Your Workforce and You: a Survival Guide
by Beth Deighan
June 1, 2009
The gaming industry that
once proclaimed itself impervious to economic downturns now finds this is no
longer true. As gaming company revenues decline, so does hiring. Job boards and
executive search firms are seeing a 50-75 percent reduction in requests for
staffing services and an influx of job seekers.
On a positive note, today’s talent management technology provides
the tools for HR and management to make the right decisions about their
workforce. Instead of the mass job cuts that characterized previous recessions
many organizations are taking a more intelligent and nuanced approach to
cutting their costs while maintaining a commitment to the retention of key talent.
Employers are taking a long, hard look at their compensation and
incentive programs to determine where they can make cuts in discretionary
spending by eliminating overtime, employee events and entertainment, freeze pay
increases, eliminate bonuses and 401K contributions and reduce training and
development programs and employee travel.
Yet many are concerned about alienating their top performers.
Taleo Corporation, a provider of talent
management solutions, recently conducted a global survey of 345 corporate
executives and respected talent management leaders to develop a list of do’s
and don’ts for managing talent in a down economy. The research was based on the
premise that this recession is different from any experienced by those in
today’s leadership and HR management positions. Therefore, recognizing that
workforce expenses usually account for as much as 70 percent of a business’s
overall costs, the research seeks to distill the best practices in staffing
management for making better cost-cutting and productivity-impacting decisions,
regardless of geography.
Downsizing: best practices
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- Identify the work that is core to retaining business (not just the work that is being done well). Look at core and critical positions to prioritize where, if necessary, head count can be cut.
- Identify competencies needed to meet business goals. Use workforce planning and performance management to make better decisions.
- Protect your bottom line and your brand. When making downsizing decisions, consider that poor execution and planning have long-term brand effects and instant Internet scrutiny. If you must let go of personnel, do so without burning your bridges.
- Communicate constantly. Let staff know what you know, when you know it, and provide them the dignity they deserve.
- Pay attention to survivors. Let them know why they were kept or bear the consequences, ranging from low engagement and productivity to their leaving of their own volition.
- HR management (many operating with reduced recruitment staffs and budgets) must anticipate and be prepared for a time when the economy will improve. They should not rely only on traditional recruitment methods but should implement new and more flexible ways to manage their recruitment process.
Finding talent
- Ask employees for referrals. Employee referrals generate high-quality candidates.
- Ask new hires for referrals. During orientation ask them for names of colleagues who are qualified and might be interested.
- Recruit at professional events. Encourage your executives to speak at these events to improve your brand image.
- Develop a video to more effectively show why your property is a great place to work.
- Reach out to alumni employees who have left the company or retired to see about their interest in returning.
- If some time has passed, contact top candidates who turned down a job offer from you and resell the position.
- Use interns. Many college students will work free for the experience.
- Utilize cost-effective industry-specific recruitment resources to publicize your company brand and opportunities on the Internet and target qualified job seekers using a direct-marketing e-mail program.
- Develop a strong online presence by: creating a corporate Facebook page; starting a LinkedIn group; developing a YouTube broadcast; providing IM or a Job Seeker Inquiry form on your Web site
Retaining talent
Retention still tops the
list of toughest staffing challenges, according to a new Robert Half Internal
survey. When asked what currently concerned them the most, employers listed:
“retaining current employees” (39 percent); “recruiting new employees” (22
percent); “keeping productivity high” (17 percent); and “improving morale” (17
percent).
When HR professionals were asked what their top retention programs
were, the overwhelming response was: tuition reimbursement, competitive
vacation and holiday benefits and competitive salaries.
These are certainly important benefits, but when all companies
offer the same retention elements how effective can the program be? So while
employers will tell you their most valuable asset is their employees they are
not placing much effort or creativity on retaining this asset.
Retention of an employee base in today’s gaming environment
requires a three-pronged approach:
- Frank talk from management.
- Focus on creativity to find better ways to do things.
- Programs to help employees cope.
In this trying economic time it is a herculean task for both human resources and staff managers to maintain a loyal and productive workforce. It is understandably hard for employees to focus on their jobs when they are fearful that tomorrow they may not have one.
So what can gaming companies do retain their workforce and manage property morale?
First, tell employees the bad news. Make sure they know what is happening and hear it from you, not the grapevine or the media. Communicate frequently and honestly, including providing the real numbers of staff reductions.
Ask employees if they would be willing to take a pay cut or accrue additional time off to reduce payroll costs so that more employees can be retained.
Offer employees increased flexibility. Many employers are giving workers more freedom to set their hours, compress their work week and telecommute.
Give back to employees where you can by offering flextime, additional vacation time and increased responsibilities, not just more work.
Provide programs to help employees deal with stress. Those employees who survive a downsizing are required to do more work. Moreover, some of the employees that have survived have such restricted hours they can’t pay their bills.
Finally, salaries must be frozen, extraneous programs cut, even benefits reduced.
“Fix” the incentive plan. An incentive plan is put in place to reward and motivate employees. But if talented employees have no chance of earning incentive dollars because of marketplace changes the plan begins to have a negative effect on staff morale and retention.
Retaining key employees
In addition to retention of
the employee base, special emphasis needs to be placed on developing stronger
retention programs for employees who are critical to the company’s success.
Companies need to make sure these employees are not vulnerable to the
aggressive offers that will likely come their way.
The most common elements in traditional employee incentive plans
have been annual bonuses based on financial performance and stock options. But
the poor financial performance of gaming companies and the drop in value of
their stocks have made these traditional benefits somewhat ineffective.
Hay Group recently conducted a global
research study in order to assist organizations with understanding the extent
to which companies have altered or are considering altering their reward
programs. A total of 2,589 organizations from 91 countries across six
continents participated in this study, demonstrating that the effects of the
downturn are being felt worldwide. The majority of the strategies discussed
earlier in this article are being implemented worldwide. However, it is
important to note that when respondents were asked to list their organization’s
biggest concerns regarding key employees during this challenging time, they
fear losing top talent and critical skills.
To keep their very best and most critical employees companies
should consider providing aggressive incentive plans that:
- Guarantee minimum year-end performance-based bonuses in key areas other than EBITA, such as service enhancement, cost-efficiency and innovation.
- Grant more stock options/shares/units and consider changing the mix of options/shares/units.
- Reduce the performance criteria for vesting.
- Provide employment contracts as a cost-free way to show employees how valuable they are to the company. (A program like this will obviously cost money, but it makes sense for certain highly skilled employees.)
The credibility factor
Human
resource leaders understand that the current economic climate has significantly
influenced the way they must structure, recruit, retain and motivate their
workforces. They are expected to have a tangible impact on
the profitability of their business.
It is critical to keep employees motivated
during these times. Organizations have the opportunity to take a hard look at
the intent, design and implementation of their HR programs. Those that think
strategically and creatively will emerge in a position of strength to take
advantage of the future upturn.
HRM
technology solutions can help savvy HR professionals strategically manage
through the crisis and prepare as the economy inevitably rises. Trends that HR
professionals must embrace in 2009 include: managing and developing talent, HRM
analytics, Web 2.0, on-boarding and implementing a technology strategy to do
more with less.
Beth Deighan
is president of Casino
Careers Online. The company provides a job board and resume data base, Web
design and HR consulting services exclusively to the casino gaming, hospitality
and gaming technology industries. These include career transition counseling,
organizational assessment, compensation analysis and outplacement. For
information, visit www.casinocareers.com.
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