Melco reveals the secrets of its award-winning mass recruitment strategy

At the Asia Recruitment Awards Hong Kong 2019, global gaming and hospitality giant Melco Resorts & Entertainment was crowned for Best Mass Recruitment. Akiko Takahashi, EVP, chief of staff to chairman & CEO (previously executive vice president, chief officer, human resources/corporate social responsibility) at Melco Resorts & Entertainment shares the company’s hiring philosophy.

What is the role of Melco’s top management in the mass recruitment process?Our hiring philosophy is “hiring attitude, potential, image” and “train on skills”. After an initial screening process by our digital tool and multiple interview processes, each candidate meets our senior leaders or top management individually to secure a higher probability of success in recruiting an ideal employee.

It is critical to ensure alignment at all levels towards the model candidate. Since a high standard of service is built upon the basis of the right attitude, we prefer to hire candidates with no previous experience in the hospitality industry so we can train them to meet our high level of service standards and do not have to untrain previous skills that might not be suitable to our brand.

What is the ideology behind Melco’s strong emphasis on employer branding in the mass recruitment process?We take pride in being the curator of excitement and a world-class entertainment hub that is constantly breaking new ground. Melco’s colleagues are very proud of working for an award-winning and internationally recognised company, for we own the highest number of Michelin-starred restaurants among integrated resort operators globally, and all Melco properties have obtained 5-star ratings from Forbes.

Throughout the entire recruitment process, it is crucial for our candidates to understand our brand and our systematic culture of excellence. In particular, our premium luxury service is achieved through a regimented training system and programme aligned with our brand service standards. With Melco’s strong employer brand, we hope to attract candidates who consider Melco as the pinnacle of their career.

What is your HR team’s main role in mass recruitment?To understand our consumer brand and exhibit our service branding promises in the recruitment process; develop an attractive proposition to net the right talent; work with line leaders and top management to align expectations and needs; and design customised service brand training programmes to ensure every employee from top to bottom understands our brand promise.

With this in mind, while monitoring the whole interview process from screening to conclusion, we make sure all our candidates experience Melco’s service to the same premium standards as our guests.