Arte Nathan gets results with carrots, not sticks - Mirage Resorts VP of Human Resources Arthur Nathan - Society for Human Resource Management: Award for Professional Excellence

HR Magazine, Sept, 1997 by Michelle Neely Martinez

Las Vegas' Mirage Resorts is the second firm on Fortune magazine's list of America's Most Admired Companies - and Vice President of Human Resources Arthur "Arte" Nathan has played a big part in earning the company that distinction. Mirage Chairman and CEO Steve Wynn says, "It wasn't the volcanoes or the Pirate Ship that got us that honor; most of the credit was because HR is not a department - it is the department."

"We know there is a direct link between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction," says Nathan, who joined Mirage in 1987. "We put our energy into supporting employees because they are the ones satisfying our guests - not management."

Known among his peers as a risk-taker with an unconventional management style, Nathan works hard to make sure more than 18,000 employees are motivated, productive and upbeat about their work.

He admits that knowing the ins and outs of every employment law issue is not his forte. Instead, his role is bigger and more creative and involves "making sure that everyone is moving to the same drumbeat and making managers more a part of HR and performance activities." Nathan also pushes the company's core people-management practice: Be fair to everyone because that's what builds trust.

That philosophy shows up in financial performance, says Nathan. For example, Mirage's employee turnover is only 12 percent, compared with a gaming industry average of 43 percent. And its return to investors has averaged 22 percent for the past 10 years.

What's more, while competitors average 10 grievances a week and 20 to 30 significant arbitrations annually, Mirage has not had a single arbitration or grievance in the past four years - a pretty good record for an organization that employs union members.

"Our job is to make managers more HR-smart about performance and the more traditional HR roles, and let them do it," says Nathan. "I'm far more involved in the business in a more general, spiritual way, than in the technical aspects of HR per se."

A basic tenet of Nathan's message to managers is, "Discipline is a waste of time. Positive reinforcement is what will net more success at work." He also doesn't believe in going "by the book" when it comes to managing people. "Consistency is a mistake," he says. "Fairness is a better way to manage people."

One of Nathan's innovations is recruiting and hiring first-time felony offenders. Mirage Resorts interviews and assesses soon-to-be-parolees from the Boot Camp Program at the Southern Nevada Correctional Facility at Indian Springs. More than 40 parolees have been hired.

Pushing upward mobility for Mirage employees is perhaps what Nathan is most proud of. A Graduate Equivalency Diploma (GED) program has enabled 885 employees to earn their high school diplomas. "These 885 people have 1,200 children whose futures could be negatively impacted by their parent's lack of opportunity for upward mobility due to their lack of education," says Nathan. "We want to be a socially responsible company and encourage our employees to continue their education."

At the last graduation ceremony held at the resort, 32 employees received their diplomas. Mirage will also pay 50 percent of college expenses for the employees who graduate from the company-sponsored GED program. To date, 30 percent of the GED graduates have enrolled at Las Vegas Community College or the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

Nathan's contributions extend beyond Mirage to SHRM and the entire profession. For the past four years, Nathan has served as a director of the SHRM Foundation; this year he is vice president of the Foundation. He has served on the Las Vegas SHRM Chapter Board of Directors, as well as the SHRM board for Area VI.

As co-chair of the Las Vegas STEP program - sponsored by 19 Las Vegas hotels and the Culinary and Bartender's Union - Nathan works throughout the community to upgrade the skills of people who are not in the workforce. Nathan also established VOICE - Volunteers of Independent and Committed Employees - a program in which 1,800 Las Vegas employees devote more than 40,000 hours of volunteer time to community service.

Nathan also teaches at Cornell University and the University of Las Vegas, and is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Houston.

Referring to the Award for Professional Excellence, Nathan says, "It's a very humbling experience. And though the Mirage has been recognized in a number of ways, this award is a special bonus and means a lot to me personally because I'm receiving recognition from my peers."