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Press Releases & Articles
December 2007
Five Simple HR Solutions for the Managerially Challenged
by Martin R. Baird
(Print,
PDF)
Every casino human resources department knows that effective
managers and supervisors are important to the future success of
their property. What they may not know is that quality managers can
help their employees provide the kind of service that turns guests
into advocates for the casino.
Thus, it only stands to reason that poorly performing managers and
supervisors are a stumbling block when it comes to creating advocacy
and success for the casino.
For more than a decade, I’ve been telling casinos that top-notch
guest service is a key element of success. More recently, I’ve been
telling them that great service can lead to the creation of guest
advocates and that guest advocacy can seal the deal for future
growth. But none of that can happen if the casino’s internal
operations are not up to par.
In this column, I turn my attention to casino management. And I’m
doing this for a good reason. Almost every casino we visit these
days chants the same mantra: “Om, our managers and supervisors are
weak. Om, we wish we had better talent down the ladder.”
It doesn't matter if the casino is new or old, large or small,
tribal or corporate, the message is still the same. They want to
know how to get their managers and supervisors to do what they’ve
been hired to do – manage and supervise.
Here are a few thoughts I have on that subject.
Develop a scientifically proven screening and hiring process. If all
you do now is drug and mirror tests, you are setting yourself up for
failure. If you don’t know what a mirror test is, it means they’re
hired if they can fog a mirror. This is also known as hiring someone
if they have a pulse. Anyway, I know that you need people to fill
vacancies. The problem with that approach is that you are just
grinding people up and not improving your team.
Pre-hire assessments are scientifically proven and well worth the
effort. For example, you can pick up on personal issues before the
prospective hire signs on the dotted line. My company works with
Ryan Ross at Hogan Assessments and the assessments he helps conduct
create an amazing multidimensional picture of the candidate. This
allows the employer to make decisions based on real information, not
just a smile and the patented interview phrase of “I’m customer
service focused.”
Practicing what we preach, we used Hogan Assessments to hire a
person who was very successful with us. After the assessment, I
talked with Ryan on the phone and he told me what would make her
successful in our world. His assessment of her was absolutely on
target. In addition to identifying issues, assessments are a great
way to create a profile of the characteristics that make up your top
performers in any specific department. After all, a great beverage
server could be a much different person than your best cage worker.
Stop promoting from within. I know I’m asking you to break a
cardinal rule that your casino is very proud of. But if you only
look within your organization, you are promoting people who don't
necessarily have the skills, ability and training required to be
effective managers and supervisors. This weakens your casino.
Promoting from within can improve morale, but only if the people are
qualified. It isn’t good enough if you promote people simply because
they show up for work or never get written up.
I know casinos often have underutilized talent on their staff, but
that doesn't mean a good beverage server should be asked to manage a
bar. What makes them a great server could be the kiss of death in a
management role.
Improvement! Of course, I’m not recommending that you never, ever
promote from within. You can do that but only if you improve the
people you have so that they will be ready if and when the
opportunity comes their way. Every employee from the CEO to
dishwasher should have a career path and a professional development
plan. This accomplishes a couple of things. First, it gives people
targets to work toward. If I’m a dishwasher and I know I need to
take cooking classes to move up to preprep cook, I can decide to
make that commitment. The other part of improvement is it gives
people the training and development they need to be successful.
Tiger Woods is arguably the world’s best at what he does. But Tiger
has a coach even though he is the best.
Many casino supervisors and managers are not the world’s best. They
often don't even understand the basics of supervision, let alone
management. You need to give them training so they can learn the
skills they need to succeed. I’m not talking about the technical
part of the job. This training is about thinking and being real
supervisors and managers, not just someone who can quote the
policies and procedures manual verbatim.
Manage the new managers and supervisors. For some reason at many
casinos, as soon as a person is given or earns the title of manager
or supervisor, they are put out to pasture. Their former boss now
assumes that, as a manager, they no longer need to be managed.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
New managers and supervisors need special care and attention.
Support your newbies early and often. Now is the time to nurture
them and help them grow. They are part of your critical front-line
team, so don’t wait until they make a big mistake.
Listen to your employees. You need to know what’s going on with your
managers and supervisors. The front-line team knows which managers
are good. They know which ones just yell. They know which ones are
often late because they are now a "manager." I'm not talking about
employee "satisfaction" surveys. Those surveys lack validity when it
comes to future success. You need to have your employees risk their
reputation and share the truth about the people they work for.
The only way to solve the supervisor and manager issues that your
casino faces is to take action, and I think these five tips will
help. Acknowledging that you have a problem is important. Then you
need to put the required actions behind you so you can make
progress. The new supervisor or manager is not at fault. It's the
system that needs major revisions if you want to have long-term
success as competition increases.
Martin R. Baird is author of “Advocate Index™: An Operational Tool”
and chief executive officer of Robinson & Associates, Inc., a
customer service consulting firm for the gaming industry. Robinson &
Associates helps casinos determine their Advocate Index, a number
that indicates the extent to which properties have guests who are
willing to be advocates, and then implements its Advocate
Development System to help casinos create more guest advocates. The
Advocate Development System uses the proven methodology of Advocate
Index in combination with best business practices to chart a course
for growth and profitability. More information about the Advocate
Development System and Robinson and Associates is available at the
company’s Web sites at www.advocatedevelopmentsystem.com and
www.casinocustomerservice.com. A copy of “Advocate Index: An
Operational Tool” may be obtained by calling 206-774-8856. Robinson
& Associates may be reached by phone at 480-991-6420 or by e-mail at
mbaird@casinocustomerservice.com. Based in Annapolis, Maryland,
Robinson & Associates is a member of the Casino Management
Association and an associate member of the National Indian Gaming
Association.
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