PROFILE
Under Reid-Anderson’s direction, Six Flags is focusing on being a great regional theme park operator, offering fantastic guest service and running its 19 parks safely and effi ciently
we can be more diligent in how we spend money.” Key differences include changing from national to local media advertising and using its immense buying power as leverage to reduce supply costs. Operating days have also been reviewed.
Previously the company was open on several days when it didn’t make sense to be open and was losing money. Now its schedules are more in line with other regional companies. Activities that were non-core have also been eliminated, such as children’s barber shops, which cost mil- lions of dollars to set up and run.
MORALE Restoring employee morale and pride in the company and restoring investor trust have been the biggest challenges.
“To do this we were honest and open with both parties,” says Reid-Anderson.
“We gave them the strategy and vision and then we set about executing it. Your word is your bond – tell people what you’re going to do, then do it.” This approach is backed up with regular employee sessions in which staff are invited to ask questions. “Once you do that and people see you’re real and truthful with them, even if you’re telling them something they don’t want to hear, they begin to support and believe in the company again,” Reid-Anderson says. “It’s all about building trust. They have a right to know where we’re going.” In return for their loyalty, all employees
were awarded stock options. “Over the years a lot of benefi ts had been taken away from people. We’ve reinstated many of
“Once people see you’re being honest, even if
you’re telling them something they don’t want to hear, they believe in the company again”
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those benefi ts and staff are much more upbeat and supportive,” he adds.
SCORE To further involve staff, Reid-Anderson has implemented a system around the acro- nym SCORE, chosen as a homage to the British football team Tottenham Hotspur. He grew up in England and relocated to the US in 1988, but remains a football fan. SCORE has been rolled out across the
company to showcase the changes being made. The S represents sound strategy – and communicating it to employees and the outside world. C is for communication: “Open, honest communication with employ- ees and the outside, so people understand our direction,” says Reid-Anderson. “I email the employees every week telling them good news and bad news and I get hundreds of responses back, all of which I reply to.” Next is organisation, making sure quality leadership is in place and every- one’s roles are clear, followed by rewards and recognition. “We tell our employees that they’ve done a good job and take care of them, as I would want to be taken care
AM 3 2011 ©cybertrek 2011
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