Interview | Akiko Takahashi | ‘Our strategy is to become the employer that people choose to stay with’

Akiko Takahashi

As gaming operators develop new casino resorts along the Cotai Strip, the use of recruitment strategies to fill job vacancies have become crucial. In an exclusive interview with The Times, Melco Crown Entertainment’s executive vice president and chief human resources/corporate social responsibility officer, Akiko Takahashi, acknowledges that it has become more difficult to hire new employees in Macau, and thus Melco Crown is betting on developing the skills and knowledge of those already working for the company.
Ms Takahashi stressed that the casino operator is focusing on retaining and advancing employees’ careers internally.

Macau Daily Times (MDT) – Melco has invested in lifelong learning programs to develop staff in-house, by introducing for instance the “Back to School” program. What have been the main achievements from this so far?
Akiko Takahashi (AT) – This came as a result from a focus group that we began in 2008. We realized that people want a high school diploma, but their schedules, or having to deal with the inconvenience of the traffic… all those issues make it really difficult.
So we’re focused on local development, but if so many of our colleagues don’t have a high school education, it kind of hampers our ability to develop them.
We tried to look at education differently, to change the paragon and see if education could come here. We were very lucky that the education bureau and the Luso-Chinese School [Luis Gonzaga Gomes] were willing to partner with us.
Regarding our achievements I was very touched today [Thursday during a graduation ceremony] because among our first graduates there’s a woman of about 55 years old who’s applying for the diploma program, which is a year-long program at the University of Macau. So she’s going to be ready for her advanced diploma. Another among today’s graduates is a lady going for her bachelor’s degree. We have transformed two people’s lives.

MDT – So this was intended as the first step to furthering their studies beyond high school…
AT – Yes. We knew that it would start small because people didn’t want to say that they didn’t have a high school diploma but as time has passed it has mushroomed in popularity. We were very confident that this would take on a life of its own. It’s quite a big achievement for them.

MDT – How were they selected?
AT – They came forward themselves and applied for the program. We communicate with people all over and we talk about the educational programs we have available, and so those that are interested come and apply. And you know there are drop outs too, because it’s hard; five days a week, three hours a day, juggling that with family and all. That’s why it’s important to keep encouraging them, that’s why it’s so inspiring to see them here today, because this is a result of a lot of work.

MDT – Macau’s unemployment rate stood at 1.8 percent in March-May. How difficult is it to recruit under these circumstances?
AT – It has become more and more challenging, because obviously as portfolios grow, there are less local people available. So it is challenging. And that’s the reason why we’re focused on developing the people that we have. Creating a place where people like to come in and work. And creating the kind of environment that I talked about, because as it becomes more difficult to recruit what you need to try and do is to stop people from leaving.
If people don’t leave and see a purpose with what they do in this company… It can’t always be recruit, recruit, recruit. It has to be about retention.

MDT – You said that employees at Melco are encouraged to try other areas within the company. Is that part of the same strategy to retain people?
AT – Yes, because of the whole person development. Basically what we tell our managers is if [a staff worker] applies outside the company you would never know. So, if I am a dealer today and I want to try F&B this is what happens: I don’t need the manager’s permission to apply [for other jobs inside the company]. Once they apply and they’re about to get selected and the qualification is equal, the manager gives internal approval… that’s the reason why we’re able to complete 18,000 internal promotions and transfers.
The reason we do that is because we want people to feel like there’s career advancement opportunities within our company.

MDT – Studio City will be the first of a new wave of Cotai resorts to open later this year. What’s the recruitment strategy now?
AT – The strategy is to become the employer that people choose to stay with and want to come to work for, and in order to do that you need to focus on the things that are meaningful to employees: career and quality of life, as research indicates. As you can see, it really starts all the way from the top providing the competitive benefits and wages as necessary.

MDT – How important is it for fresh graduates to start from the bottom?
AT – It is very important. But people need to have hope. We are a young company. And when we first started and needed to recruit for City of Dreams, people would think: why would I leave a known name like other existing brands and then come to work for you? Because we only started in 2006.
So I think it’s very important to get people to understand why they’re working so hard, because when there’s a company that’s growing, we have a great leader.
People need to see a future here. They also have to see that there’s growth within this company. It’s like in a house: when I don’t like a particular room, I shouldn’t leave the house because of it. If I don’t want to be in that room I need to go and live in the other living room.
That’s kind of a metaphor for what we are. This house has many rooms, and they need to feel that this is a great house.

MDT – What advice would you give fresh graduates who want management positions right from the start?
AT – Well, my advice would be to start with setting up your expectations. I always say that it’s about building a castle, but making sure the castle is not made out of sand. You might only be interested in the title and in the money, but once you get there people have to respect you and feel that you deserved [the position you’re filling].

MDT – Will the company consider hiring foreign workers if there are not enough locals to fill in all the positions?
AT – Well, it’s in the math. At the end of the day you need to look at the number of unemployed people. It’s very difficult to recruit because there’s more jobs than local people availabe.But we have to give priority to local people.

MDT – But is the company considering applying for more quotas?
AT – I think in time if Macau were to keep growing there won’t be enough people to fill all of the jobs. So hopefully the good jobs go to the local people because they have received good training.

MDT – How do you see the development of young people’s skills and education since you first arrived in Macau?
AT – I see a big change, it’s evolving and it’s a good positive change.

MDT – Apart from long-life learning programs, what other opportunities have Melco employees been afforded in terms of training?
AT – There’s thousands, and hundreds of thousands of hours of training provided to further people’s technical skills.  Internal career opportunities are a way to develop people professionally. People develop as a result of doing something, not just learning it in a classroom. Allowing our people to learn more than your job overall is a very important thing, and the investment we have in terms of allowing them to take classes, university programs, our in-housing learning academy. We have hundreds of courses per year, including the dealer career progression program. Our gaming division does wonderful things in terms of training, and service. There’s going to be an acceleration program for pit supervisors who are going to be promoted and they’re going to be put through this three-month program, because you need to develop that way.