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CBS
MGM Grand President Scott Sibella is featured on Sunday’s episode of CBS’ “Undercover Boss.”
Thursday, March 24, 2011 | 2:01 a.m.
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Beyond the Sun
After narrowly escaping a nearly fatal financing crisis in 2009, Nevada’s largest private employer is on a slow, hard road to recovery. But as many casino executives in Las Vegas know, that path is tricky, especially for a business that relies on the morale of tens of thousands of front-line employees.
That’s one reason why MGM Grand President and Chief Operating Officer Scott Sibella managed to persuade the top brass at MGM Resorts International to let him don a wig and glasses for an episode of “Undercover Boss.”
The CBS reality show follows managers as they work incognito alongside lower-level employees to better understand the workplace. Sibella acted as a dealer, clerk and slot floor representative.
Sibella, who worked his way up from his first hotel job as a front desk clerk, admitted he had a lot to learn after only two months into the job at MGM Grand, about double the size of his previous gig running the Mirage.
“I definitely don’t have my arms around this property. It’s just so big and there are so many moving parts,” Sibella said on the show. With more than 5,000 rooms, 9,000 employees and a casino the size of three football fields, “the Grand” is one of the world’s largest resorts.
The game plan, as Sibella saw it, was to get as close as possible to see how employees are juggling their work and personal lives in the recession.
As his boss, MGM Resorts CEO Jim Murren, put it on the show, “I want to know what they’re thinking right now, because they’ve been through an awful lot.”
Appearing on the show “put a human face on an executive at a major corporation that’s had its problems, especially at a time when I don’t think many Americans are inclined to be that nice to the heads of corporations, whether you’re a liberal-leaning Democrat or a Tea Partyer,” said Michael Green, a history professor at the College of Southern Nevada. “He came across as a nice guy and a family man ... (who) takes action to fix problems.”
Sibella isn’t the first casino boss to humanize himself on television. Steve Wynn famously did so in the 1980s, appearing in humorous ads for the Golden Nugget that helped dispel the image of casino executives as old, unapproachable and crooked, Green said.
The “Undercover Boss” episode is notable because it tackled a problem facing many casino companies: bigness.
The heads of today’s casino giants are further removed from their employees than ever at a time when such interactions are needed to boost morale, Green said.
“Maybe there’s a lesson here for other bosses,” he said.
Assuming the name Paul Thompson, a supposed reality show contestant competing for a job at MGM Grand, Sibella bungled a hand when dealing blackjack, spun a ball out of a roulette wheel and failed to sign up slot players for the company’s new loyalty program, M Life — among other blunders.
Sibella, who had never dealt a game before, said he didn’t know which jobs he would be doing until the cameras were rolling. On television, he came across as flustered and stiff when interacting with eye-rolling or stone-faced customers — hardly the image of the wealthy, self-assured executive.
“A lot of times, as a boss, you forget where you came from,” Sibella said in an interview after the episode aired Sunday. “You realize you’re not the smartest guy in the room, and that employees can advise you and get more credit for their work.”
At a public meeting in January, a Nevada gaming regulator — upset at a casino’s lack of employee oversight — pointed out that the heads of corporate-owned megaresorts rarely walk the floors of their properties and talk to employees.
Sibella said he aims to be different. Since filming the show last fall, he has made a point to walk into kitchens and other areas to greet his workers.
“You can’t get to know all 9,000 employees, but they should know who you are,” he said. “They just want to be acknowledged.”
While undercover, Sibella ran across some familiar conclusions about Las Vegas from his employees, including an admission by a front desk receptionist that she doesn’t like living here because it’s a difficult place to raise children. The receptionist, one of four employees profiled on the show, said she rarely gets to spend time with her husband because of their conflicting work schedules and is considering a move to Colorado.
Sibella, who has two teenagers and grew up in Las Vegas, told her he could relate. “Las Vegas is a Disneyland, but it’s more of a Disneyland for adults,” he said.
For those lucky to have jobs, Las Vegas still offers the opportunity for transformation. A Brooklyn-raised blackjack dealer assured his undercover boss that he would probably be in jail if not for the ability, as a tip earner, to provide for his family.
The show concluded with Sibella showering the four workers with tens of thousands of dollars in cash, trips and donations to favorite charities.
He also promised to upgrade the MGM Grand’s check-in reservations system after witnessing firsthand how slow it was and to install fans to blow smoke away from dealers — a common complaint on the gambling floor but one rarely delivered directly to a CEO on national television.
The giveaways made for good, game-show-style TV. They were a recognition of service — and an acknowledgment by higher-ups that delivering good customer service in tough times can be a special challenge, Sibella said.
“We’re always asking our employees not to forget that the customers who come here have their own problems and don’t want to deal with ours,” Sibella said. “That’s hard to do.”
On camera, one of the workers, Donn, a longtime roulette dealer and Vietnam veteran, summed it up this way: “It feels great not to be forgotten. Because I thought for a long time that we were.”
There's a few things wrong with this program and this episode in particular. First of all, Liz neglects to mention the opening scenes where Sibella flaunts his wealth and the executives of MGM are eating, not in a staff dining room like everyone else, but in one of the most expensive restaurants in the company. In light of the fact that MGM can't seem to get its stock to stay put over $13.00 a share (it was over 90 per share prior to the CityCenter debacle) you would think these executives would want to portray themselves as being a little more fiscally responsible. Because, let's face it, they don't pay out of their own pockets when they indulge in their own properties. Also, I would imagine this is going to add fuel to the fire of the ongoing shareholder lawsuits.
What disgusts me most is that four employees out of 9,000 won some sort of jackpot for telling a sob tale of a "rough" life. What about the other 8,996? Or better yet the thousands that have quietly lost their jobs over the last few years while Sibella flashes his sports car on television and dons a wig to be among the little people for a while. Did he really have to go on TV to find out what the eff is going on in his own property? It's not like he's a CEO over a multi-state organization. His office is in the building. He's there every day...and no one recognized him? That says a lot. Either the whole thing was baloney or he's been so disconnected from his own team that he was nothing more than a name to them.
With the hundreds of supervisors, managers, directors, vice-presidents and the like you think this man would know his business and his team inside and out without having to dress up like a clown and hang out for a couple of days playing "poor". If anything it proves the redundancies at the top at MGM. If they had just fired their superfulous property presidents who do nothing but redecorate and spend money every other month to open a new nightclub, they could have saved hundreds of jobs of people who really matter and who genuinely contribute to the guest experience.
PR crap. That's all this is. They sought out the producers of this show no doubt to get national exposure for their casino without paying for it. Why doesn't Sibella go out on television and find the people who lost their jobs at MGM so he could have a Ferarri and explain to them why the unemployment rate here is the highest in the nation, why our local education system is in the toilet because gaming doesn't want to pay taxes, or maybe why he and his buddies eat at Olives everyday while former MGM employees go downtown to collect a welfare check to stay alive. Reality tv...yeah right.
This commentary sums it up nicely I think:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-hu...
KUDO'S FOR SIBELLA - YES MAKE THE BACK ENTERANCE FOR SOMKERS. IT IS NOT VERY GOOD TO BE INSULTED BY NON-CARING SMOKERS AS SOON AS YOU WALK IN THE FRONT DOOR. THEN AGAIN NO ONE IS FORCING ME TO ENTER THE CASINO. I AM DOING ON MY OWN
The show is fake and scripted...like all "reality" shows.
Anybody who believes otherwise is not a critical thinker.
hey sporty...
i tend to agree with you...
the show is pure crap...
nothing but pr fluff...
wherein the almighty boss hands out goodies at the end...
just reinforces the growing divide between the haves and the have nots...
by the way...
did you catch that clowns car???
really???
APPEARS TO CARE ON CAMERA..LOL
NOW START COWTOWING OR WE'LL SHOW YOU WHAT A RIGHT TO WORK STATE IS ALL ABOUT,,,,,WAVE YOUR HAND AGAIN AT A CUSTOMERS SMOKE AND YOUR DONE,,WE DON'T WANT TO HERE ANYTHING ABOUT SECOND HANDSMOKE EITHER,,YOUR BREAKS OVER AND WE'RE GOING TO HELP OURSELFS TO YOUR TIPS ,,,SO GO KISS SOME ASS
As someone who has worked in the production industry Thomas, I do agree that some reality shows are completely scripted (i.e. The Hills, Laguna Beach, The City) and while some scenes may have been re-shot, to wantonly blanket the reality genre as fake and scripted is false. To each their own. You don't have to like it. Just because 90% of it is garbage, doesn't mean it isn't "real"
Chunky says:
How the staff can live with the smoke is baffling and how the unions and OSHA let this continue is even more baffling. The Chunks family are barely willing to walk through the casino sections to dinner and a show due to the smoke. While he's on a smoke rant, at all the places that do prohibit smoking, non-smokers now have to endure the smoke gauntlet as all the smokers gather around the entry/exits.
While Mr. Sibela may have not known the jobs he'd try you can bet the staff he worked with were cherry picked by the show producers and property executives. The Diversity Police had their hands in this as well.
This was a good PR move for MGM Grand but nothing new came out of it; they already knew he disliked the carpet and the old door locks don't interface with the new software system. All it takes is a check to fix that.
The show concept itself has become completely predictable; well-to-do boss works with mostly hand picked employees who all have tear jerk back stories, boss does poorly in the job, boss gets an earful, boss gives tear jerk PR rewards to employees (good for them), boss meets with entire staff and gives good guy speech.
That's what Chunky thinks!
Jealousy is tough to live with isn't it? We all may not have what Sibella has, BUT... didn't he, along with other CEO's go after there dreams? We all have the same opportunities in this world. We just have to want it as bad as these men do! Not everyone is just handed a "silver spoon" life, many work for what they have. Remember, if these men weren't doing their jobs, they would be among the unemployed also. Lets try not to be so negative and look at the good.
This sadly showed how 'out of touch' Mr. Sibella and his management team really are with the MGM work force. Sad, sad commentary.
Yeah Right!
When a new employee starts,he starts asking around to the black housekeepers what they do on the weekends(visiting nursing homes,yeah that happens)
Are you Kidding me?
This show is such a joke
peace out
Not at all surprising a vegan would find this show real!
All I got from the piece is that Sibella is completely out of touch. When his wife was talking about visiting or being in a nursing home, you could tell she didn't take the idea seriously. She and her husband are very insulated from the working class employees of the MGM Grand. And it showed.
Also,I think I know what they were trying to accomplish by showing him in his fancy sports car, but I think the idea backfired. We all know how much more he makes than the other employees.Don't have to pound that idea into the ground by showing his expensive car.
A few observations about the show from a dealer's perspective (no, I don't work for MGM).
First, what was the deal with the blackjack table they "trained" him on? If I'm correct, the rack had like 3/4 of a million dollars in it!?!?! It looked like it had a stack and a half of melon chips ($25,000 chips) and only two rows of red chips, even though the players looked to be betting $10 a hand! If that didn't give away the "scriptness" of the whole thing, I don't know what would!
Second, I'll give the show some credit for addressing the smoke issue. I was so pessimistic about the fakeness of the show and how MGM would want to avoid the bad PR that I was convinced they would show a sterile environment with no smokers at the tables and probably not even any ashtrays on the tables.
I know the smoke vs. non-smoking debate has been run into the ground in this forum, but the bottom-line is that it has to go!! I fully admit that dealers are aware of the smoking conditions when they take the job. I get that! But these companies claim to care about the welfare and morale of the frontline employees and yet only give their dealers a crappy little fan to ward about 10% of the smoke away. I'm currently looking into moving to Ohio to work in one of the casinos being built there because, per state law, they will be non-smoking. If those casinos all go bankrupt because of their non-smoking rules, I'll eat my words. I really doubt it though.
It's gotten so hypocritical that I recently became eligible for health insurance at my current casino. They forced me to go through a physical, including bloodwork, to "assess my health and give me feedback on how to improve it"....because they care. Yes, they actually stuck a needle in me to get my blood because they care, yet completely ignore the second-hand smoke issue which is probably costing them an absolute fortune in health insurance costs! WTF???
I also thought all the prizes at the end to the chosen employees was basically a giant middle-finger to the rest of the 9,000 employees! I'm sure those gifts improved morale to those specific employees, but if I were any other employee there my morale would be in the crapper my next day at work knowing I was performing the exact same job as the dealers on the show with nothing more to show for it with the exception of maybe another crappy little fan!
who would actually tell the truth about what they do on the weekends when you know you have a camera on you? For those looking for reality, realize no one is going to say anything that would lose them their jobs. That's reality.
LOL LMAO.
How does a COO not know that the keycard system at the front desk is awful and slower than molasses? How do the front desk employees not know what he looks like or who he is? How did ANYONE not recognize him?
This show is so fake.
I can't believe people can't see the positives in this story. Scott Sibella opened up his home to America, he showed that family comes first ! He can easily be living in a big mansion and thumb his nose to everyone like alot of executives do however he showed compassion and humility. Did anyone happen to catch the fact that he is a local ? went to school here graduated from UNLV and worked his way up the ladder ? This was a good move on MGM's part in promoting from within its ranks and not bringing in an outsider (which they could have easily done) for someone to dedicate themselves to a company and gone through one of the toughest economic times in American History he is doing a great job and all his employees should be proud of him !!! KUDOS SCOTT !!!!
Two things amaze me about you all.
1) You think these shows are not 110% scripted.
2) You can't see past the micro (that means small, folks) picture and realize that hearts warming to this states largest company is nothing but great. Great for MGM, which turns into great for Vegas, which turns into great for us.
The show had him entering thru the front door, probably the first time he ever walk thru the front door and had to interact with the smelly tourist and the staff. It showed how out of touch with the people who pay his salary as well as the workers who keep the doors open. Hopefully they learned something from doing this show. Doubt it, but there is always hope
As another poster stated, and I agree.. This was the worst Undercover Boss yet... totally fake... and in VERY BAD TASTE.... to show the COO in his fancy Ferrari in this economy and in a LOSING casino.. give me a break... I work for a competitor.. A lot of Mirage/MGM people quit and came to our facility.. they all the say the same thing.. how terrible it was to work for MGM Mirage....