Ultimate Performance: Measuring Human Resources at Work

Case Study—Internal Mobility at Harrah’s Entertainment

The following case study, which examines gaming giant Harrah’s Entertainment, demonstrates how an organization can properly assess their talent and create an internal mobility structure based on solid, proven metrics.

Situation. In mid-2005, Harrah’s Entertainment acquired Caesars Holdings, creating a combined Human Resources organization servicing the largest casino operator in the nation. With properties across the country, and several properties located in concentrated areas (Atlantic City, Las Vegas), it was clear to senior management that allowing their talent base to move freely across the organization was critical to keeping operating costs under control, recruiting costs minimized, and retaining talent in hard-to-hire markets like Las Vegas. Quite simply, for most locations where gambling is legal, a worker has more then one employer to choose from. Harrah’s wanted to remain the choice of their well-performing employees even if their current job wasn’t their final destination.

Support structure. To support their Internal Mobility efforts, Harrah’s deployed:

• An executive-facing team to recruit and manage the careers of top casino managers across the country.

• A high-potential training and career development course for emerging entry-level managers to gain better visibility into their possible career choices. Partnering with recruiting teams nationwide to place high-potentials, they created personalized internal mobility ...