In Wynn Resorts’ 2023 corporate responsibility report, chief executive Craig Billings made clear that he won’t put his name to a bland corporate statement rehashing what’s included in the report.
Instead, he set out Wynn’s non-negotiables.
Wynn hires people that fit within its core values of caring for people, fair treatment, personal responsibility and continuous improvement. “When you have a company populated with those who share the same people-focused values, decision making is quick and you land on the ethical and just side of decisions,” Billings writes.
Those people, he continues, come first – decisions are based on the best outcomes whether they’re employees, guests or shareholders. This means Wynn aims to offer its people “a career, not merely a job”. To make that happen, the operator has increased its learnings and development investment over 75% in 2023. But it’s not doing this to look good, he writes, instead Wynn is interested in doing good.
Wynn doesn’t blow its own horn
“When we tackle tough problems, we go deep and do not concern ourselves with who gets the credit,” Billings writes. “We did not distribute news releases touting our programme to develop new talent from HBCUs, our new CLIMB programme to grow internal talent to meet our expansion opportunities or brag about our leadership to organise a sustainable solution for Las Vegas’ unhoused population.”
The operator also stays true to itself. Luxury experiences do not have to be wasteful, he says. The company sorts trash and recycles food waste recycling in Las Vegas, bottles water internally in Macau and has solar energy battery storage programmes in Boston. All of these efforts allow it to run its properties sustainably, without taking away from the guest experience.
Its sustainability efforts saw 41% of its Las Vegas resort waste diverted from landfills in 2023. That was a record for the business. Even its soap from guest rooms was recycled – 4,000 pounds from Wynn Las Vegas and Encore Boston Harbor were used to create hygiene products in partnership with Clean the World. Those North American resorts were powered by 29% renewable energy in 2023. The aim is to be a net-zero business by 2050.
Company, employees donated time and money
Its employees donated more than $1 million (£788,986/€951,750) to the Wynn Resorts Foundation in direct contributions and fundraising efforts last year. That was the most in company history. The operator contributed almost $9 million in cash and in-kind donations to North American charities in 2023. That was in addition to 35,000 hours of volunteerism. Wynn was named as one of the best brands for social impact by Forbes.
“Those are the things that matter and make the difference at Wynn Resorts, now and into the future,” Billings writes.
Essentially it has an ongoing strategy, but that is underpinned by the company ethos.
Over the next week iGB will continue to count down FiNTEL Sustain’s ten highest-ranked companies. Watch FiNTEL Sustain founders Robert Montgomery and Steven Myers share the rationale for creating a gaming-specific rating system in this exclusive interview.
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/sustainable-gambling/fintel-sustain-rankings-2024-number-4-wynn-resorts/
