much faster: 'Here is the application, then we'll give you a 30-minute
interview and possibly make you a job offer. You give a two-week notice and then you come to
work for us,'" he says. "That's not the case in Macau."
Nathan is seeing the benefits of his recruitment strategy. After conducting 16,000 appointment-
only interviews, the company selected its team and is nearly done with its three-month workforce
training process. Here, too, Nathan made special considerations for the local market.
He built in a longer training period, effectively doubling that of U.S. properties. "If training on a
particular task takes three weeks in Las Vegas, it will take six weeks in Macau," Nathan says.
That's to cover the fact that the local market is unfamiliar with the unique services offered at a
mega-property like Wynn Macau.
As the September 5 opening nears, Nathan reflects on the challenges that lie ahead. Declaring
victory at this stage would breed a false sense of security, leaving the company exposed to rivals
also making a play for Macau's gaming-market workforce.
The influx of so many gaming operations means that vying for qualified talent in Macau will
become more intense in the future. The pressure is already mounting. Unlike Las Vegas, the
talent pool in Macau is relatively small, which means that Wynn Macau had to look overseas for
talent.
Given the shortage of workers, there were far more visas for hourly and staff-level positions in
Macau than is typical in Las Vegas. The company had to work closely with labor agents to
identify the staff, prepare their visas and move them to Macau. In several cases, dormitory-like
facilities were built to accommodate transplants from China and the Pacific Rim.
Workforce growth is not keeping pace with Macau's economic boom, according to Jonathan
Galaviz, partner at Globalysis, a boutique consultancy that covers Asia's gaming industry "The
ability to have access to qualified talent is going to be one of the top challenges for employers
looking to expand in Macau for the medium to long term," Galaviz says. Based on the number of
mega-properties in the pipeline, there could be a demand for as many as 100,000 new employees
in Macau in the next five years.
That demand extends beyond the gaming industry and into other pockets of the economy, like
construction. The Chinese government will most likely have to re-examine its stiff immigration
policies, Galaviz says.
Liberalizing the flow of labor, however, could be a painful process. Social tensions have
increased between Macau natives and immigrant workers competing for jobs. In May, locals
rioted, contending that outsiders were taking jobs away from the Macanese. The protests have
subsided, at least temporarily, but immigration rules in Macau continue to be tough, and change
could come slowly.
Wynn Macau managed to hire some 750 overseas employees, most of whom hold positions in
maintenance and housekeeping, according to Yu. "We are fine for now," Yu says. "But
competition will get stiffer."
Workforce.com
See how Wynn Resorts staffed up in Las Vegas: workforce.com/wynnvegas
AT A GLANCE
Wynn Resorts and its subsidiaries are involved in the development, ownership and operation of
luxury hotel-casinos. It opened Wynn Las Vegas (shown here) in April 2005 with a 2,700-room
hotel, 2,000 slot machines and 135 table games, 20 restaurants, an art gallery, an 18-hole golf
course, two wedding chapels and a Ferrari and Maserati dealership. Wynn Resorts' success is
based largely on owner Steve Wynn's experience in the hotel-casino industry. Wynn was
chairman of the board, president and CEO of Mirage Resorts and was responsible for the
development of the Bellagio, the Mirage, Treasure Island and the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas.
In 2000, MGM Grand bought out Wynn's interest in Mirage Resorts for $6.4 billion. Wynn
Resorts became operational in 2002.
CEO: Steve Wynn
Ticker symbol: WYNN (Nasdaq)
Headquarters: Las Vegas
Employees: 14,300
Net income (2005): -$90.8 million
Market cap: $7,48 billion
52-week range: $42.06-$80.19
Sources: Hoover's, Marketwatch.com
PHOTO (COLOR): Wynn Resorts senior VP and chief of human resources Arte Nathan
PHOTO (COLOR): The $1.1 billion Wynn Macau resort-casino is scheduled to open September
5.
PHOTO (COLOR): NEW FRONTIER Local tycoon Stanley Ho's 40-year casino monopoly in
Macau came to an end in 2001. Steve Wynn (inset) smiles after signing a deal in June 2002 to
operate casinos in the former Portuguese colony.
PHOTO (COLOR): GAME ON Shown in April, crews prepare the Wynn Macau hotel and
casino for its scheduled opening next month. Macau's gaming industry is seeing a dramatic
rebirth since it was opened to foreign interests in 2001. Gaming revenues were estimated at
$5.97 billion for 2005, and analysts believe casino receipts are quickly closing in on those of Las
Vegas, which tallied $9.7 billion in the metro area last year.
PHOTO (COLOR): U.S. casino giant Las Vegas Sands Corp. opened the $260 million Sands
Macau in 2004, It plans a new $2 billion hotel anti casino complex next year, further ratcheting
up competition for local workers in Macau's limited labor pool.
PHOTO (COLOR): LOCAL TENSIONS Workforce growth has not kept pace with Macau's
economic boom, analysts say. In recent years, Macau natives have demonstrated against the
influx of immigrant workers from the Chinese mainland.
~~~~~~~~
By Gina Ruiz
GINA RUIZ is a Workforce Management staff writer based in Los Angeles. To comment, e-mail
editors@workforce.com.
Wynn looks to improve its retention odds
FINDING 5,000 EMPLOYEES in a small coastal area of just 450,000 people to staff a massive
new luxury resort-casino was just one of the many workforce management challenges faced by
Wynn Macau. Just as critical to its future prosperity is the company's ability to retain the talent it
recruited and nurtured once the $1.1 billion property opens September 5.
The cost of replacing employees in China is about 25 percent to 50 percent of their annual salary,
according to Brenda Wilson, principal consultant at Mercer Human Resource Consulting in
Hong Kong. And with turnover rates of about 13 percent, avoiding employee churn can go a long
way when it comes to saving money.
Not surprisingly, the company has designed a comprehensive compensation package that not
only attracts employees, but also instills loyalty. Employee development is among the
cornerstones of Wynn Macau's workforce management strategy, according to HR executive
director Wendy Yu. All employees receive highly individualized training in groups of no more
than 20 and are required to pass certification programs before interacting with guests of the
property.
Training is critical in Macau's service-oriented market. Unlike Las Vegas, where the bulk of
income stems from machines, revenues in Macau depend on high rollers, analysts say. Besides
extensive training, other development programs for Wynn Macau employees include an
education allowance and e-learning initiatives.
Such a human resources policy may not have taken root if not for the company's familiarity with
the needs and expectations of the local workforce. Natives of Macau, located on the southeast
coast of China about 40 miles from Hong Kong, tend to keep their thoughts and feelings low-
key.
"From childhood, people in Macau are taught to respect elders and authority figures," Yu says.
"This lesson is carried into adulthood and into the workplace, where employees won't come out
and tell you what their needs are unless they trust you."
Given these workforce dynamics, all but one of the 50 HR employees Yu oversees has had
extensive experience in Macau. Yu, who was raised in Macau, has worked there for most of her
16-year career in human resources. HR leadership's familiarity with the market has led to the
creation of key policies, such as the highly specialized health insurance packages, which could
prove indispensable for retaining workers.
Wynn Resorts, which operates the Wynn Las Vegas hotel-casino along with Wynn Macau goes
beyond providing the conventional medical coverage typically offered in the U.S. Workers at the
Wynn Macau have access to a Chinese herbalist under the health plan. "Some people are
comfortable with Western medicine, others are comfortable with Chinese medicine," Yu says.
"This is a good way to cover all of our bases."
There are additional benefits--such as paid leave when an employee gets married--offered in
Macau that are not common in the U.S. The medical program also takes into account the critical
inter-generational relationships that exist in Macau. Workers can access health insurance for
their parents, albeit at a cost.
--GINA RUIZ
