Face is not just prestige, rather it represents a combination of class, prestige, social status, ego, credibility and reputation. It applies equally to the individual, family, social community, business organisations etc. It has implications in that certain individuals or organisations are expected to behave in a certain manner that is commensurate with their social standing.

As a casino, we are perceived to be a large, rich organisation, and as such would be expected to behave in certain ways that maintains our face in the community. Some of these expectations are cross cultural eg. to be seen to be giving something back to the community (the case of the Vietnamese businessmen rallying around the flooding disaster in Vietnam is an example of the rich giving something back to the community that gave them their status) is one. A 30c Red Packet for Chinese New Year might be seen as miserly as it is an amount which is given to very young children (non related). It may be better giving gold wrapped chocolate coins, in terms of token sysmbolism. On the other hand, $50 Freeplay given out may be more in tune with expectations.

In terms of dealing at the individual level, ‘face is always an important consideration. It is what makes players play where they can then be seen as the ‘big wheel’ and thus acquire ‘great face’.

It is also ‘face’ that is the issue when we are dealing with a problem at the table, as any flat out rejection of their position (whatever it may be) is seen to cause them loss of face in front of their peers. The first step is to remove the patron from the company of their peers, thus removing the social ‘face’ issue. The next step is where possible, promise to look into it and get back to the client , thus saving the client some ‘face’. Where possible, try to find some compromise or solution that represents a mid way point between the two extremes, and to explain to the client clearly that the staff member has put his job on the line by doing so (to jeopardise another person’s ‘rice bowl’ is a major no-no).

Some common phrases/concepts:

• Have/gain face
- An action that results in a gain in prestige or reflects the status of the family/individual. Eg. hosting a son/daughter’s wedding in a posh five star hotel would confer a great deal of ‘face’. It is almost a measure of the social standing of the individual/family eg a Mercedes Benz is a must “face’ item for any self made businessman, any lesser car and the rumours will fly that he is having financial problems. Having said that, the strict informal rules that govern material ostentation are less rigidly adhered to here in Australia.

• Lose face
- Almost the opposite of having face. It is when an action or behaviour has caused embarrassment to the individual/family/social group. Some common examples:

Individual – flunking tests, low menial jobs
Family - not giving the right gifts or level of hospitality to guests
Social Group – high level of crime by its teenagers
Business Group – unresolved complaints by customers

• Save face
- When a loss of face is imminent (eg losing an argument), saving face is to compromise with a formula that lets both parties retain some sense of a partial win. Eg. Where a conflict has arisen over a gaming decision, it can sometimes be resolved by a non-gaming comp such as dinner etc.

One very good example of how ‘face’ works is the Chinese practise of taking out personal full page ads in local newspaper publishing full details of unresolved complaints against companies or individuals/businesses. This is in direct contradiction to the western practise of going through courts. The explanation is simple. The potential loss of public face caused by the action places greater pressure on the other party to respond than a hidden legal battle.

What implications does this have for our dealings with the Chinese and Vietnamese patrons?

a. Be aware of the potential ‘face’ implications in our decisions. Eg. when inviting people to certain functions, or when comping, always try and be consistent in terms of comps vs level of play. They will always compare notes, and will quickly pick up the fact that someone who plays less than they do is getting more comps.
b. When trying to resolve a conflict or issuing a serious warning, remove the individual from his/her peers to mitigate their loss of face.
c. No matter how friendly the patron is, treating them formally always confer great face especially when they have friends nearby.

A useful index on Chinese culture:
http://www.easc.indiana.edu/pages/easc/curriculum/china/1995/geography/lessons.htm

Date Posted: 03-Jan-2002




by Move from Employee Turnover Problem to Advocacy Solution

Move from Employee Turnover Problem to Advocacy Solution
By Martin R. Baird

There sure seems to be a lot of talk about employee turnover in gaming these days. I have a suggestion. Alleviate your turnover problems and improve your customer service by creating employee advocates. Read on and you will see what I mean.
As many of you may know, I speak at gaming conferences around the world and write for numerous gaming magazines. I also have a blog. Add all that up and I have a lot of contact with people in gaming. One of the top questions I hear goes something like this: “How do we reduce the amount of employee turnover at our casino? We pay well, have great benefits and still we have a revolving door at the Human Resources office.”
I’ll start with the easy answer. Pay and benefits are not the root cause of most turnover. For example, most people don’t stop working at a casino because of their salary, unless a new employer comes to the market that pays way more than they are making now. I’ve seen a new casino enter a market and try to “borrow” employees from existing properties. I say borrow because most of the people who jump ship for $1 more an hour return to the casino they left for many reasons, including feeling more comfortable with the old system. So stop focusing on pay and benefits.
And forget about zero employee turnover. Life happens. People move, finish college, even die. Human resources managers must be realistic about the fact that some people will leave for a variety of reasons. This is a fact of business. The key is knowing why they leave.
This leads me to an important point that I think is often overlooked in this discussion. I believe some turnover is good. In the old days, doctors touted the virtues of blood letting and leaches. They knew that for some diseases, leaches helped remove the “bad” blood so the body could heal. Employees are the lifeblood of any casino, but sometimes a few of them need to be removed for the health of the property. I’m always impressed when I meet with a client and they tell me with great smiles all about the number of people who have been with the property for 10, 20 and even 30 years. That can be a good thing, but these employees also may have some 30-year-old habits that would be a better fit at a toll booth than a casino cage.
Still, cutting employee turnover is an admirable goal. To me, one of the keys to reducing turnover happens way before staff members are ever hired. If HR is forced to just keep sending new people to the front lines, I guarantee many of them will not make it as long as they should. Much turnover could be reduced by doing pre-hire assessments that are scientifically proven. For example, you can pick up on personal issues before the prospective hire signs on the dotted line. My company works with Ryan Ross at Hogan Assessment Systems and the assessments he helps conduct create an amazing multidimensional picture of the candidate. This allows the employer to make decisions based on real information, not just a smile and the patented interview phrase of “I’m customer service focused.”
We used Hogan Assessment to hire a person who was very successful with us and we want to hire more like her. After the assessment, we talked with Ryan on the phone and he told me what would make her successful in our world. His assessment of her was 100 percent on target. It was amazing. In addition to identifying issues, assessments are a great way to create a profile of the characteristics that make up your top performers in any specific department. After all, a great beverage server could be a much different person than your best cage worker.
Now to this thing about employee advocates. Smart casinos learn from the people who already work at the property and that truly pleases employees. Existing employees have an amazing amount of information and ideas to share. Most of them really want the casino to succeed for a variety of reasons. One of the major challenges is getting that information in a way that makes it useful. I see the solution this way – ask, listen and create advocates.
For those of you knee deep in an employee satisfaction study, survey or assessment, I hate to say this, but you have wasted your time, energy and money. You should measure employee advocacy. I know my comments will generate e-mails from companies that do satisfaction surveys. They’ll say I’m simply wrong. But credible research has proven that “satisfaction” is fickle. An employee is “satisfied” when they are happy and that could be because they received a big toke. But 15 minutes later, they could be very dissatisfied because they didn’t get to go home early.
When you seek employee input, ask the question that requires them to risk their reputation. When you add risk to the equation, it makes people think and, thus, they are more likely to give a true answer. Also, don’t ask them a hundred questions because nobody will read all those answers. Ask them four questions and communicate the results to front-line people as well as managers and supervisors. In other words, report back. Employees want to know what their colleagues are thinking. That’s another reason not to ask 100 questions. Sharing all that information effectively is impossible.
Finally, create employee advocates through internal improvement. This happens in a variety of areas at many levels and it’s not a quick or easy thing to do. But if you want to move from a revolving door to a group of people that looks forward to coming to work and risking their reputation by telling others about your wonderful casino, that is what needs to be done.
Perhaps now is the time to shift from the problem of employee turnover to the solution of creating advocates.

This article first appeared in International Gaming and Wagering Business

Date Posted: 04-Jul-2007

Martin R. Baird is author of “Advocate Index™: An Operational Tool” and chief executive officer of Robinson & Associates, Inc., a global customer service consulting firm for the gaming industry. Robinson & Associates helps casinos worldwide determine their Advocate Index, a number that indicates the extent to which properties have guests who are willing to be advocates, and then implements its Advocate Development System to help casinos create more guest advocates. The Advocate Development System uses the proven methodology of Advocate Index in combination with best business practices to chart a course for growth and profitability. More information about the Advocate Development System and Robinson and Associates is available at the company’s Web sites at www.advocatedevelopmentsystem.com and www.casinocustomerservice.com. A copy of “Advocate Index: An Operational Tool” may be obtained by calling 206-774-8856. Robinson & Associates may be reached by phone at 480-991-6420 or by e-mail at mbaird@casinocustomerservice.com. Based in Annapolis, Maryland, Robinson & Associates is a member of the Casino Management Association and an associate member of the National Indian Gaming Association.


by

As one of the finalists for the 2009 International Gaming Awards, Wynn Macau is a property that deserves a second look. One of the elements that differentiate Wynn from other nominees is its effective mastery of colors in the design of its casino. Colors have multiple psychological and emotional properties, which can affect patrons’ feelings about a place. In the mind of ordinary Chinese people, color holds strong associations that are carved over thousands of years of existence as a collective whole. This tradition is, however, challenged and shaped by modern as well as western influences. Among all, red is universally considered the most “Chinese” color – a representation of the Chinese people and their culture. And according to a study, it is not just any red but vivid red that intrigues modern Chinese people (see Figure 1). Generally, Chinese like vivid colors and dislike dull ones. Another study shows that Chinese consumers prefer colors that are clean, fresh or modern, and feel tense with colors that are hard, heavy, masculine or dirty. The color red, yellow and green are basic colors of the great Forbidden City and are often used to decorate Chinese temples. The emphasis of red in Chinese culture is said to originate from the Han period. To the Han Chinese, red symbolizes celebration. In ancient Chinese marriages, the bride wore red costume with a piece of red veil to cover her face. She would go through a wedding procession to the bridegroom’s home in a red sedan. Red candles filled the couple’s new room with a dim but warm light, while red couplets were pasted on the door and walls. Guests who attended the wedding reception presented red packets to the couple. Those were in the past. All have changed in the modern Chinese weddings, in which a bride would typically wear western-style white wedding gown. At the reception, however, many would still choose to wear (at some point) the more traditional one-piece red Qipao (for northern China) or the two-piece red Kwa (for southern China). Qipao, also known as cheongsam, is a traditional dress with unique Chinese features. This connection with red as the color for celebration and happiness is still very strong among modern Chinese people.

Date Posted: 19-Jan-2009