“And all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts.” William Shakespeare’s AS YOU LIKE IT act 2, scene 7.
Certainly Shakespeare wasn’t referring to casinos striving for operational excellence in today’s ever changing entertainment world. However, it does make one think of all the different hats and situations employees must be prepared to face in the “new normal” work environment.
Over my career working with casinos all over the world, from Macau, China to Las Vegas, Nevada and, even more importantly, the ever increasing number of gaming venues in-between, I’ve found one striking similarity. The casino guest (player or not) and the casino employee both need each other to ensure success.
Working in or simply enjoying a fun, action packed environment has its perks and its challenges. From the gaming floor, to the restaurants, to the box office casino training – every department needs to encourage employees to embrace a customer-centric culture where your guests can be assured of an exceptional experience. Training or behavior modification must now be a complete package – from the top to bottom.
To quote John Dewey, “If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow.” There are now proven, modern training methodologies that will give your team the tools to create a professional relationship between the casino guest/player, the employee and management. Sending your troops to a training class and expecting change is just not going to be effective.
So what does it take? Like the teachings that we here at Signature design, it takes consistent skills across departments that are focused on the guest. It takes guest service skills that start with an engaging and welcoming first impression, follows through to temperature checks throughout their stay, and ends with the most passionate farewells. But, it also takes more; it takes the involvement of everyone from your bell staff, valet, front office agents, casino hosts, spa employees, retail, VIP, management, reservations and employees across the gaming floor.
Here’s what we’ve found it takes to be successful!
- Assessment – We know the right questions to ask to ensure the employee development offerings are spot on to achieve legendary results in the most efficient manner.
- Program Development – We select a group of subject matter experts from your team in various positions of authority levels. Involving the people who know their departments best improves functional ownership of the final program.
- Management Training – We create an outline of what’s coming, create buy in to the initiative, explain customized components and show how each person can positively impact success of the initiative.
- The Kick Off – Excites – Motivates – Inspires! Whether we create a video or do a live rally, we energize team members about what they’ll learn and what’s coming!
- Supervisor/Manager Training – This is the pulse of the program. This is where working knowledge of the many support tools that are available is provided to ensure success. There is no more important element of a service initiative than having your leaders ready to support and move forward.
- Team training – On-site, web offerings, self paced tutorials, no matter which works best for your team they will experience activities and exercises that will ensure cultural enhancements to your core service standards.
- Mini Knowledge Checks – Many touches often from our Skill Kit Shift Briefing Tool Kit or mystery shopping by phone or onsite visits to reinforce those critical customer service skills.
- Web Portals – We have real time tracking and reinforcement data rolled up into a web portal will give leadership the tools needed to hold all accountable and show where everyone has improved.
- Recognition – Celebrate success! We encourage you to hold competitions between departments as a healthy way to keep your core standards and culture in the forefront and to recognize individuals as they go above and beyond with their guest interactions.
Each phase that we incorporate has many proven options that, in our 25 year experience working with casinos, we have found will work for you. From 6 – 60,000 employees, from one location to many locations across the world…There is a solution!
Click here to request more information about our casino employee training.