OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Human Resource Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the human resource frame
2. Apply the human resource frame to your personal case situation

Complete the following making sure to support your ideas and cite from the textbook and other
course materials per APA guidelines. After the peer review, you have a chance to update this and
format for your Electronic Portfolio due in Module 6.

1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

On September 11, 2023, MGM Resorts International (MGMRI) identified a cybersecurity

issue that impacted several of the organizations internal systems. Prior to the identification
process by the internal Information Technology (IT) department, systems within MGMRI slowly
started going down and not operating one by one. Internal systems ranged from credit card
processing terminals, to scheduling tools utilized to schedule thousands of team members, as
well as phone lines and the company’s website. It was chaotic for all involved, but especially for
the team members trying to make sense of what was happening in those moments when systems
just started crashing. My role is the Director of Workforce Management for one of the largest
Las Vegas properties with MGM Resorts. I report directly to the property Chief Financial
Officer. My department is responsible for producing the weekly schedules for approximately
5,000 hourly team members, as well as completing their payroll on a daily basis. The Workforce
Management department also takes the call outs for the hourly team members and fill their shifts
with the on-call team members based on business demands of the day.

2) Describe how the human resources of the organization influenced the situation.

The human resources frame of an organization has the ability to focus on the integration of
human needs and organizational requirements. During the cyberattack at MGMRI, I was in a
leadership role that typically has a lot of impact on the property. The senior leaders of MGMRI
made me feel like my job did not matter during this time. I know it was not just my position, but
the position of many others. Many operating departments did not have any corporate support
from any of the centers of excellence. Team members expected to do more in day-to-day tasks,
which became an extremely manual process since there were no network connections, Wifi,
emails, or access to our drives that housed 100% of company files. There was no checking in on
our teams to see how they could be supported, even though the Workforce Management
department was expected to support the entire property on a manual level. It was still expected

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that support would continue to be provided to operations with their staffing needs and ensure
they had staffing due to their business volumes.

I did my best to support my team and was right there with them every step of the way during
the day, to ensure I was assisting with any and all tasks regarding call outs and weekly schedule
implementation. My goal as their leader was to make them feel valued during a time of
uncertainty when they still had a job to execute. Organizations work best when their employees
feel understood and supported. When the cyberattack occurred, properties of MGMRI did not
feel supported by the organization in a true time of need. People were unsure of their roles within
the organization and what they should be doing in the chaos.

3) Recommend how you would use the human resources for an alternative course of
action regarding your case.

As the human resources frame focuses on employee needs, morale, and motivation I would
be hands on in a situation like a cyberattack. This specific cyberattack brought this company to
their knees and there was not a lot of internal communication, as there was no email access or
access to our companywide network. I would visit each property and meet with line level team
members in their EDR (Employee Dining Rooms) to communicate what was going on and to
thank them for their hard work transitioning to manual transactions without any notice. The goal
was to take care of the guests during this time, but who was taking care of the employees? I
would communicate with senior leaders of each property, and make sure they were providing
extra attention and care to their line level employees communicating that the organization is
working around the clock to restore our systems.

I do not think there is necessarily an alternative course of action for a cyberattack. The
organization hired outside resources and had their IT team working 24 hours a day to ensure
there were no more threats, that information was secure, and that they were working on restoring
our systems. I do think that the course of action that needed to be alternative was the employee
morale of the property during this time. Team members felt in the dark and they were only made
aware of information from what they read in the paper or saw on the news. High level
executives still had some system access, so I would have communicated to the teams through
their personal emails, just to give them updates and again, to thank them for everything they
were doing in this extremely rough situation.

4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about this frame.

The human resources frame highlights communication and creating a culture of ownership
and being able to place people based on their knowledge and skillset. In this specific situation,
communication would be key. I understand it was difficult, with the systems down, however, I
do not think it would be impossible to do, even in a situation such as a cyberattack. As a senior
leader within the organization, it would be important for me to connect with the line level

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employees to make sure they felt supported and to lift their spirits to their morale did not drop
too negatively. It would be important for me to understand what they are having to deal with by
changing to manual operations.

I would also be sure to deliver clear and concise information so that was no confusion on
what happened and what our plan was as an organization going forward. At first, there was a lot
of panic and confusion around why systems suddenly stopped working. It would have been
beneficial to communicate quickly via call trees or even communication through desktop
applications with a notification.