In this regular feature in IAG to celebrate 20 years covering the Asian gaming and leisure industry, we look back at our cover story from exactly 10 years ago, “A Macau masterplan”, to rediscover what was making the news in January 2016!
It was a different approach IAG took in our first issue of 2016, inviting Dr Brian To – a decorated professor and international business strategist – to pen a lengthy discussion on Macau, its competitive advantages and what it could do to establish itself as a global benchmark, not just in gaming but in the broader hospitality industry.
In his article, titled “A Macau Masterplan: Reinvention through competitive Halo Service and strategic diversification”, Dr To delved into the concept of Halo Service – an elite form of service whereby floor employees such as those who directly provide primary level service to guests and customers no longer deliver zombie-line platitudes but respond to each and every interaction with enthusiasm, motivation and genuine interest.
When fully delivered, he explained, it induces not just satisfaction but emotions such as surprise, fulfilment, joy or inspiration to a potentially addictive extent.
“Halo Service is characterized by an absolute obsession with the needs of the service recipient and blends the task delivered with the behavior and style of delivery in an engaging, sensitive and authentic manner,” Dr To said in his cover story piece.
“Halo Service is the antithesis of the regulation low-grade service we so often see in Macau today – those monkey-see-monkey-do artificially mimicked behaviors, salutations and actions.”
The reason for Dr To’s explanation of Halo Service was what he saw as an opportunity for Macau to become a world leader in delivering elite service standards across its integrated resorts – providing a true point of difference given the growth of resort-style properties popping up across Asia-Pacific and further afield.
This was particularly important, he added, given that so few companies truly understand how to provide such service or how to effectively train staff to deliver it.
“’Human resources development’ is a widely used but generally misunderstood term,” he continued. “Whilst the name implies resources of the human kind are being truly developed and grown, that is often a fallacy. The reality is that many companies see their workers as little more than tools to be used. They are taught to go through the motions in production line fashion.
“Leaders and talent managers are failing to understand the benefits of developing meaningful human resource management strategies that foster innovation, productivity and motivation. Instead, human resource development efforts are mostly a grab bag of best practices, how-to tools and those cringe worthy monkey-see-monkey-do role-plays referred to above. Copying or adopting systems or methods from other companies is not a financially viable solution, given the fact that each organization has its own unique agenda, culture and challenges.
“Given this lack of deep understanding amongst managers, it is unsurprising that few line staff possess the necessary skills, abilities or practical experience with guests or among themselves to deliver an exceptional level of service.”
While Macau was also guilty of such surface-level training in many instances, the fact that its hospitality market was still relatively young presented an opportunity to adapt.
“Macau’s latest wave of integrated resorts, casinos and shopping havens are ideally poised to provide leadership and innovation in delivering Halo Service, given they are new and relatively devoid of legacy issues,” Dr To observed.
“These properties can be great test beds, providing the opportunity to experiment in numerous strategic areas such as facilities, service delivery models, retail, MICE, hospitality, entertainment, recreation and many more.
“Operating within a hypercompetitive and global environment that will be continually fiercely competitive, it would be wise to create a Macau that focuses on Halo Service, ensuring continuous global leadership in gaming, hospitality, leisure, recreation and so on. A great foundation exists in Macau, but so much more work needs to be executed as a regional priority.”
At a time when the Macao SAR Government was already discussing diversification strategies, Dr To noted that Halo Service provided an opportunity to achieve these very goals – capitalizing on the city’s unique blend of western European heritage and dynamic Chinese culture to elevate its many service industries.
“The attitude should be, ‘The Macao SAR is completely five star’,” he said. “Macau has the opportunity to be the global leader in delivering Halo Service in every sector from gas stations to retail government offices to integrated resorts to restaurants and everything in between. The enthusiasm for Halo Service delivery could become infectious, with the entire service sector providing a higher level of service. Educational, government and industry organizations would afford prestigious awards and recognition to those companies and individuals that deliver sustained Halo Service. It would be the service culture that would bind the city and reframe Macau to be synonymous with world-class service and Halo Service delivery.
“Understanding the gaming VIP guest is obvious, but trying to understand the non-gaming guest is more difficult, yet potentially highly profitable by opening up an entirely new customer base. A ‘yuppie’ visitor isn’t such a poor notion.
“Imagine Macau as a wedding or honeymoon destination, or with MICE options such as corporate retreat havens, or as a thumping day club destination. None of these ideas have been seriously tapped into.
“The new guests of today want ‘Experience’ with a capital ‘E’, not just to be ushered into VIP rooms by black suits for the duration of their visit. Of course, enthusiastic gamers can also buy into these new options.
“What a missed opportunity not to engineer new and fresh innovative experiences for every level of visitor to Macau. Our goal should be to consistently reinforce emotional investment and attachment.”
A decade on, has Macau achieved universal Halo Service? We’ll let you be the judge.
