Connecting for #Citizenship at Caesars

The publication of Caesars Entertainment's seventh annual 2015-2016 Citizenship Report is a testimony to the value of connecting all year round, and not just during reporting season. Caesars Entertainment is one of the best companies I know that connects on several social media platforms across a range of topics with regularity, creativity and consistency. That's why, in this Citizenship Report, the theme of connecting is highlighted and illustrated with Tweets and hand-held Message Boards. 

Caesars Entertainment Corporation is the world’s most diversified casino-entertainment provider and the most geographically diverse U.S. casino-entertainment company. A regular feature of the report is the Footprint, updated each year, showing the size and scale of the company.

Connecting is something Caesars does well. Perhaps this is what you might expect of a hospitality company. However, it's not to be taken for granted. Connecting at many levels with stakeholders is a cornerstone of sustainability and citizenship practice, and becomes a regular feed of interactions, sharing, learning and supporting that builds familiarity and trust. And add a little fun into the mix. The new Citizenship Report reflects this, from the senior management team right through the organization. 

Jan Jones Blackhurst - Executive Vice President of Government Relations and Corporate Responsibility

 

Alex Dixon, Assistant General Manager, Horseshoe Baltimore

Brooks Robinson, Regional Senior Vice President & General Manager, Harrah’s Cherokee

Jessica Rosman, VP, Procurement

Tweets in the report are dispersed throughout, supporting the narrative. This of course was only possible because Caesars maintains strong Twitter streams throughout the year from a variety of Twitter handles. The main one is the Citizenship stream (@CitizenCaesars). Then there is  Caesars diversity and supplier-diversity stream (@CZRDiversity) and Caesars charitable Foundation (@CaesarsFdn) and the corporate stream that includes many citizenship-related updates (@CaesarsEnt) and the Caesars "We Mean Business" Responsible Meetings stream (@CaesarsMeetings). And that's just to start with. Most of the 50+ properties at Caesars have their own Twitter streams where they amplify many of the citizenship messages to followers. There are few companies around that maintain such a pace on social media. It's a testimony to Caesars' respect for its stakeholders and openness to engage. 

For example, on a page where Caesars talks about advancing diverse suppliers, two Tweets are integrated into the story.

On a page where Caesars talks about creating memorable experiences for guests, with the new Jennifer Lopez sell-out residency, Tweets illustrate guests' excitement with the show of shows.

 

For every story in the report, and there are lots of stories, there's a Tweet, or several Tweets. As a channel of communication and engagement, Caesars gets the message real-time to where its followers are and listens to what they say back. It's modern, it's fun, it's transparent, it's citizenship. Of course, the publication of the report had to be followed up with a Twitter Chat. You can read the summary of the chat, hosted by Triple Pundit, here. 

But Caesars' report is more than Tweets and Message Boards. It's 110 pages of GRI G4 compliant reporting of advances in citizenship performance during the past year. It's also a first alignment with 8 of the 17 the Sustainable Development Goals, integrated with Caesars citizenship and sustainability strategy.

Overall, Caesars makes a strong contribution to economic development, with $9 billion in economic value created for stakeholders in 2015, bringing the total close to $40 billion in the past five years. Relatively speaking, Caesars contributes to communities more than three times the equivalent average value contributed by U.S. corporations.

This is not just about money. It's about the many different ways of being part of local communities, engaging and collaborating to support economic development and improvement in the quality of life. For example, 55% of Caesars employees are involved and invested in voluntary community activities in some way. Caesars' leadership in the development of responsible meetings defines specific sustainability standards for the thousands of meetings, conventions and conferences that Caesars hosts at its properties each year. The standards that Caesars requires of its suppliers through its Responsible Suppler Statement and the advancement of supplier diversity, engaging with diverse supplier communities and offering mentoring programs, are part of the social and economic value that Caesars creates. Also, Caesars takes a public stand against social inequalities and in favor of human rights, for example, as a founding partner of the Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST) Employers Alliance formed in September 2015. BEST is the first public-private partnership in the U.S. to work across industries to prevent sex trafficking and sex buying. 

Caesars reports strong progress (again) in environmental efficiencies through Caesars' CodeGreen strategy, both in 2015 and since the start of the initiative in 2007.

And guess what, as they get older, Caesars employees are getting healthier. With an award-winning Employee Wellness Program that demonstrates incredible levels of participation and outcomes, employees can enjoy a healthier and happier... and hopefully longer life.

It would be remiss of me not to mention Responsible Gaming when talking about Caesars. But there's no news here. Caesars was the industry leader in Responsible Gaming programs as the first commercial company to address the issue of problem gambling in 1989, and Caesars remains the industry leader today.  Caesars continues to invest in training, communications and providing practical tools, such as self-exclusion, to ensure that people who come to gamble do so because they want to have fun. With 796 trained Responsible Gaming Ambassadors throughout properties in the U.S, and tens of thousands of employees trained each year, this for Caesars is par for the course. No news, but good news.

Caesars 2015-2016 Citizenship Report covers all of this, and more, in a clearly structured GRI G4 (core) report that is supported by a year of Tweets from multiple Twitter streams. This makes the report fun to read (maybe one of YOUR Tweets got into the report?) and also validates the content by demonstrating that citizenship, at Caesars, is day-by-day and not report-by-report.

As always, take a look. Give feedback!

Disclosure: You probably guessed that I worked on this report (as well as on Caesars prior three reports).  It's always a pleasure and honor to work with Caesars. Maybe one day, I might even get to meet Jennifer Lopez. If I do, I'll Tweet about it.

elaine cohen, CSR consultant, Sustainability Reporter, HR Professional, Ice Cream Addict. Author of Understanding G4: the Concise Guide to Next Generation Sustainability Reporting  AND  Sustainability Reporting for SMEs: Competitive Advantage Through Transparency AND CSR for HR: A necessary partnership for advancing responsible business practices . Contact me via Twitter (@elainecohen)  or via my business website www.b-yond.biz   (Beyond Business Ltd, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm).  Need help writing your first / next Sustainability Report? Contact elaine: info@b-yond.biz