The Human in Human Resources
December 19, 2007 | by brett | Permalink
Arte Nathan, who we interviewed back in July, is a recruiting legend. A smart and simple man, he told us a story about how an idea he had transformed the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino human resource department.
The problem was, back in 1983, that the employee turnover ratio of the Golden Nugget was way above the industry average (300%). At a meeting, Arte challenged the managers to start catching people doing things right instead of acting like McGruff the crime dog and seeking out the wrongs. His concept was that of a Psych 101 class. Instead of punishing bad behavior, rewarding good behavior would encourage those desired actions to reoccur more frequently in the future through positive reinforcement.
The Golden Nugget management team thought he had completely gone off the rocker.
Regardless, Arte’s challenge to catch people doing things right got a chance in the house keeping department, where there was a high turnover with the maids who worked the tough, dull jobs. Managers rewarded employees through star stickers that were then thumbed into booklets, and could be redeemed for goods and services that were piling up in the wherehouse.
The Golden Nugget saw its turnover ratio decrease from 300% to 75% in six months. Within a year, it went from 75% to 8%. All from catching people doing things right.
People come to work wanting to do a good job. They want to be recognized for doing a good job, or at least recognized for doing the job that you want to them to do.
So why wouldn’t you thank them for it?
« Previous: Get a Job in Film | Next: Money is the root of all good »
THERE ARE 2 RESPONSES TO THIS INTERVIEW
Eric Says:
December 20th, 2007
Excellent! It is proactive management over reactive management. I think I will go blog about this one. I see it at work every day. Our turnover last year was 6.5% and the national average is almost 20% for software developers. Great post.
Steve Says:
December 20th, 2007
I”ve always led teams that way. During my telecom years, all other offices turned their sales team every 6 months. My team stayed in tact for 4 years. It’s really the golden rule applied to business.
RESPOND TO THIS INTERVIEW