Hard Rock Case Study

Learn how automated corrective action drove a
5% increase in global brand consistency 

 
 
 

A Rock Legend

With venues in 74 countries, including 178 cafes, 24 hotels, and 10 casinos, Hard Rock International (HRI) is one of the most globally recognized brands. What began with one Eric Clapton guitar quickly grew into the world’s greatest collection of music memorabilia, which is displayed at Hard Rock locations around the globe. The company is also known for its collectible fashion and music-related merchandise, Hard Rock Live performance venues, and an award-winning website.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

The quality assurance standard for Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos includes evaluating the implementation and execution of its brand standards— those elements that, anywhere in the world, differentiate the property as “Hard Rock.” HRI had been completing this evaluation through an annual property visit with an extensive executive team from the support center— including operations, human resources, marketing, and reservations— traveling to each location to meet with the property’s on-site executive team. While the meetings were productive, the output generated was minimal compared to the expense of travel and lodging and the executives’ time. The tangible result from the on-site evaluation was an Excel spreadsheet with the recorded responses and an annual Brand Compliance Evaluation (BCE) score. The evaluation period was then completed and not revisited until the following year.

Hard Rock International’s quality assurance team knew transitioning to a mobile, cloud-based solution could streamline the annual on-site evaluation process. They chose RizePoint because its functionality went beyond operational checklists and enabled franchise-wide brand compliance. In addition, it was reliable, user-friendly, and customizable.

An (Improved) Star Was Born

With RizePoint, HRI made three major improvements to the evaluation process: First, HRI added a self-audit to the evaluation process. Using Mobile Auditor, property managers now start Q1 by self-evaluating their implementation and execution of brand standards. “This has produced several benefits,” Gowan said. “It’s a fantastic way to encourage accountability and catalyzes the conversation between the support center and the field.” Before implementing RizePoint, all non-compliant items had to be addressed during the on-site evaluation. With the streamlined self-audit in place, both the property manager and the support center can research best practices and possible solutions to any issues constructively and progressively.

Second, HRI implemented the RizePoint Corrective Action Management (CAM) feature. Gowan noted, “This was a major upgrade, given that the previous spreadsheet-based evaluation process lacked any opportunity for follow-up and improvement. CAM made it possible to transition the evaluation process from a one-time event to a continuous improvement mechanism.” By utilizing CAM, HRI property managers had the tools to organize, prioritize, and address non-compliant items of daily operations.

The final step for Hard Rock’s new continuous improvement process is an on-site audit conducted by the area vice president instead of a four-person executive team. This shift allows the on-site visit from the AVP to focus on facilities and staff interactions, making it a productive step in an ongoing improvement process rather than a stressful ending to the evaluation. This saved executives time and money and created ongoing brand improvement conversations.

Rizepoint better use of data

A Standing Ovation

The new evaluation process produced impressive results within its first year: property evaluation scores increased by more than 5% overall, and several individual properties increased their brand compliance by more than 10%. Beyond BCE improvements, the new evaluation process reduced travel expenses in excess of 85% in the first year. These time and financial savings allow HRI to focus on strategic property visits for training, consultation, or new program implementation—ultimately improving the guest experience. Hard Rock is committed to continuous improvement. “Going forward, we’re looking to improve our BCE process even further,” said Gowan. “Using advanced reporting functionality, we’ll soon be able to have our evaluations reflect the most up-to-date information possible, with rollup to the property’s overall evaluation score. We’re also excited to be introducing custom calculations that will further improve accuracy in our scoring module and allow flexibility in unique circumstances.”

The advantages of Mobile Auditor—using a tablet for inspection forms, with the ability to document via text and images and automatically generate reports—well, the system sells itself. There’s no going back to Excel!

Kelli Gowan
Quality Assurance Manager for HRI

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