A Proven Methodology for Achieving Operating Excellence in Casinos

Gambling is overwhelmingly the primary source of revenue for most casino properties, but the overarching product being purchased by customers who visit a casino is not only gambling.  What they actually purchase with those gambling dollars is the comprehensive “experience” of their entire trip to the property that day. And that “experience” is driven by the collective “performance” of front line staff. They are the ones called upon to perform the brand and fulfill brand promises in a passionate engaging manner — day in and day out. Product, Pricing, and Performance, are three of the most important metrics of a casino enterprise. The three have a co-dependency on each other and affect each other. However, because gambling is involved, the ultimate guest experience must be thoroughly understood - a losing experience is inherently worse than a winning experience and severely amplifies “buyer’s remorse”.   So “Performance” is the key metric of the three key metrics as most customers don’t win day-in and day-out. And all customers think about on their way home is whether or not they had a great time at the “casino”. The result of that assessment drives their decision about which casino to visit on their next trip.

Performance lays at the foundation of, and is undeniably the underlying key and hardest deliverable of the most common of brand promises and strategies among casinos: "Become a customer of ours and you'll have a great time every time you visit us; win or lose."  Performance capacity is a product of culture, and the culture of a casino resort originates from the highest level of the organization, but is represented most accurately by the morale of lower compensated employees who reside on the front line. The ones called upon to perform repetitive and often menial tasks each day. So this group must always be happy and inspired.

But for this group to be inspired and perform perfectly each day, a commitment and sincere initiative from the highest level of the organization, that communicates with, and recognizes them as key staff members, is mandatory. These staff members must be properly trained, developed, engaged, and fairly compensated. Executing a performance-based strategy is the only way a casino can position itself to succeed for the long term. A relentless, top to bottom commitment to providing the comparatively best “customer experience” is the only way a performance-based culture can be spawned - but everyone needs to understand and agree to precisely what that is.

Consistently performing at peak capacity by customer facing staff, support staff, professional staff, and mid-management, is representative of a cohesive team performing in concert striving for a common goal. It makes customers come back and it is the only way margins can be maximized against the fair market share of a casino. Additionally, whether the task is developing and executing key strategies, or mopping the floor, the ultimate contribution of those jobs to the Enterprise goes well beyond the customer experience - it is the collective contribution of “pride and ownership” to the enterprise culture. This perspective offers no hierarchy of jobs. Hence, every employee's relevance, importance, and value to the enterprise become one and the same and are perceived to be as such by everybody who works there.

Other key components required to maximize performance are, of course, a commitment to training and development (they must have insight and know exactly what to do). A management and development program that markets to, enlists, and develops front line managers is also needed. It would help staff become more capable of understanding and meeting performance goals. This initiative should seek to individually engage, educate, and train everyone - ultimately demonstrating the organization’s commitment to develop and strive for nothing less than the establishment of a single team or coalition that is comprised of everyone working in perfect harmony.

The establishment of a performance measurement tool that analyzes critical performance metrics is also necessary. Performance metrics should measure and track important aspects of everyone's daily job performance. Highly compensated executives should be held accountable for their departmental performance scores against these metrics because they measure and track one’s ability to lead a department to effectively achieve its overarching goals, as well as specific performance objectives. A rolling twelve-month score that demonstrates the trajectory and cadence of all departmental scores, contrasted against each other, and contrasted against the combined average score of all departments of the enterprise, would objectively highlight shortcomings of an individual department or manager in meeting specific performance objectives. Competitor metrics could also be measured and scored.

Additionally, a dynamic performance incentive program that is driven by actual performance results should be developed. This enticement is a key ingredient of the “secret sauce” of achieving performance excellence – the “team” wants to succeed and win the money prize. Ironically, that team recognition, team accountability, and a team reward, breeds peer to peer accountability and drives better, more consistent front line performance. Hence, the enterprise becomes driven by a single team that everyone is a part of - no one is allowed to be excluded or left behind. A sense of pride, ownership, and dignity emerge which are infectious to a culture in a very positive way.

While the above is being accomplished, simultaneously, a severe analytical process conducted by the marketing team should be underway. This initiative is actually a never-ending search for new opportunities to improve results and expand the business. As a result, new strategies would need to be developed and executed. Flexibility and change would become embraced, and face less resistance. The willingness to change to exploit new opportunities becomes a mindset and part of a daily routine. Culture becomes that of an inspired performance-based team that hunts for, captures, and exploits, new opportunities.

In the hands of this accomplished performance-based team, every customer would be in excellent hands – everyday. Obviously, adapting, developing, and deploying this methodology is no small task. But accomplishing it fosters excellent employee morale and sustained customer loyalty – the results of which are; happy motivated employees who deliver the brand promise every day, happy loyal customers who spend more time and money while on property, and the achievement of critical overarching enterprise goals of sustainable viability and long term prosperity.