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Harrah’s Entertainment:
A look into the gainshare plan by: kelsie white and jacob gaither
Harrah’s Entertainment:
A look into the gainshare plan by: kelsie white and jacob gaither
2015
2015

Harrah’s Entertainment, while operating at a high level in the entertainment industry, needed to make changes to the traditional ways in order to continue to excel and grow. Phil Satre knew he was going to have to reshape the operating strategy at Harrah’s Entertainment if the company was going to continue to succeed, and he did just that. While other casinos were building new attractions to lure customers, Harrah’s decided that was not the most efficient route to take in sustaining revenue and earnings growth or return on investment. They decided to shift from a product – based company to a marketing based company. Satre believed he could increase in-store revenues by changing the mindset of the customer to make them feel Harrah’s was their “home away from home”. (Delong & Vijayaraghavan, pg 2). Gary Loveman, President and COO, knew that they wouldn’t succeed in the marketing piece if they ignored their people. This meant improving customer service and getting creative with ways to achieve such. Marilyn Winn, head of Human Resources, was brought into Headquarters to help him implement his plan, after successfully running operations in the Shreveport, Louisiana casino. Winn was task with recreating the human resources function under Satre & Loveman’s image, which included a heavy focus on improving turnover. They both knew it would be impossible to deliver the ultimate customer satisfaction without a stable workforce. Harrah’s then implemented a new reward system for its employees. The incentive program had a two-pronged purpose: improve customer service and raise employee retention rates. The basis of the plan was to serve as motivation to improve

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